BSSEC_logo
Members Login 
Donate Now
  • Home
  • About
    • Who we are
    • What we do
    • Our Members
    • BSSEC Annual Reports
    • Joining BSSEC
  • About Social Enterprise
    • What is social enterprise?
    • How can social enterprise help you & your neighbourhood?
    • Social enterprise in Birmingham **new data July 2019**
    • Social enterprise in Greater Birmingham
    • Social enterprise retailing
    • Social enterprises in the spotlight
      • Colebridge Enterprises — Assembly Operation
      • Textiles by St Annes
      • St Barnabas Church Centre, Erdington
    • The Digbeth Social Enterprise Quarter — Launch
      • The Digbeth Social Enterprise Quarter
  • Policy Issues
    • Introduction
    • Public services & social value
      • Birmingham City Council and social value
      • Useful resources on social value
      • Social Value — one year on
      • Evidencing Social Value — The Elephant in the Room
      • Resources for measuring social value and social impact
      • Social value — key findings from the first two years of our work
      • New Ideas on Social Value — Event Report
      • Social Value — findings of the first government review (Feb 2015)
      • Social Value & Health
      • Public Contracts Regulations 2015: A Guide to the Implications and Opportunities for Social Enterprises
      • Social value — looking forward
    • Social enterprise & public service reform
    • Social enterprise & the ‘right to challenge’
    • Social enterprise & the Localism Act
  • Enterprise Support
    • Introduction
    • Business support organisations
    • Access to finance
  • Links & Downloads
  • Blog
  • Contact

How to reach us — update

May 29, 2020
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
This post is a sticky — newer posts appear beneath it Our usual BSSEC email account is temporarily out of order This means that until further notice all correspondence for BSSEC should be sent to this address. We are still able to offer a free email circulation service for reade
Continue Reading →

Coronavirus — who gets paid and how much? Managing coronavirus as an employer

March 05, 2020
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
If you are already planning for how your workplace will manage the implications of coronavirus infections — by using the excellent guidance that NCVO has recently published, for example — you may be interested to know that BSSEC member Anthony Collins Solicitors has publis
Continue Reading →

Social Enterprise Mark CIC announces new entry-level accreditation scheme for younger and new-start social enterprises

July 17, 2019
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
Social Enterprise Mark CIC, the organisation behind the nationally recognised Social Enterprise mark accreditation scheme has just announced the launch of a new accreditation for new-start and young or emerging social enterprises. Called the Aspiring Social Enterprise accreditation, t
Continue Reading →

Healthwatch Birmingham receives national recognition and wins contract to continue providing service

July 03, 2019
by Alun Severn
1 Comment
Healthwatch Birmingham, the independent champion representing public and patients’ experiences of using local health and social care services, has just published its Annual Report 2018/2019. The report details the organisation’s most successful year to date: 59% more peopl
Continue Reading →

In memory of Mark Ellerby — social entrepreneur, activist & friend

March 13, 2019
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden death on the 7th March 2019 of our friend and colleague Mark Ellerby. There will be few in the social enterprise sector who didn’t know Mark in one way or another, whether through his own social enterprise, Cloudberry Innovati
Continue Reading →

In memory of Jane Slowey CBE

October 11, 2017
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
Tributes from across the voluntary and community sector are being paid to Jane Slowey CBE, who died on Saturday 7th October 2017. Many of you will know and remember Jane. She served for thirteen years as the chief executive of The Foyer Federation (whose own tribute is here), but prio
Continue Reading →

‘The freedom of freelancing, the muscle of mutuality’

April 25, 2016
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
The number of self-employed people in the UK has risen to nearly five million, the highest level since records began, their ranks being swelled by people trying to avoid unemployment, those who have been made redundant, and especially public sector workers — such as music teache
Continue Reading →

NHS outsourcing and mutuals in crisis?

April 13, 2016
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
An independent enquiry into the collapse of the largest single integrated health outsourcing contract so far let by the NHS has just been published. The contract, worth £725m over five years, was intended to integrate community care for over 18 year olds, acute emergency care for the
Continue Reading →

The Women’s Enterprise Hub Sparkbrook is Officially Open – Come and See Us!

