21/12/10
The shortlist of proposals which will be developed into financial products and services that could be made available by the Big Society Bank when it launches next April has been announced.
Twenty[1] projects have been selected by an external panel of social sector and financial market experts chaired by Sir John Gieve, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. The projects will receive up to £10,000 to help develop their proposals so they are ready for investment. They are:
* Abundance
A radical new approach to financial services which will allow the public to participate more directly in funding social, environmental and community assets using a simple to understand regulated investment product.
* Big Issue Invest
Big Issue Invest are working with Mark Campanale for the development, market-testing and launch of a London AIM listed social investment fund that would invest in both UK exchange listed and early stage social purpose businesses such as healthcare, education and social housing.
* CAF Venturesome
The CAF Impact Fund is the first UK retail impact investment product that invests directly in social purpose organisations.
* Charity Bank Limited
Developing a standard, turnkey solution for charities to raise investment capital, unsecured and at scale from the growing social investment market.
* Community Finance Solutions, University of Salford
Community Finance Solutions is developing a new fund to support Community Land Trusts to develop affordable rental housing.
* Development Trusts Association
The Community Shares programme, a joint initiative between Co-operatives UK and the Development Trusts Association are developing a fund to support equity investment in community-owned enterprises.
* Ethex Ltd
A web-based meeting place for ethical investors and social enterprises, making it easy for individuals to invest in businesses with a social mission.
* Fair Finance
Fair Finance is raising social and commercial capital to scale up its affordable credit service to tackle loan sharking and extortionate lending in London.
* Finance South East
A national mezzanine loan fund for social enterprises co-investing alongside business angels in an innovative and collaborative manner.
* Five Lamps
Seeking to move its successful financial inclusion activities on to a regional platform, growing the scale of lending to excluded individuals by securing a significant injection of social finance capital.
* Impact Assets, administered by The Calvert Foundation
Impact Assets is exploring how it can develop impact investing in the UK.
* Local Partnerships
A mutual and social enterprise spin-out fund to support independent, innovative and enterprising staff-led spin-outs from local public bodies with youth services as a priority investment area.
* London Rebuilding Society
A financially sustainable home improvement scheme to support the London element of the government target that 75% of vulnerable homeowners will live in decent homes by 2020.
* Natural Conclusion – Lincolnshire Community Foundation
A land and legacy project for Lincolnshire (to be cascaded UK wide) where the surplus from land-based social enterprises goes into grant pots for local communities.
* One Church 100 Uses
One Church 100 Uses supports church congregations to explore more entrepreneurial, mixed use of church buildings. Borrowing is an important option for raising funds and they are developing appropriate loan products.
* Resonance
A £2m fund and investor club for underwriting asset backed community share issues with a target of unlocking over £10m from people investing in their own communities.
* Sidekick Studios
Sidekick Studios is developing Sidekick School, a technology incubator for social businesses.
* Shaftesbury Partnership
The Franchising Works Licence Fund is a social investment fund that helps unemployed people start up franchise businesses by purchasing franchise licences on their behalf until their businesses are able to repay the loan.
* Social Finance Ltd
Social Finance is developing further social impact bonds.
* Social Stock Exchange Ltd
A public stock market for social enterprises, social purpose businesses and social instruments such as bonds to list and to allow social impact investors spanning the public and institutions to find companies and deals to invest in for outcomes that blend the financial with the social.
The projects will be reviewed by the panel in January 2011. The final selection of the financial products is expected to be announced in February.