An Interview with Charlie Allsebrook from SE-Assist Sussex

We asked Charlie Allsebrook, the Project Manager for SE-Assist Sussex, to answer a few questions about SE-Assist and the support it offers to social enterprises. SE-Assist is an innovative model where social enterprises can access funding and support from large businesses. They are kindly sponsoring our Chamber Business brunch with hiSbe on Friday 10th October 2014.

What is it that SE-Assist does and how does it help social enterprises?

SE-Assist is a pioneering approach to social investment, which brings together large businesses and social enterprises.    

SE-Assist offers a package of support which includes an interest free loan, a business mentor and access to a local bank of experts.

Head of CSR at Legal & General (Graham Precey) refers to SE Assist as ‘helping social enterprises through the teenage years’.

Typically credit cards have been maxed out, friends and family tapped up to help and then what? A bank loan is not really an option at this stage and this is where SE Assist comes in.

What was the driving force behind Legal and General setting up SE-Assist in Sussex?

John Low, Chief Executive of Charities Aid Foundation, shared the below statement:    

“Social entrepreneurs are struggling more and more to find early stage funding as grants drop away and commercial lenders take fewer risks. This is the perfect opportunity for business to step forward and support innovation in their local communities. It would be great to see such partnerships between companies and social start ups to become commonplace.”  

We agreed and decided to carry out some research locally, which informed us that there was a need for this type of package across Sussex. L&G decided to partner with Charities Aid Foundation and to apply for some funding from the NESTA Innovation and Giving fund. The funding application was a success and SE-Assist was born.

Why were hiSbe successful in securing the support of SE-Assist?

Ruth and Amy’s application met all the necessary criteria resulting in them being invited to pitch to the SE-Assist Social Investment Committee. They delivered a very strong pitch fueled with an abundance of passion and commitment to their social enterprise.  At the time they didn’t have their store, however they had a strong business plan, were willing to listen and the Social Investment Committee (SIC) could see the social impact that hiSbe would have on the city, including the creation of jobs.

How have SE-Assist helped hiSbe?

hiSbe received a £5,000 grant to spend on consulting, a £10,000 interest-free loan and mentoring by L&G on financial issues.

SE-Assist was the first financial backing hiSbe secured, giving the business investment credibility and personal validation for founder sisters Ruth and Amy Anslow.

The £5,000 consultation grant was spent on research on a fresh produce consultant who specialises in linking small-scale producers to retailers.

It’s probably best you hear from hiSbe about how we helped. This is what Amy said: “Our successful application to SE-Assist was our very first step to getting the store opened, and everything snowballed from there on. We’re hugely grateful that we were able to kickstart hiSbe into being with such a supportive team behind us at SE-Assist. We firmly believe that social enterprises are the future of business, so we’re thrilled that SE-Assist will continue to do good work in 2014.”

Following the successful SE-Assist application Ruth and Amy launched their very successful crowd-funding campaign.

What were the highlights of the first couple of years?

Informing the winning social enterprises that they had been successful in their application to SE-Assist and then matching them with their L&G business mentors.

Being able to provide a package of support that has resulted in positive and sustainable relationships. This has even resulted in one mentor becoming the chair of one of the social enterprises.

What’s coming up in the next year?

SE-Assist will continue to support the winning social enterprises from 2013 and 2014 and as the loans are being repaid, the money will be recycled and loaned out to other social enterprises across Sussex in 2015. This is the great thing about SE-Assist, the money gets recycled resulting in more social enterprises receiving interest free investment and support from a business mentor and access to a local bank of experts.

We would suggest that anyone in interested in SE-Assist keeps an eye on the website www.se-assist.co.uk especially early next year when applications will open again.

What are your hopes and aspirations for social enterprises in Brighton & Hove?

SE-Assist wants to continue to support the growth of social enterprises locally and further afield (SE-Assist launched in Croydon earlier this year too). We’re keen for businesses to include social enterprises in their procurement processes

SE-Assist is involved with the Brighton & Hove Social Enterprise Network as it’s important to keep informed of the issues that local social enterprises are faced with.

To ensure sustainability of SE-Assist we would welcome new partners to come onboard, whether that be by investing, providing business mentors or joining our bank of experts. We hope just like the LEP did this year that more organisations will see the value and want to come onboard to support this innovative scheme.

What have you learnt about social enterprises in Brighton & Hove?

We continue to learn daily as it’s such a growing sector. One thing that doesn’t change though is the drive, passion and commitment that social enterprises have; something that lots of other businesses could learn from. A business with a social purpose is definitely one to watch and learn from!

We'd like to thank Charlie for answering our questions and SE-Assist for sponsoring our brunch. For further information about SE-Assist please visit their website: https://se-assist.co.uk/sussex/.

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk