Our Story
Social Enterprise Scotland is The Voice of Social Enterprise - uniting social enterprises and their supporters into a strong campaigning force. We're your gateway to Scotland's social enterprise community.
Social Enterprise Scotland is an independent, Scottish, membership-led organisation, built and controlled by social enterprises. We're the first point of contact for the media and public and promote a positive vision for social enterprise. Membership is open to anyone. Join here online in a few easy steps and discover the great package of benefits and how to access our influential networks.
We're based in Edinburgh city centre with a staff team of five (four full-time and one part-time) plus one part-time office volunteer. We have 14 Board members and a large social enterprise membership, both very active and involved in the organisation. See all staff and Board details here. All members are here.
We're a registered Company Limited by Guarantee: SC294227. We were originally incorporated in 2005 as the 'Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition' and rebranded at the end of 2011 as 'Social Enterprise Scotland'.
We pro-actively engage with our social enterprise partners, the public sector, the media, the private sector and the wider public. We work in partnership with many other organisations in and outwith the broad social enterprise movement and with The Scottish Government and Parliament and local authorities.
We offer a wide-ranging membership package and help you navigate the world of social enterprise. All social enterprise business support, including start-up, funding and procurement guidance is here.
We organise the annual world's biggest social enterprise trading, networking and learning event - The Social Enterprise Exchange, as well as regular local policy events. We run the national Scottish social enterprise awards. We send out a weekly, comprehensive social enterprise news bulletin to members. We also founded and organise Scotland's national policy forum for social enterprise in The Scottish Parliament.
We work to our objectives to:
- build the organisation as a well-managed, membership-led organisation, representing the full range of social enterprise in Scotland.
- raise the profile of social enterprise as a dynamic business model, championing the values and benefits of social enterprise to a broad range of stakeholders.
- represent the needs and views of social enterprise to policy and decision-makers in Scotland.
Please contact us at any time for more information or just to have a chat about social enterprise in Scotland. Take a look around the website and discover something new today!
To watch a short film about social enterprise in Scotland please click here.
Princess Royal Sports & Community Trust, social enterprise in Banff
