PwC UK holds a firm belief in the transformative power of social enterprises. Over the years, they have been working with social entrepreneurs, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge, to help them expand their networks and grow successful sustainable businesses.
The latest State of Social Enterprise report from Social Enterprise UK shows that there are over 131,000 social enterprises in the UK, generating a profit in excess of £1.2 billion and employing around 2.3 million people UK wide1.
Our collaboration with social entrepreneurs, the exchange of our team’s expertise, and our commitment to their growth are fundamental to PwC UK’s purpose of building trust in society and solving important problems. This initiative aligns seamlessly with PwC UK’s successful social mobility programme Through the PwC UK Social Entrepreneurs Club, we provide a platform for entrepreneurs to network with peers and PwC professionals. As members, they gain exclusive access to a range of opportunities for networking, skills development and mentorship.
1 Mission Critical: State of Social Enterprise Survey 2023', Social Enterprise UK, November 2023
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PwC UK founded the Social Entrepreneurs Club in 2011 with an aim to bring social enterprises together for social innovation and support them to measure their social impact. The club centres around five core offerings, providing members the opportunity to select the activities that will help them the most. Any UK based social enterprise can apply to be part of the club so long as they meet the set out criteria. New members are welcomed to the Club each month and PwC UK tailors activities around the emerging needs of members.
The core offerings the club focuses on are:
“I wanted to let you know how fantastic the recent Group Coaching session was that I attended. The PwC volunteer team were genuinely interested in our social enterprise and keen to help solve our problems. I left with a combination of solutions to implement and other areas to explore on topics that I had previously been pulling my hair out over. It was such a fantastic experience and I'm ever so grateful to your team and the wider PwC team for their help.”
“The Design Thinking masterclass was excellent training and we can adapt the materials to our context in Sierra Leone, taking into consideration the limited access to the internet. It also fits our community engagement work of collaborating to solve critical problems with energy access. The masterclass was timely and we'll be able to use the method and matrix as we move into new Solar Home Systems using PAYGO technology.”
In fiscal year 2023, PwC UK volunteers spent over 5,600 hours supporting 382 beneficiary social enterprise leaders.
“Our focus going forward is to support social entrepreneurs with digital upskilling and deep dive skills development sessions to help them scale. This is a fantastic example of New World New Skills in action and empowers social entrepreneurs to be the disruptors of tomorrow.”