Collection: Business for Good

Art diversion programme allows young to exit justice system

In 10 years, 1,400+ young people diverted away from jail or sanctions. Their art is used to advocate for legal reform and show their many facets, strengths, aspirations.

‘There’s something about having nothing to lose that makes you take risks’

Your Own Place CIC, an award-winning “targeted prevention homelessness social enterprise”, now 10 years old. The biggest lesson from experience as a social entrepreneur? To develop “a network of support”.

Tpel - an entrepreneur's story

"It’s a journey, but I’m learning to lean into the Lord, to manage my time and prioritise tasks to make it manageable. Because I believe running a business is like...

Zero Gravity

Students selected for their accelerators come from backgrounds and areas where reaching a top university is more of a challenge than an inevitability. According to UCAS, they are twice as likely to achieve top university places.

Dispersing manufacturing jobs to marginalised communities

"I never wanted to create 'just another clothing brand' - I want Paskho to be a vehicle for meaningful change. building a more equitable landscape for all of us."

It takes one person to change a company

While corporate transformations are almost universally assumed to be top-down processes, in reality, middle managers and supervisors can make significant social impact change when they have the right mindset.

SharpFutures

A social enterprise that helps young people from diverse working-class backgrounds into the creative, digital, tech and film industries. “I’m really sometimes overwhelmed by what these young people achieve when we do make an intervention."

Unshattered - ending the addiction relapse cycle

They save 3000+ lbs of fabrics, textiles from landfill yearly. Women with lived experience use reclaimed material to create unique, handcrafted handbags, etc - making a difference for planet and themselves.

The Flourishing Business Canvas

The Flourishing Enterprise Innovation Toolkit is a management innovation to enable leaders to design their flourishing enterprise: socially beneficial, environmentally regenerative and financially viable.

Lessons in scaling for impact

‘Impact at scale’ remains a buzzword; widely talked about but little understood, especially when it comes to practical implementation. Spring Impact have distilled the lessons learned in 10 years of helping mission-driven orgs to scale.

La La Land Kind Café

Care leavers find it hard to get or maintain jobs. No income leads to homelessness, hunger, and decisions they shouldn’t have to make. One business trying to make a difference has a mission to make the world a kinder place.

Becoming

The interview question is, "How would working here help you become who you're hoping to become?" "It is an amazing opportunity for people to experience being truly cared for. The way that we care for people feels like the gospel fleshed out."

51 percent

"What I did was an act of obedience. God asked for shares in the business. I gave him shares and now the owner of this business is God. He wants to help people out of poverty and correct the wrongs of the past. And it starts with faith."

Worth It

The old way of treating employees as an expense to be minimised is not effective as treating them as valuable assets and human beings. It hinders growth and keeps everyone from realising their full potential.

Putting nature at the core of business strategy

After building a strong foundation, with new products e.g. plant-based gouda + cheddar, Willicroft are making every decision, whether related to packaging, supply chain or energy, on effect on the planet.

Proof Bakery

Situated in Coventry, Proof Bakery was founded as a social enterprise to help refugee women learn professional baking skills and find steady employment. Their specialties are sourdough bread, focaccia and Middle Eastern-inspired bakes.

An inner-city, gospel-centred, anti-trafficking initiative

The Lord gave me a vision of a prostitute walking around the red light district in Cardiff. And I audibly heard the voice of God shouting at me, "Go and rescue her. Go and rescue her. Go and rescue her."

Kingland Global

Dennis Yandi runs a motor spare parts business in Nairobi, Kenya. He shares stories of how the Lord is giving him opportunities to serve Him through the business.

Recycling plastic waste to make bricks that are stronger than concrete

Nairobi, Kenya-based, materials engineer Nzambi Matee is transforming plastic waste into bricks that are lighter and five to seven times stronger than concrete. A social enterprise recycling waste and creating jobs.

Do you know who made your clothes?

With increased transparency, brands and consumers can identify whether or not people are being exploited in the supply chain or if the environment is being harmed. An example social enterprise in Nepal.

Jericho social enterprises

Providing people with work, training in their social businesses, projects. They are breaking barriers, changing lives. 7 businesses offering goods, services to their communities and employment to local people who need it most.

