Social enterprises are on the up

BRITAIN'S top 100 social enterprises are outperforming the rest of the economy according to research out today.

The latest Royal Bank of Scotland SE100 index, which was set up to track the performance of the sector, reveals that social enterprises have grown on average by 91 per cent in the last year, compared to 79 per cent in the previous 12 months.

The index, created by SocialEnterpriselive.com in partnership with the Scots bank, reflects average percentage growth of year-on-year turnover. Social enterprises are classed as businesses trading with a social or environmental purpose.

Peter Ibbetson, chairman, small business, RBS, said: "The SE100 helps us demonstrate the unique role this sector plays in terms of its rapidly increasing contribution to the UK economy."