Viewpoint Awarded Social Enterprise Mark
19th July 2010
Viewpoint has been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark, which identifies us as trading for social and environmental purposes.
The Social Enterprise Mark is the brand for social enterprises and was launched 1st February, 2010. The Mark identifies businesses which meet defined criteria for social enterprise, and consumers will recognise that businesses displaying the Mark are trading to benefit people and planet.
Alistair Ponton, Viewpoint Managing Director said: “We’re really proud to have been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark. Viewpoint is absolutely committed to creating employment opportunities for people who find it difficult to get fulfilling jobs due to a disability or other disadvantage in the workplace.”
Lucy Findlay, Managing Director of the Social Enterprise Mark Company (manager of the Mark) said:
“We are delighted to award the prestigious Social Enterprise Mark to Viewpoint. It's great to see a vital, local company understanding the importance of being part of the wider social enterprise brand.
“As the distinctive and exciting brand for social enterprise, the Mark identifies businesses which meet defined criteria, enabling consumers to recognise those that are trading to benefit people and planet. It also helps those businesses promote their business ethics and values. We hope that the Social Enterprise Mark will do for social enterprise what the Fair Trade Mark did for fair trade.”
Government data estimates that there are 62,000 social enterprises across the UK, contributing £24 billion to the economy and employing around 800,000 people.
Recent research found that social enterprises are twice as confident of growth compared to typical small to medium enterprises (SMEs), with 48% of social enterprises saying they are positive about the future as opposed to just 24% of SMEs (The Social Enterprise Coalition’s State of Social Enterprise Survey 2009).
Social enterprises are working to make a difference across the UK and beyond, but not enough people know what they are or how they work. The Social Enterprise Mark aims to raise awareness of what social enterprises do in order to get more people to buy from, engage with, start up and work for social enterprises.
