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Although this definition includes enterprises that have legal forms – such as companies limited by guarantee and community interest companies – that restrict the distribution of profits and assets, it isn’t limited to these. Social Enterprise: Market Trends 2019 defines social enterprises as “a diverse range of organisations that have an explicit social mission, receive at least 50% of their annual income from trading, and reinvest at least 50% of their annual surplus into their social mission”. “It should be noted that the social enterprise support community often takes a narrower definition of social enterprise than that used by the government, with a focus on organisations that restrict the distribution of profit and assets because of their legal form or changes to their articles of association.” “The DCMS research is taking a very broad definition of social enterprise,” he said. Professor Lyon pointed out that different organisations take varying approaches to calculating the size of the social enterprise sector in the UK. The most recent research from Social Enterprise UK, the representative body for social enterprises, has calculated 100,000 social enterprises across the country, using a different definition.

The last time this government research was carried out was in 2017, when the figure was put at 471,000 social enterprises and sole traders, employing just under 1.5m people. “All these businesses are the bedrock of many communities, offering health care services, arts and wellbeing.” And the 325,000 self-employed people who also put social and environmental goals ahead of profit can be hidden even further. Professor Fergus Lyon, the director of CEEDR, wrote in an article to accompany the publication of the research: “The majority of the 131,000 enterprises identified in this report are a hidden force for good that is often ignored, despite their role as a basis of an alternative economy that puts people and planet ahead of profit. The majority of the 131,000 enterprises identified in this report are a hidden force for good that is often ignored, despite their role as a basis of an alternative economy that puts people and planet ahead of profit It encompasses social enterprises within the voluntary and community sector as well as mission-led or purposeful businesses with private sector legal forms. The research aims to identify the number of social enterprises among the UK’s small businesses, using the DCMS definition which includes enterprises and sole traders that have an explicit social or environmental mission and reinvest at least 50% of their surplus into this mission. It was written by the Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research (CEEDR) at Middlesex University Business School and commissioned by the civil society and youth directorate of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) which coordinates UK government social enterprise policy. Social Enterprise: Market Trends 2019 was published on 31 August 2022. There are 131,000 small businesses along with 325,000 self-employed people in the UK which meet the UK government’s definition of social enterprise, according to the latest research.