Better Society Capital

Today we publish our annual Impact Report. The report provides an update on the progress we have made, alongside our partners, towards achieving our mission—to grow the amount of money tackling social issues in the UK. Over the past year, we have committed £68 million alongside 50 new co-investors, unlocking £400 million in co-investment. This has enabled our fund managers to support over 250 impact-led organisations working across outcome areas such as housing, employment, education, health, and financial inclusion, reaching some of the UK’s most underserved areas. Capturing the impact that our capital and market building activities enable holds us to account against our mission, but also in illustrating to the wider market how powerful social impact investing can be. But this impact is not ours, we contribute to it, alongside our fund managers, co-investors, and the enterprises that provide the much-needed services. We look forward to continuing to work alongside social investment partners, empowering enterprises and charities that are improving the lives of people across the UK. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/empXz2ze #ImpactReport #SocialImpact

Our Managing Director, Gemma Bourne, recently spoke with Inside Housing about the critical role social investors can play in addressing the UK’s affordable housing shortage. 🏘️ Pension funds, particularly Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS), are currently the largest investor group in this space. In our 2023 market sizing estimate, we highlighted that they account for around 40% of the total capital allocated to social and affordable housing in the UK. While this level of involvement is encouraging, Gemma noted that LGPS cannot address the scale of the challenge alone, calling on defined contribution (DC) pension schemes and other institutional investors to consider social housing as part of their portfolios. DC schemes include modern private workplace pension funds, which tend to invest in stocks and shares rather than property because they are quicker to buy and sell. The appeal lies in the sector’s ability to deliver long-term income with index-like characteristics, alongside high levels of rent collection, low voids and high structural demand. These characteristics contribute to stable returns and make it an effective tool for portfolio diversification, particularly in times of economic uncertainty. 📖 Read the full piece here to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eTfaHM9t

Happy Friday, hope you've all had a wonderful week! Here is the latest round-up of jobs and opportunities across the social impact sector: 💻 Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good, is recruiting for a Head of Nesta Cymru. Key responsibilities in this role include leading efforts to influence decision makers in Wales, working with mission and policy teams to develop and deliver a strategy to influence policy, and bringing together Nesta's staff who work in Wales to share learning and support shared efforts on its missions. 🌟£75,400 - £85,300 Per Annum 🌟Hybrid/ Cardiff Apply Now: https://lnkd.in/g9DBDxJX 💻 Resonance Limited is looking for a Property Investment Analyst to join its growing property team. In this role, you will help challenge homelessness across the UK by playing a key role in finding suitable properties for Resonance to purchase. This will enable its Housing Partners to provide homes to those in need, which in turn will help them improve their lives. You will be central to navigating, identifying and problem solving all the way through the property acquisition process. 🌟 £29,500 - £30,150 Per Annum 🌟 Hybrid/Manchester Apply now: https://lnkd.in/ehK8DCYh 💻 Resonance is also recruiting an Assistant Property Development Manager to help deliver and grow its pioneering impact property fund initiatives. Reporting to the Property Development Manager, you will work collaboratively with other teams in identifying and problem solving through the refurbishment process, ensuring the Resonance Homes Standard is achieved. 🌟 £29,500 - £34,000 Per Annum (+London weighting) 🌟 Hybrid/ London Apply now: https://lnkd.in/e3DKz5x6 💻 Big Issue Invest is looking for a new Investment Analyst to support its lending and investment activities. In this role, you will have exposure to the full investment lifecycle and have the opportunity to work with experienced social investors across a range of sectors. On the job training, formal training and coaching will be available with the aim of developing you throughout your career at Big Issue Invest. 🌟 £30,000 - £35,000 Per Annum 🌟 Hybrid/ London Apply Now: https://lnkd.in/e2WwpZbz #SocialImpact #Vacancies

We're excited to see the launch of B Lab’s new standards! Following an extensive feedback process, the updated standards are designed to galvanise business action on the most pressing challenges facing people and the planet. This marks a significant step forward in driving systemic change towards a more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. We’re proud to have contributed insights as a member of B Lab’s Regional Standards Advisory Group, helping to shape the new standards. We look forward to the positive impact they will have across businesses. 👏 Congratulations to B Lab for listening to diverse voices from across the business community to create a blueprint for long-term positive impact. #BCorp #BLabStandards #BCorpMovement

🎙️ Great to hear Louisa Mitchell MBE (AllChild), Chief Executive of AllChild, speak about the benefits of Social Outcomes Contracts (SOCs) on the Radical Reformers Podcast. AllChild is an organisation dedicated to supporting communities in underserved neighbourhoods across the UK to help children and young people thrive. A key theme of the episode is the innovative funding model AllChild uses to work in partnership with families, schools, local authorities, and communities. Louisa discusses how working through outcomes contracts and fostering deep partnerships rooted in trusted relationships has enabled AllChild to operate in the most effective way possible, ensuring real, lasting change for children and communities. 💡 As an outcomes-based contract, securing funding is contingent on demonstrating evidence of the impact on children. For AllChild, this involves tracking the social, emotional, and academic progress of each child, as well as their engagement with the programme, to ensure accountability and transparency through the funding model. 🚀 The impact of this model speaks for itself. In the eight years since its inception, AllChild has worked with nearly 6,000 children, two-thirds of whom are no longer at risk in their social and emotional health, and around 60% have improved their school grades. Listen to the full episode to learn more: https://bit.ly/4i6JHwc

