Access to Finance and Investment
We know that Social Economy organisations are less likely to seek Social (loan) Investment but those that do, borrow much larger amounts than average. We believe the barriers for many is awareness of what social investment can do and the confidence needed to borrow money.
- Social Investment Readiness Support – a programme raising awareness, knowledge and consideration for frontline organisations.
- Supporter Awareness – in partnership with Big Society Capital, ensuring organisations who support, inform, advise or guide social economy organisations understand what investment sources exist and how to decide if Social Investment is right for their client.
- A Social Investment Task Force– bringing together experts in this subject to look at how we can uplift the uptake of social investment which may, or may not, involve a bespoke WMCA fund.
- Best practice learning from other regions who have created funds and measuring their impact.
Is Social Investment Right For You?
There is a simple tool that just takes a few minutes to find out if Social Investment is right for you, what type of finance and what to do next.
Access to Markets, Commissioning and Procurement
With some major investments coming up as part of the WMCA Trailblazer Devolution Deal, plus WMCAs commitment to inclusive growth and a circular economy, a review of procurement at WMCA and how the Social Value Act is applied and how contracts can be made more accessible to local SMEs and Social Enterprise is under review. The intention is that Social Value in WMCA contracts will be:
- Local
- Strategic
- Contractual
- Measured
In the meantime, we are running Procurement Readiness workshops within our Business Support programme.