Summary of Social Issues

A social enterprise is a business with a social or environmental mission, using its profits to further that mission rather than for shareholders. They operate like traditional businesses by trading goods and services but reinvest the majority of their earnings back into the community or the cause they support, aiming to create positive social change and transform lives. 

There are around 131,000 social enterprises all over the country, with a collective turnover of £78 billion and employing an estimated 2.3 million people. A third of social enterprises are under three years old while 58% of social enterprises are led by leadership teams with at least half their members identifying as female.

Change Please, a coffee company tackling employing and housing homeless individuals are an award-winning social enterprise founded in 2015 that tackles homelessness by providing baristas training, living wage jobs, housing support, and other essential services to people experiencing homelessness. They have many ways and methods,

Barista Training & Employment

They train people experiencing homelessness to become skilled baristas. 

Employment Opportunities Trainees receive a living wage job within the Change Please program. 

Holistic Support

The program offers crucial support, including housing advice, bank account access, therapy, and financial advice. 

Onward Opportunities

Change Please helps trainees find ongoing employment and provides continued support to ensure long-term success. 

Auticon are an international tech consultancy that provides employment opportunities to autistic individuals, leveraging their unique professional skills in the technology sector. 

Focus on Autistic Talent

Auticon's core business is employing autistic adults as highly skilled technology and data consultants. 

Support System

Consultants are supported by job coaches and project managers and receive benefits and resources to prioritize their mental health. 

IT Consultancy

Auticon provides services in areas like data science, data engineering, analytics, software development, and quality assurance. 

Neuroinclusion Services

The company offers training, coaching, and assessments to help other organizations create more neuroinclusive work environments. 

Global Presence

Auticon operates in multiple countries worldwide, including the UK, US, Germany, and others. 

Social Mission  Driven by a mission to change employment inequality for neurodivergent adults and promote the benefits of neurodiversity. 

One way The Big Issue shows itself as an example of a social enterprise is by tackling the social problem of poverty and homelessness by giving vendors a "hand up, not a handout" through employment, reinvesting all profits into its social mission and that its core purpose is beyond making money for owners and shareholders. The Big Issue operates as a social business, integrating media, investment, recruitment, and impact services to work towards ending poverty. It is a certified B Corporation, meaning it is a for-profit company that meets high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. They are one of the biggest and oldest social enterprises in the UK.