Impact report 2024

Welcome to our impact report

This year’s change of government has brought with it a heightened sense of engagement and momentum in the social impact investment market.  We have seen the market grow to over £10 billion and our new investor data from our annual market sizing highlights the increasing diversity of institutional and retail investors entering the social impact arena.  All of which, points to a rising appetite for investments that drive positive social change and the opportunity for greater impact in the UK.  However, there are still significant challenges, with the causes of inequality being complex and deeply rooted within the fabric of society.

To provide further clarity on the data in this report, we have produced the following methodology page [1].

Headshot of Stephen Muers, CEO of Big Society Capital

Our 2024 Impact Report highlights the developments we’ve made, alongside our partners, towards our mission of growing the amount of money tackling social issues in the UK. It is only through our partnerships with fund managers and their support for social purpose organisations that we can deliver against this mission. Thanks to this collective approach, the social impact investment market has successfully expanded; supporting enterprises across the UK to create meaningful change in people’s lives through frontline interventions, products and services.

We extend our thanks to all our partners who share our commitment to creating social impact. We look forward to continuing working together to support the many enterprises and charities devoted to addressing pressing social issues in the UK.

2024 Highlights

We continue to make progress in building a social impact investing market in the UK that delivers impact across several pressing social issues, with a focus on vulnerable people across the UK.

Supported by an increasingly diverse and engaged group of investors.

This capital is enabling a further 250 impact-led organisations to tackle complex social issues such as housing, employment, education, health, and financial inclusion – and reaching into UK’s most underserved areas.

  • Reaching a further 2.3 million people through investments in venture startups
  • Significant depth of impact, within our social outcomes work supporting over 70,000 people with complex needs (27% increase from 2023)
  • Supporting a further 4,000 people by building over 7,000 homes through our housing investments
  • £312 million in public financial public savings to be generated through homelessness property funds managed by Resonance.[2]
  • £507 million fiscal value created through social outcomes contracts to date.

Our portfolio outperforms industry averages (private equity and venture capital) but significantly more work is needed by us and our partners to live up to our aspirations of building a diverse and inclusive social impact investing market in the UK.

Our Theory of Change

We acknowledge that the positive change in people's lives which we aim for through our investments is primarily driven by enterprises and charities. At BSC, we seek to enable such outcomes through both our capital and broader market-building efforts. Together, these form what we define as BSC’s “investor contribution” to the creation of impact.

Our Theory of Change illustrates how we intend to contribute to such change, by building an enabling environment for more investment to flow to impact-led organisations. Find our Theory of Change and more about our overall approach to impact and investor contribution here.

End notes

  1. About the data in this report

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  2. Resonance Homelessness Property Funds will have generated at least £312 million in public financial savings over the funds’ life (2013-2035).

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