July 1st 2009
Amcan is pleased to announce that it has succesfully achived ISO 9001 accreditation, our Registration Number is184317,
10th DECEMBER 2008
Amcan are awarded contract to Review and Identify improvements in the arrangments for Local Service Delivery between The Local Health Board, Local Authority and the Third Sector in Carmarthenshire.
BIG ISSUE DECEMBER 5th 2008
Social enterprises and trading arms of charities are responding to the social crisis that is the fall-out from the current financial turmoil. Big Issue Invest, part of The Big Issue group of companies, will be part of this response by providing loan finance from £50,000 to £250,000 to meet shorter-term cash-flow or longer term investment needs.
We are also able to offer royalty structures that allow us to make investments that are normally associated with equity financing. For organisations bidding on public sector contracts, we can provide financing up to £8 million and the financial backing to help win contracts. Typically our partners have been trading for three years and have a turnover of over £250,000.
Big Issue Invest is also delighted to announce the appointment of Edward Siegel as its new Director of Investments. Ed joins the team to oversee our investments and run Big Issue Invest’s new social enterprise investment fund. With the launch of the new fund in early 2009, Big Issue Invest will be able to offer a full range of financing options from loans through to equity finance. Ed has over 12 years experience working on initiatives to improve access to finance and socially responsible investment. Prior to joining Big Issue Invest, Ed was Vice President at ShoreBank International, the international consulting arm of ShoreBank Corporation, America’s oldest and largest community development bank. Ed has made a career of finding innovative ways of providing finance to businesses deemed by traditional financial institutions to be too risky.
The Big Issue was founded to find a business-like solution to the social crisis of homelessness and so Big Issue Invest is extremely proud to be a founding partner in the Spark programme. This ground breaking initiative was established last year by Big Issue Invest, the Trees Group, Eastside Consulting and the Department for Communities and Local Government in partnership with BT, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers and Places for People. This year Spark provided £800,000 in both investment and business support to fifteen social enterprises, including housing associations, homeless user groups, advice centres, business support centres, that are giving homeless and vulnerably housed people the opportunity to gain new skills and experience so they can get back into work and regain control of their lives.
Spark has recently received £2.5 million in new funding from DCLG and will be seeking bids from December 10, 2008. For more details visit www.sparkchallenge.org <http://www.sparkchallenge.org/> . Dave Miller from Bikeworks, which trained 3,000 people last year, said the £75,000 it received from Spark was crucial. “We take referrals from homeless organisations and train them as cycle mechanics and trainers, and they come out with a qualification. Spark has been key to us growing from a very small organization to one that can achieve big things.”
We are keen to hear from social enterprises and income-generating activities of registered charities needing investment. For details, see www.bigissueinvest.co.uk <http://www.bigissueinvest.co.uk> or call Becki Spurdle on 020 7173 6027.
AUGUST 2008
Although there are various schemes for start-up businesses, there is a funding gap when social enterprises move to a growth stage. The new fund will fill this gap by providing access to equity financing to allow businesses to expand.
The fund will also be a demonstration project to show the viability of investment in social enterprise. It is expected that this will promote an increase in the flow of independent risk capital into the equity gap. The fund will also demonstrate that there are a meaningful number of investors interested in making a profit-maximising investment in the area of social enterprise and it will test the terms on which they are willing to invest.
It is expected that a fund manager will be appointed in the autumn and the first investments will be made by the end of 2008.
The Government has accepted that the Fund manager’s overhead costs should not be met from profits, but that the Government and independent investment partners should share costs, including up front if necessary, before profits are generated.
Social enterprise businesses have social or environmental objectives and they reinvest surpluses in the business or community. Their major challenge is to deliver public services in a different way, using the skills and expertise of users and frontline workers.
March 2008
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Amcan secures a contract with Groundwork Wales to offer mentoring services and prepare a business plan for Cultural Fusion Wales, a social enterprise based in Sandfields, Port Talbot which provides a range of training to young people in less well off areas.
More news to follow soon.....
If there is anything of interest here and you'd like to chat to someone, get in touch on 01558 823689 or email h.davies@can-online.org.uk
A wide range of investors have backed a Cabinet Office proposal to set up a risk capital investment fund for the 55,000 social enterprise businesses in the UK.