We always knew social enterprise is an important part of our economy but a new report, launched today shows the size of the social enterprise sector is more than double previous estimates.
The Hidden Revolution shows that social enterprises contribute £60 billion to UK GDP compared to the previous estimate of £24 billion. Furthermore there are over 100,000 social enterprises in the country, employing 2 million people. In total our sector accounts for 3% of UK GDP – that’s 3 times bigger than agriculture.
Size certainly isn’t everything and from our experience at RIO, we know people are increasingly keen to work for purpose driven businesses that reinvest profits into communities. With 2 million people now working in the sector, the growth of social enterprise is snowballing, demonstrating how robust and sustainable it is as a business model, as well as the opportunities it offers individuals for meaningful careers.
As the sector grows, there is increasing need to mainstream social enterprise in schools, colleges and universities…imagine how quickly the sector could grow if we did that?