Enterprise

Our role is to support existing; emerging and aspiring social enterprises to become, and remain, sustainable businesses that fulfil a social purpose. It’s also about identifying and nurturing future potential, particularly amongst social economy organisations that see trading as part of their growth strategy.

Business consultancy

Our team of business advisers is the most comprehensive and most experienced in the UK. We provide a complete range of services from idea generation, business planning through to crisis management.

As a social enterprise ourselves we also believe that how we work with you is critical to ensure that you have true ownership of the products and services we deliver. Consequently our step by step process will be agreed with yourselves before we start working with you to ensure you fully understand what we will deliver and when.

Specialist sectors

Our advisers have helped develop expertise and increase capacity in social enterprises operating in a range of sectors. Our team of advisers work with around eighty organisations each year covering a range of areas such as childcare, credit unions, employability, environment, health, housing associations, social firms, development trusts, social care, and community regeneration and development. We pride ourselves on ensuring we deliver what they want and many of those organisations come back to us for more support on different issues.

Financial Management Training for Senior Staff and Board Members of Third Sector Organisations

CEiS, and partners, are running free of charge financial management training workshops across Scotland, to address the varying needs of:

• Senior managers, trustees and boa rd members of Third Sector organisations with little or no finance training
• Senior staff working in Third Sector organisations who may manage budgets but have limited financial training
• Those within Third Sector organisations who have significant financial responsibilities

The aim of the training is to significantly improve the capacity of Third Sector organisations to control finances and engage in high quality financial planning.

These interactive workshops will use a participative process with worked examples based on previous experiences in the sector, appropriate learning from the wider commercial sector and the experience of the Business Advisers involved in the training delivery, allowing the participants to contribute and share ideas and experiences.

The workshops will offer a mixture of class based activity, participative learning exercises and peer learning. Alternatively, courses 1 & 2 are available online. The training will be offered at three levels to ensure the expectations and needs of each participant are addressed.

Workshop 1: Finance for Senior Managers, Trustees and Boards Formal training workshop (1 day)
Glasgow 21st April 2010 Edinburgh 3rd June 2010
Dumfries 14th Sept 2010 Aberdeen 2nd Nov 2010

Workshop 2: Finance for non-finance managers - Classroom based workshop (3 days)
Inverness 28th April, 16th June and 29th Sept 2010
Glasgow 5th May, 25th Aug and 10th Nov 2010
Dundee 26th May, 18th Aug and 17th Nov 2010
Edinburgh 23rd June, 22nd Sept and 24th Nov 2010

Workshop 3: Advanced finance for managers - Residential workshop (2 days)
Perth or Stirling 4th and 5th Nov 2010

For more information and to apply,  click here to take you to the online application and questionnaire. This will allow us to match you to the appropriate course and venue.

Alternatively call on 0141 425 2945.

CEiS operates a number of social enterprise support programmes in partnership with Government and Public authority partners to develop capacity and support growth while remaining financially accessible.

Aspire to Enterprise is a programme providing a range of Business Support Services to ambitious, developing social enterprises in central and lowland Scotland.

The programme offers access to development support to organisations with the drive and potential to increase their trading activity to become more sustainable enterprises. Aspire to Enterprise aims to help organisations gain the skills they need to improve sustainability.

The programme will accept applications from those organisations who meet the following eligibility criteria:

• The government criteria for social enterprise
• Are already trading
• Have a minimum total turnover of £60K and under £600k per annum
• Can benefit from tailored development assistance prior to accessing mainstream support
• Social enterprises successful in accessing the programme will receive a business health check and a tailored programme of support to develop their trading capacity. Support will cover:
  • Business planning
  • Financial planning
  • Market research and marketing
  • Investment readiness and raising finance
  • Legal support
• Alternatively, aspiring social enterprises can benefit from a range of seminars designed to stimulate entrepreneurial activity for future development.

Aspire to Enterprise is funded by the Scottish Government, managed by CEiS and delivered by CEiS and Forth Sector Development. The Aspire to Enterprise Advisory Group consists of CEiS, Forth Sector Development, Senscot, First Port, Development Trust Association Scotland, Community Recycling Network Scotland and Social Firms Scotland.

The aim of the contract is to provide support to those social enterprises that demonstrate the best growth potential and work with these enterprises so that they qualify to access future business support through Business Gateway and/or Scottish Enterprise.

Applications for support can be made via the website www.aspiretoenterprise.org.uk or by calling John Hughes, Project Development Manager on 0141 425 2939 or by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Commonwealth Games 2014 – Procurement Opportunities for Social Enterprise Organisations

www.aspiretoenterprise.org.uk/comgames.asp

In hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2014, Glasgow is challenged to maximise the economic, social and environmental impacts associated with the event for the benefit of the city and Scotland as a whole.

It is our aim to promote the role that social enterprises can play in maximising that legacy for communities in Glasgow, Scotland and throughout the UK. As such, we are delighted to announce that an extension has been afforded to the aspire to enterprise programme for 2009 and 2010 to assist social enterprises who have the potential to take advantage of Commonwealth Games procurement opportunities.

Aspire to enterprise’s Commonwealth Games programme has been designed to offer a combination of practical support to individual social enterprises alongside specific assistance for groups of social enterprises to build partnerships to increase capacity and improve tendering opportunities. Underpinning these activities is a series of FREE to attend events which will build the knowledge base to close the gap between service procurers and the social enterprise sector.

