The development of Social Firms in Scotland has traditionally been approached in a number of ways:

• Externalisation of public sector services - where existing public sector day care or employment-related services are moved out of public sector control and transformed into a Social Firm.
• Transformation of charity projects - where voluntary or community organisations attempt to transform existing day care or employment-related projects.
• Social franchising - where individuals or organisations take on a licence or franchise of an already existing successful Social Firm and try to replicate that success.
• New business start-up - where new businesses are started from scratch, occasionally replicating successful approaches elsewhere.

Fast tracking Social Firm Development
In January 2006, the UK government announced plans to reform the welfare state with stated aims of moving 1 million people off incapacity benefits and back into employment, through a combination of reform to the benefits system and the provision of support to meet people's needs when moving back into employment . These aims are reflected in the Scottish Executive's employability strategy, Workforce Plus.

Meeting this challenge should lead to an increased focus on Social Firms as one route to job creation for people currently trapped on incapacity benefits but who want to work.  Social Firms Scotland are looking at new and more effective ways of developing more Social Firms will help to meet the challenge of improving employability for those furthest from the labour market in Scotland and the UK.

For more information on the projects we are undertaking to increase the number and size of Social Firms in Scotland please visit our Sector Growth section.