🚀 Research led by the Policy Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU) at The Manchester Metropolitan University has shown that the Social Investment Pilot (SIP), launched during the pandemic as part of the government’s 'Everyone In' initiative, continues to make a positive difference across England. Alongside the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), we partnered with Bridges Fund Management Ltd., Social and Sustainable Capital, and Resonance Limited to deliver effective support and sustainable housing solutions for people experiencing homelessness. 🏡 Since its inception, the pilot has delivered 847 units of homelessness accommodation, helping to build an evidence base that can motivate future public and private investment into similar social housing initiatives. We’re encouraged by the findings, particularly the evidence suggesting that the Social Investment model offers unique characteristics that can give people experiencing homelessness the best chance of success. Swipe below for some key findings from the report 👇

With the prices of energy, water, and other utilities set to rise this month, new research from Social Investment Business (SIB) reveals that youth charities across the UK are spending up to 50% of their budgets just to cover energy and water bills, putting vital community services at risk. ⚡ To help charities and social enterprises tackle the challenges that high energy costs pose, we partnered with Key Fund Investments to develop the Energy Resilience Fund (ERF) pilot. It explored how social investment can support organisations in reducing energy costs by financing the installation of energy-efficient or environmentally friendly infrastructure. We launched the second phase of the fund last year, delivered through a partnership of social investors led by Social Investment Business, with investment from ourselves, Social Investment Business Foundation, and Access - The Foundation for Social Investment. 🌱 The ERF aims to help purpose-led enterprises strengthen their energy resilience by providing financial and technical support to implement energy-saving measures or renewable energy generation technology. These measures can result in reduced carbon emissions, lower energy costs, and improved energy efficiency ratings to meet regulatory requirements. 🔗 Visit our website to learn more: https://lnkd.in/ep7tB6s5

🤔 Is culture the hidden force behind politics and policy? Our CEO, Stephen Muers, joined the SRI360° podcast with Scott Arnell to explain how unspoken norms and cultural stories influence political behavior far more than economic incentives. 🎧 Tune in for the full episode as Stephen talks about how the UK's social investment market is expanding to address major societal challenges, such as health disparities and inadequate housing. He reflects on our journey since 2011, sharing insights into our progress towards increasing the amount of capital tackling social challenges. Visit the link below to listen to his perspective on what it truly takes to unlock overlooked capital, rethink risk, and build financial systems that work for people, not just portfolios. 👉 https://bit.ly/42foVEQ #SRI360 #SocialImpact

🌟 We were excited to see BBC Morning Live dive into dormant assets last week, spotlighting the work of Reclaim Fund Ltd and how it is helping people recover forgotten funds. The episode features Your Place, an incredible homelessness charity in East London that utilised dormant assets to provide supported housing for 23 former rough sleepers across London. During the segment, Amanda Dubarry, CEO of Your Place, spoke about a £150,000 investment the charity received as a blend of grant and loan. This is called 'blended finance', an approach that brings together different kinds of capital from various partners, helping to make social investment accessible for front-line organisations and investors alike. 🌱 Your Place received this investment through The Growth Fund, a blended grant and loan fund that provides small, affordable and unsecured loans for social enterprises and charities. We are invested in The Growth Fund alongside Access - The Foundation for Social Investment, with support from the The National Lottery Community Fund and partners. Since 2016, it has delivered over £36.5 million in loans and £6.8 million in grants to more than 500 social enterprises and charities. Your Place’s growth story highlights the potential of blended finance to efficiently recycle capital, enhancing value for money for impact-focused investors while growing the amount of investment available to enterprises delivering social and environmental impact. 🚀 Watch the episode (from 15:00) to see how Your Place is using social investment to tackle homelessness in London: https://lnkd.in/gnu8aB5e

Happy Friday, hope you've all had a wonderful week! Here is the latest round-up of jobs and opportunities across the social impact sector: 💻 Sporting Assets is looking to recruit a Head of Investment to lead the team responsible for delivering its investment work. This includes managing existing funds, driving the development of new funds, and supporting any other new investment product or investment management initiatives. If you are a results-oriented investment professional with a passion for driving investment excellence, this role could be ideal for you. 🌟£55,000 - £65,000 Per Annum 🌟Hybrid/ Leeds Apply Now: https://lnkd.in/eX9cv7nm 💻 Finance Earth is looking to hire a Business Development Coordinator to support business development initiatives across the organisation. In this role, you will support the management of relevant portals to scan for new requests for proposals, identify and analyse opportunities for suitability, project-manage the bid writing and proposal processes, and liaise with key stakeholders across the business to gather necessary input. 🌟£34,000 – £37,000 Per Annum 🌟Hybrid/ London Apply Now: https://lnkd.in/d8Rf5BiM 💻 The National Lottery Heritage Fund is recruiting for a full-time Head of Investment on a fixed-term contract (12 months). The primary purpose of this post, in collaboration with an existing Head of Investment, is to jointly lead and manage all investment activity (including National Lottery and other sources) across the London and South Area. 🌟£58,258 - £67,189 (London: £61,725 to £70,657) Per Annum 🌟Hybrid/ London/ Exeter Apply Now: https://lnkd.in/e87n6wyp #SocialImpact #Vacancies