Details of events in the aspire to enterprise series and information on how to book your place can be found on the “seminars” page on this website. Remember, they are all fully-funded by the aspire to enterprise programme and are therefore FREE to attend.

You can also contact the aspire to enterprise team direct on: 0141 429 2939 or via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tender Writing Training

Delivery of services to the public sector is an important market for enterprising Third Sector organisations.  How do you find out about these opportunities and how do you write a successful tender document?

CEIS, the Supplier Development Programme, and partners, are running a series of free of charge tender writing workshops across Scotland. Designed specifically for managers and staff of Third Sector organisations, who have responsibility for business development and tender writing, the workshops will offer practical guidance for organisations wishing to compete for public sector contracts.

The interactive workshops will include contributions from experts, including procurement practitioners and organisations with experience of successful tender writing. The programme has been designed for introductory, intermediate and advanced levels.

Workshop 1: Introductory - Accessing Public Sector Tenders (1 day)
Angus 19th April 2010 Fife 20th April 2010
Glasgow 26th May 2010 Inverness 7th Sept 2010 Borders 1st July 2010 Edinburgh 9th Dec 2010

Workshop 2: Intermediate - Successful Tendering for Public Sector Contracts (3 days)
Dundee 13th May, 20th May and 27th May 2010
Glasgow 8th June, 15th June and 22nd June 2010
Inverness 30th Sept, 8th Oct and 21st Oct 2010
Edinburgh 13th Jan, 20th Jan and 27th Jan 2011

Workshop 3: Advanced - Advanced Tendering for Public Sector Contracts (3 days)
Edinburgh 11th May, 18th May and 25th May 2010
Ayrshire 1st June, 8th June and 15th June 2010
Aberdeen 2nd Sept, 9th Sept and 16th Sept 2010
Glasgow 12th Jan, 19th Jan and 26th Jan 2011

For more information and to apply,  click here to take you to the online application and questionnaire. This will allow us to match you to the appropriate course and venue.

Our Ready for Business and Aspire Commonwealth Games programmes enable us to support procurement agencies, contractors and social enterprises to maximise community benefit.

Ready for Business

Ready for Business is a programme of support developed for social enterprises, commercial organisations and procurements agencies. The programme has been designed following research undertaken by CEiS amongst social enterprises and feedback from other agencies which recognised the need for social enterprises to develop closer links with the private sector. Using the Commonwealth Games as an impetus, Ready for Business will support social enterprises, procurement agencies and commercial organisations to create maximum value from procurement.

The programme will be delivered by a partnership of CEiS, Social Firms Scotland and Senscot and it will focus on 5 key areas:

• Dissemination events
• Development of a register of social enterprises
• Support to social enterprises and consortia
• Research and development of best practice
• Support to commercial and Procurement Agencies

Commonwealth Games

The 2014 Commonwealth Games represents a unique opportunity for social enterprises to develop and grow whilst delivering their social objectives. The support programme has been designed to offer a combination of the practical support to individual social enterprises and specific assistance for groups of social enterprises to build partnerships to increase capacity and improve tendering opportunities.

Underpinning these elements is a series of events which will build the knowledge base to close the gap between service procurers and the social enterprise sector.

The programme has 4 key elements:

• Dissemination events
• Skills development
• Consultancy support
• Cluster and consortia development

Market Development and Incubation

At CEiS we have the capacity and experience to incubate and mentor significant developments including Specialisterne, the software and systems testing business for people with ASD (autism spectrum disorder). We work with social enterprises to develop new markets and new models to achieve sustainable social enterprise growth.

Investing in Enterprise

CEiS’ Investing in Enterprise programme has been designed to take a proactive approach to supporting the formation and development of new social enterprises in Lowlands Scotland in order to grow revenue and create jobs within the sector. Its core activities focus on identifying and matching potentially sustainable market opportunities with sustainable social enterprises, and supporting them in the development of these new opportunities. The programme is currently being delivered in Glasgow, North and South Lanarkshire, North Ayrshire and Inverclyde, financed through European Structural Funds, public sector match funding and client contributions.

Specialisterne

Established in 2004, Specialisterne is a successful Danish software testing company with a multi-million pound turnover, that services a number of the leading IT and telecommunications companies in the world, and three-quarters of whose workforce comprises adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Specialisterne is pursuing an internationalisation strategy in order to expand its business and create employment for people with ASD on a worldwide basis. CEiS is currently in discussion with Specialisterne and potential funders in Scotland with a view to replicating this Social Firm model in Glasgow in order to create employment for people with ASD and to develop its Enabling Centre for application with other groups of individuals severely disadvantaged in the labour market. The proposed approach will be for CEiS to undertake an incubator role for the business before launching it as a wholly-owned subsidiary (Specialisterne UK) under licence from Specialisterne in Denmark.

At CEiS we take the view that every social enterprise from the smallest to the largest can be measuring their social impact. Recently, we have been in discussion with a Canadian based non-profit organisation (Vancity Community Foundation) on introducing their new impact measurement initiative to social enterprise organisations in the UK.

Demonstrating Value

Demonstrating Value is a management tool for social and environmental businesses. It helps organisations work out what information is critical to track, and to develop systems to effectively gather and use this information. This includes social and environmental metrics that can often be difficult to define and collect. The information is then organised in an engaging summary called a Social Enterprise Snapshot. This snapshot clearly presents performance information to support on-going decision-making, planning, fundraising and other communication needs.