Ethical Addictions

They prayed that EA would be a company that honours God; gives back to the communities they buy from; build relationships with people and do right by them... Now 14 years later, Covid hits..

Transforming communities through transport and enterprise

A Basic Utility Vehicle designed travel the roughest tracks in developing countries. Robust, easy to build and maintain, a first/last mile solution for small-holder farmers and communities.

LivFul

Their mission is to discover, develop, and distribute life-saving, life-innovative products to those who need the most help around the world.

CrossPurpose

"How do we help our neighbours escape poverty?". CrossPurpose has a mission to abolish economic, relational, and spiritual poverty through career and community development. 473 neighbours so far graduated and escaped poverty...

Inclusive innovation – innovation that helps the community

Vietnam has had very low infection rates during two waves of Covid-19. Grassroots innovators+socially minded entrepreneurs have helped. This has meant that society’s most vulnerable have had access to..

Turning customers into activists

Tony’s Chocolonely was set up in 2005 with a clear purpose: “Together we make chocolate 100% slave free”. It pursues that purpose by producing and selling chocolate. They actively track down and combat child labour.

Time to reset capitalism

To build a future where all people can work with dignity, care for themselves and loved ones, where our planet is healthy, our economy thrives, we must reimagine our economic system so it works for all of us today and long-term.

Best practices

Victor Ho's start-up hit a rough patch and needed to lay off 50 people. Best practices suggested handling this with surgical precision. Victor felt compelled to take a different approach that was consistent with the company’s values.

The Skill Mill

Working with young offenders, changing their identity from one of offender to an employee with legitimate income, self-respect and a desire to change their behaviour and contribute positively to society and the economy.

Change agents: why entrepreneurs are uniquely equipped to tackle poverty

The story of Waweru Kuria, a Kenyan entrepreneur. In this challenging time, the need for Kingdom entrepreneurs in emerging markets is at an all time high. We need the impact job creators can make in the lives of countless individuals.

A second chance company

Many employees who join Nehemiah Manufacturing just need a chance to prove themselves. "If I had to describe it in one word, it would be grace. When society deems that we are out of chances, Nehemiah gives us another chance."

Let's continue to build community - food provision

In local efforts re food donations, are we focused on supermarkets? In efforts to cook meals, are we focused on charity kitchens? Including small high street retailers + restaurants would help our towns..

My job is caring for people

Jamie was very task focused but now understands he has to lead in a relational way - praying "Lord, break my heart for my team." Result is an incredible workplace where people feel loved and supported.

Delivering sanitation services to the poorest urban citizens

In Bangladesh, 30M urban residents lack access to sanitation facilities which enable faecal waste to be safely collected and removed for treatment. SWEEP is starting to create significant change.

Norwich Mustard - story of a co-operative

Since 1858, Norwich has been the home of mustard but in Jan 2018, Unilever, which owns Colman’s, announced they were moving production. Local people came up with an idea to start their own cooperative community business.

Second Shot Coffee

When Julius Ibrahim became increasingly interested in tackling homelessness, backed by social investment, he opened Second Shot Coffee, a social enterprise café in East London.

Who's job is it to build a better society?

Who's job is it to build a better society? What if employers encouraged colleagues to look for marginal gains in society in the roles that they're already paid to do? It's good for motivation, good for business, good for society and needn't be complex.

Circle Collective

A London social enterprise running skate and streetwear stores. Helps young people break down barriers keeping them from work. 76% find employment. An initial 9 people helped has become 400.

Purple Shoots

A not-for-profit microfinance organisation, set up to tackle unemployment and economic problems in communities. Helps people on benefits or a low income to start their own businesses, lending to people who are excluded by the traditional lenders.

The Ice Academy

A programme from Ben and Jerry's to support people who have refugee status get back into business and remove barriers they face entering the job market.

God is there and enough

Sonny Vu and Christy Trang Le, co-founders of Misfit Wearables, have had their faith tested as entrepreneurs. But relying on their faith, they helped build up a company founded on servant leadership.

