Welcome to Social Enterprise East Midlands

Social Enterprise East Midlands was created by the social enterprise sector and key partners in the East Midlands to make sure that social enterprise in the region flourishes and grows.  SEEM brings together for the first time the key stakeholders in East Midlands social enterprise with a collective mission:

'to create an environment in the East Midlands where social enterprise is encouraged to develop and enabled to grow.'

You can find out more about SEEM here

This website is a key resource for social enterprises and those interested in social enterprise in the East Midlands.  The site is intended to be a one-stop site for all information on social enterprise in the region.  It will be of value to those running social enterprises, those starting out or those just wanting to find out more about the sector.  Among the pages you will find information on business support, funding, our projects, jobs in the sector and news and events.

You can read the Social Enterprise Strategy for the East Midlands here
------------------------------------------------------

New Help for social enterprises

If you are planning to set up a social enterprise, grow an existing social enterprise or develop into new markets then SEEM are currently delivering a programme of activity that will be of help to you. 

If you are planning to set up a social enterprise you may benefit from a seminar aimed at raising awareness of the social enterprise business model.  For existing social enterprises we will be delivering a programme of seminars focusing on in-depth issues that affect social enterprises.  For more information about the programme follow this link

And importantly, whatever your stage of development, you may benefit from a grant to enable you to purchase specialist business advice.  For further details about the grant and to check if you are eligible click here.
------------------------------------------------------

Social Enterprise and the Public Sector, a practical guide to law and policy

Social Enterprise East Midlands has published, "Social Enterprise and the Public Sector, a practical guide to law and policy". The Guide has been developed by SEEM's BEST Procurement partnership which brings together public sector, social enterprise and technical support partners.

The guide identifies ways for the public sector to do business better with social enterprises whilst also delivering many of the authorities' wider strategic policy objectives. For those looking for new approaches to commissioning and procurement of public services, it highlights practical paths through the current legal framework.

Working with a variety of public and social enterprise sector partners, we have developed this guide to help the social enterprise movement and the public sector to find new ways to work together. We hope that this will enable the public sector to find new commissioning solutions and help the growth of social enterprises delivering high quality public services".

The guide is intended to be a useful resource for:

• Those involved in commissioning and procurement in the public sector,
• Those involved in service development, economic development and strategic policy in the public sector,
• People working in social enterprises who are targeting the public sector as potential customers or are already working on them and
• Those who support social enterprises by providing business advice, training, networking and/or advocacy. 

The guide covers the commissioning framework, EU procurement, issues for the public sector and for social enterprises.  It is available in PDF format for downloading free of charge here. Alternatively ring 0115 871 4760 or email info@seem.uk.net to order a hard copy. The guide costs £40 (inclusive of VAT and p&p) but is available at the discount price of £20 per copy to third sector organisations

Latest News

Plan for standard measure of social return on investment
8 May 2008
Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector, speaking at the social investment conference, 'Good Deals', has announced a new programme of work to help standardise and improve how social return on investment (SROI) is measured

Guide for 'socially concerned investors'
29 April 2008
Social business research firm Catalyst has launched a website to link potential investors with social enterprises in need of capital.

Upcoming Events

First Steps in Social Enterprise
29 May 2008 to 7 October 2008

East Midlands Regional ICT Conference
16 June 2008