Big Society Capital has released its latest Annual Review covering the year 2018, revealing £90 million of new commitments were made over the year. Alongside other investors, the organisation has also made £1.7 billion available for social enterprises and charities as they tackle some of the toughest social issues faced by people in the UK.
Download the 2018 annual review
Since its inception over 1,141 social enterprises and charities across the UK have now accessed repayable finance through Big Society Capital’s social fund managers or Charity Bank. Of the 1,141 a total of 73% are located in 50% of the most deprived areas of the UK, and 83% operate outside of London or nationally.
Cliff Prior, CEO of Big Society Capital, commented:
“Throughout 2018, we accelerated our efforts to create change in our three key themes of homes, places, and early action, whilst also developing a strong pipeline of investments. As a result, our strategy of focusing on areas where we believe social investment can have the greatest impact began to bear fruit, with initial investments in the theme areas as well as building partnerships, knowledge and opportunities, enabling us to deliver more in 2019.
“We also began work on our impact measurement and management approach, which is aligned with the vision and strategy of key partners. We intend to capture the impact on communities, social enterprises and charities, as well as the impact from supporting stakeholders to work together more effectively. Our impact approach will develop as more projects go live in 2019.
“In 2018 the organisation experienced a loss of £6.5m, which is typical of an early stage portfolio such as ours. Our long term aim is to generate positive financial returns and social impact on a continuing basis to demonstrate both impact and financial viability, as well as covering our operational and market building costs[1].
“As we move further into 2019, we remain focused on championing the sector, increasing the use of social impact investment and building understanding with social enterprises, charities and investors.”
-ENDS-
Download the full Annual Review
[1] As many of our investments are relatively early stage and as a result of applying industry standard valuation principles, we do expect that our portfolio’s valuation will continue to be volatile. The current valuations do not necessarily reflect our view of the long-term value of the investments, which are typically expected to be held for between five to ten years.
NOTES TO EDITORS The full Annual Review can be found on Big Society Capital’s website here. 1 As many of our investments are relatively early stage and as a result of applying industry standard valuation principles, we do expect that our portfolio’s valuation will continue to be volatile. The current valuations do not necessarily reflect our view of the long-term value of the investments, which are typically expected to be held for between five to ten years.
ABOUT BIG SOCIETY CAPITAL Big Society Capital improves the lives of people in the UK by connecting social investment to social enterprises and charities.We know that investment can help social enterprises and charities achieve more. We believe the greatest chance to improve lives comes when investors and enterprises are both motivated by social mission. We engage with investors, fund managers, social enterprises and charities to make it easier to use social investment. With our co-investors, we have made over £1.7bn of new capital available to organisations with a social mission, through investments into fund managers and social banks. We have a special focus on: providing homes for people in need; supporting communities to improve lives; and early action to prevent problems. PRESS CONTACT Kathryn Mortimer, Press Officer, Big Society CapitalT: 020 7186 2537, E: kmortimer@bigsocietycapital.com