How is the project funded?
Social Firms Scotland has been awarded funding from the Big Lottery and we are grateful to the Scottish Government for supporting initial research and development work on this project. The funding from the Big Lottery will be used for programme management - (for staffing, partnership engagement, business support, resource development, evaluation and documentation) and not for the acquisition costs.

Programme Management
The programme will be managed by Social Firms Scotland as the national intermediary for Social Firms, however we will adopt a partnership approach, involving a range of key stakeholders including, existing/emerging Social Firms and enterprises, social enterprise support agencies/ networks, Scottish Government, banks and investors, Scottish Family Business Association, Chambers of Commerce, commercial experts (lawyers/accountants) and Social Ventures Scotland.

Stages of development will involve:

• Attracting commercial expertise and experience from the private sector
• Identifying businesses for sale and potential Social Firm/enterprise purchasers
• Assessing the capacity of potential purchasers
• Develop the use of predictive Social Return on Investment
• Facilitating access to financial packages for due diligence and acquisition
• Offering a means of buying businesses with profit margins that can help to alleviate the higher costs of employing disadvantaged people, by buying already established viable businesses
• Developing appropriate legal and governance structures
• Creating supported employment and managing the transition

An additional factor that the project would exploit is the opportunities offered by the high level of succession planning issues faced in the family business sector in Scotland. Employing 50% of the private sector workforce in Scotland, family businesses tend to be well rooted in their communities and have similar supportive working environments to Social Firms. This sector could offer one seam of suitable businesses for buying and converting to Social Firms.