Rethinking the idea of a company

B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

A behavioural bank

A new digital-only bank aims to address financial risk by incenting five controllable behaviours - not spending more than we earn, not saving regularly, not having insurance in place, not paying off property and not investing for the long term.

3D printed low-cost housing

Housing non-profit New Story and construction tech firm Icon debuted a 3D printed home for a project focused on providing low cost homes to house the homeless.

Where can I get a bag like that?

Saddleback Leather is a business that supports ministry/missions, but also has a mission all its own — loving people, especially customers and employees.

Luminary Bakery plans next steps

Luminary is a social enterprise designed to offer opportunities for women to build a future for themselves. They use baking as a tool to take women on a journey to employability and entrepreneurship, equipping them with transferrable skills.

Monastery 2.0

In the past, some monasteries, communities of Christians, have focused on interacting with local communities to provide services, supporting themselves through work. What would that look like today? An example.

You won't save places you don't love

The homes, the classroom, the workplace or the marketplace can become sanctuaries as we learn how to love those places and all who share them with us.

Beauty out of brokenness

"There's hope in broken people. There's beauty in broken things. That's not just what happened to us but what also God wanted to do through us - bring hope, expose beauty."

Grace Enterprises

A network of businesses, big and small, aiming to provide meaningful employment opportunities for a whole range of people who might otherwise struggle to find work.

The Barber helping men with dementia

Lenny takes his pop-up barbershop to dementia care homes, providing a much-needed service to the men who reside there. But Lenny does more than cut their hair..

U-Turn - a sustainable way to address the needs of the homeless

A pathway out of homelessness which engages the community, links with specialist support services, develops life skills and gets people into employment whilst generating income from social enterprise.

Beyond CSR - personal social responsibility

With the PSR model, employees drive their own social good footprint and the employer follows their lead.

#Balanceitup

Practical action for employers minded by the common good to help address the widening gap between top earners and lowest paid workers.

Today's leaders need to commit to a purpose

Paul Polman, the CEO of Unilever, talks about his personal mission to be a force for good instead of just making a profit.

John Lewis Partnership

The Partnership's ultimate purpose is the happiness of all its members, through their worthwhile and satisfying employment in a successful business.

Leading for mutual value

Joe Garner, CEO Nationwide talks on how mutuality in business - an inclusive, self-reliant form of capitalism where people help one another, is more relevant than ever today.

Completing capitalism

A different way of doing business following research from Mars Inc on 'What is the right level of profit for its business activities?'

Prison entrepreneurship programme

Groundbreaking results among graduates including an under 7% three-year recidivism rate vs national average of nearly 50%.

Preparing for the 100 year life

Envisage - a social enterprise helping individuals, businesses and community harness benefits of an ageing society and change way we transition into later life.

I feel like God’s called me to the mission field, which is here in this office

A dental practice but with an added dimension. “It’s restoration of lives.”

Business transforming a community

Electrical contractors, the Weifield Group are making a lasting impact on their community by giving ex-offenders and drug addicts a second chance.

Kammock - moving people beyond a product into a deeper experience

Encouraging and using adventure very strategically to help produce something greater in people - humility, curiosity and wonder.

More than hair

Whatever you do, wherever your work takes you, God has uniquely equipped you to serve and to meet people at their point of need.

Café where diners pay what they can

The Eating Place in Coventry doesn’t have prices on its menu. Coventry City Mission began the scheme in their café as a pilot project about a year ago to help people suffering from loneliness or poverty.

Purpose businesses - redesigning business for social impact

Recently there has been a Kickstarter campaign for designing 'The Purpose Hotel'. It was oversubscribed. The concept is based on guests, who use the hotel, 'changing the world while you sleep'.

A sign that read: “Want a Job. Anything Helps.”

This month will be the first anniversary of Albuquerque’s There’s a Better Way program, which hires street people for day jobs tidying up the city in partnership with a local charity, St Martin's, that serves the homeless population.

The CEO who cut his pay to give his staff a £50,000 minimum wage

A challenging story from the USA about Dan Price, the CEO of Gravity Payments who earned $1.1M pa and decided to reduce it so that all workers in the company could earn a minimum salary of $70,000pa