A social enterprise model be embraced by businesses could help Scotland better recover from Covid-19

Social enterprises can play a key role in helping Scotland to recover from Covid-19.

The Scottish Government’s Advisory Group on Economic Recovery has launched a consultation on how the country should respond once the pandemic begins to subside in Scotland.

And Community Enterprise in Scotland (CEIS) wants to see social enterprises at the forefront of the economic fightback.

In a response to the consultation, CEIS chair Maureen Porch said that businesses should learn from social enterprises to help staff feel valued.

She said: “In relation to business practice I would strongly commend a social enterprise model as being eminently suited to the recovery phase and beyond.

“The effects of coronavirus have highlighted that the market value of jobs does not match the social value that we would associate with those jobs that have proved so vital over the last few months.

“A social enterprise model that is business orientated and is comfortable with trading, with competition and with accountability. But crucially it is a model that focuses squarely on its social and environmental impact and where any profits are reinvested for that purpose. In doing so the vast majority of social enterprises have an excellent track record on fair employment and is a sector where pay is proportionate to skills and responsibility avoiding the vast salary and condition chasms that are a feature of parts of the private sector.

“The sector can play an increasingly prominent role in economic recovery and in certain sectors, for example in care services, is clearly allied to an ethical and values driven service.”

The letter also highlights the importance of local production in helping business with global supply chains likely to face challenges, with the Community Wealth Building model which is being driven forward in North Ayrshire highlighted as a good example of community recovery.