November 24, 2015
by Sarah Crawley
Mariam Yate, Michelle Smith, Naomi Robinson, Sarah Crawley, Second Pedals CIC, Sir Albert Bore, The House Nannies, women in business, Women's Enterprise Hub Sparkbrook
0 Comment
Women across Birmingham can now take advantage of the space and business support on offer from the new Women’s Enterprise Hub in Sparkbrook. Our aim is to help women gain the confidence and skills they need to aim high and realise their full potential in business.  The Hub will be man
Continue Reading →

Business, academia, community finance — all mourn Sir Adrian Cadbury

September 08, 2015
by Alun Severn
1 Comment
The death of Sir Adrian Cadbury on the 3rd September 2015 aged 86 has just been announced. Sir Adrian was chairman of Cadbury and Cadbury Schweppes for over twenty-four years. But in his long and busy life of business, public service and civic activism he was also much more than this.
Continue Reading →

NAO says PbR schemes are ill-co-ordinated, lack an evidence-base and have unrecognised risks

June 29, 2015
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
I am indebted to my old friend Tony Clabby for spotting this… The National Audit Office has just published Outcome-based payment schemes: government’s use of payment by results (June 2015). → Press release NAO website        →  Summary      → Full report The report considers six
Continue Reading →

The People’s Orchestra — an evening with John Altman and friends

June 25, 2015
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
The People’s Orchestra presents… Internationally renowned composer and saxophonist John Altman will be performing at The Ruddock Performing Arts Centre on Saturday 1st August. Mr Altman, who is famed for working with international artists such as Amy Winehouse and Mark Ron
Continue Reading →

Birmingham Changing Futures Together launches with call for more partners

June 25, 2015
by Sally Edwards
Big Lottery Fund, Birmingham Changing Futures Together, BVSC, Colonel Duck, Ian Cuthbert
0 Comment
The official launch of the £10m Birmingham Changing Futures Together project on Friday 19th June was an inspiring event.  The eight year project, led by BVSC, has just reached the end of its first year and is aiming to find new and better ways to support people with multiple and compl
Continue Reading →

NewStarts Bromsgrove secure future — with help from Charity Bank and Big Issue Invest

June 12, 2015
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
“People often turn to NewStarts at the point when they have exhausted all other avenues. For us, the reasons they find themselves in a difficult situation isn’t relevant; we will help them if we can.”   — CEO Marion Kenyon, NewStarts Bromsgrove charity NewStarts, which pro
Continue Reading →

SEUK to buy out SEWM

May 21, 2015
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
        I suspect many will read with some sadness the report in Third Sector today that Social Enterprise West Midlands is to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of SEUK. Businesses — including social enterprises — sometimes have to do whatever is most likely to gu
Continue Reading →

“Gerrymandering social enterprise”

January 14, 2015
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
There are people…who are trying ever so hard to ‘gerrymander’ the word Social – separate it from the word enterprise, better still kill it off altogether… There’s a very interesting and provocative piece over on the Can Cook — The Food Campaign blog about ̵
Continue Reading →

£7.6m, five years, help for 1000 unemployed young people — that’s Talent Match

October 10, 2014
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
The latest successful BIG Lottery-funded project  for Birmingham & Solihull is about to launch. Talent Match Birmingham & Solihull, a pre-employment programme for 18-24 year olds, is officially launching with a week-long “roadshow” starting on 13 October 2014. The MOVE truck w
Continue Reading →

Hurd quits in reshuffle with “love and respect” for sector “undimmed”

July 15, 2014
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
Nick Hurd, who served as minister for civil society for the coalition government’s first term of office, has fallen casualty to what some are calling Cameron’s “cull of the white males”, and others “getting rid of the old lags”. Third Sector refers
Continue Reading →

New £40m fund to support voluntary sector & social enterprise sustainability — consultation until 24th July

June 10, 2014
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
There is news flagged up here on the footprint associates website and  here on the BVSC website regarding a recently launched consultation exercise which is important to the third sector and to social enterprise. Over the coming weeks — until 12:00 noon on the 24th June July 201
Continue Reading →

£170 million to help young people find jobs

May 15, 2014
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
The Dept for Business Innovation & Skills has just announced that £170m is being made available to fund programmes for youth employment. This new funding, the Youth Employment Initiative, will target five areas of the UK to help young people into work and will be split as follows:
Continue Reading →
12

BSSEC Twitter

My Tweets

Latest news on the blog

'Transforming Public Procurement' Green Paper -- consultation ends 10th March
Mar 04, 2021
ChangeKitchen builds on supper club success
Mar 02, 2021
iSE is seeking a new chief executive
Feb 24, 2021
WMCA launches Community Recovery Innovation Challenge -- three top prizes of £15,000
Feb 11, 2021

Subscribe to the BSSEC Newsletter

BIRMINGHAM & SOLIHULL SOCIAL ECONOMY CONSORTIUM C.I.C., trading as BSSEC. A community interest company registered in England and Wales with company no. 07992674. Registered office: c/o Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP, 134 Edmund Street, Birmingham B3 2ES | All rights reserved | Copyright 2013-BSSEC | Created by Citizen Click