Case Study: Women Like Us. Sustainable Funding Project

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1 National Council for Voluntary Organisations Sustainable Funding Project Case Study: Key themes An example of a successful innovative social enterprise and community interest company (CIC) How a single innovative idea between two individuals can develop into a 1m turnover organisation employing 45 staff, in just four years Using loan finance as development capital and to manage cashflow timing issues How diverse income streams can help to strengthen the financial resilience of organisations, thereby increasing their capacity for social contribution Developing public service delivery contracts for information, advice and guidance (IAG) and job brokerage

2 Summary is a social enterprise and community interest company which helps recruit women with children into part-time jobs, and helps employers find experienced, part-time staff. Since start-up in April 2005, has registered almost 11,000 women, signed up hundreds of employers using its recruitment services, and established two branches in north and south London with a total of 45 employees. Date This case study is based on an interview held with on 7 October income streams reflect its dual aims to support women to return to work and to operate as a competitive business and so it receives income from a range of sources: Government contracts Awards from trusts and foundations Recruitment and Consultancy fees. Loan Finance to support women to return to work and to operate as a competitive business. How it started It all began in 2005, when two working mums, Karen Mattison and Emma Stewart, had a conversation whilst busy taking their children to and from school. Karen and Emma were then working as freelancers in the voluntary sector and they were constantly asked by other employers for part-time staff, and, as mums, they were also meeting incredibly talented and experienced women at the school gates every day. They put two and two together and started putting the business together from their kitchen tables. As both had a background in the public sector, they were aware that not only were employers and women desperate to make the match, but also this fitted exactly with government priorities of reducing worklessness. And so the idea was born to provide a service that would put employers in touch with these women, and provide both parties with the support they needed to make sure the relationships Women Like Us brokered were lasting ones. There was no real key decision moment, just one point of realisation that together they had placed a number of people in work and they were onto something it was just a natural next step to try and find some pilot money to get it going, which they did by getting funding from the Prom Fund from the DTI (now BERR). and the rest as they say is history. currently operates in 160 schools across London reaching over 100,000 women, with nearly 11,000 women registering to date and 350 new registrations each month. 2

3 How does it work? From school gates Across the UK there are over half a million talented women who want to work but cannot find flexible employment to fit around their family lifestyles. goes to where these women are, where they feel comfortable, and where they are most likely to talk about returning to work: the school gates. to salaries recruit for all kinds of employers, specialising in parttime employment across a range of sectors. Its commercial success is based on its focus to match the ideal job opportunity for each individual, filling a range of parttime job vacancies as diverse as the women it represents. Many of the women have the skills and experience that employers are looking for, but just need the support that provides through career coaching, skills advice and confidencebuilding before returning to work. And beyond.. It doesn t stop there Women Like Us continues to support women once in employment. This enables women to develop and manage transitional times in their careers and helps employers to make flexible working both profitable and productive for their organisation. Mission and activities The founders of are both working mothers. Through their own experience and that of friends, they recognised that there was a need for a service to help get women who have taken a break from employment to get back to work. At the same time, many employers have skill gaps and don t know where to find experienced, reliable part-time staff. Operational model There are four parts to Women Like Us structure: Outreach team (partnering with schools to find women wanting work) Coaching team (providing support to help women get work) Recruitment team (employers paying to recruit through its women) Partnerships team (securing and managing local authority contracts) Government agencies appear to put extra value on ability to place women directly into part-time jobs, and employers value ability to source experienced, professional candidates. Unique competitive advantages The social aspect of Women Like Us has given the organisation unique competitive advantages and barriers-to-entry over the commercial market it faces: Free, direct access to women through the school gates, which it could not obtain as a commercial entity; and Contracts with regional government agencies from funding rounds only open to the voluntary sector; and Specialists in the recruitment of women returnees, which is only possible as a voluntary organisation under sex discrimination law. model has built on its original insight of outreach at school gates (where the charity found the women). As it realised that these women also needed coaching, they added a women s team to provide a wider range of coaching. has since added a commercial recruitment team as an in-house recruitment agency. has been recommended by the Prime Minister s Women and Work Commission for rollout across the UK. 3 has since added a commercial recruitment team as an in-house recruitment agency.

4 Key facts and figures According to the Office of National Statistics/Joseph Rowntree Foundation recent report on poverty, over 500,000 women who want to work in the UK can not because they can not find flexible work to fit around their caring responsibilities. Women returnees are not identified as a specific group in the Government s unemployment figures. When a woman drops out of the labour market to care for children she can lose foothold in the workplace and often returns at a lower pay level and/or lower skill rate. This in itself can contribute to the Gender Pay Gap. The Women and Work Commission estimates that increasing women s participation in the labour market, reducing gender segregation, could be worth up to 23 billion to the UK economy. Factors inhibiting women returning to work Confidence, contacts and opportunities are three key factors inhibiting women to return to work. has supported thousands of women to receive coaching, find employment, start their own businesses or pursue further training. 43% of women have over 10 years previous work experience, and over 80% of candidates who register with have qualifications and skills experience in their field. Of women registered, 25% are lone parents, 24% are on benefits, and 42% of those directly supported are from Black and minority ethnic groups. Income Streams has an annual growth rate of 121% and an annual turnover of just under 1m ( 925,000) in 2007/8. income streams reflect its dual aims to support women to return to work and to operate as a competitive business and so it receives income from a range of sources: Government contracts Awards from trusts and foundations Recruitment and Consultancy fees. Loan Finance have been consulted on its approach to tackling worklessness by a range of national and regional policy makers including the Child Poverty Commission, The London Skills and Employment Board, The London Employers Coalition, The Department for Work and Pensions and The Cabinet Office. Confidence, contacts and opportunities are three key factors inhibiting women to return to work. 4

5 Sustainable Funding Project Case Study: Challenges in terms of securing public sector contracts has successfully transitioned from being an idea (November 2004 to April 2005) to a team of people working together and trying something out (April 2005 to April 2006) and now to an organisation which is developing the recruitment model (May 2006 to date). was officially launched in April 2005 with a service designed to meet the needs of both women and employers. The work was initially funded by the DTI, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the ESF and Camden Council. 5 It was difficult to secure public sector contracts without a long and proven track record. However was able to use the success of the pilot project combined with developing a track record in service delivery funded through other funders and then a lot of detailed research about key issues to demonstrate need and their ability to address that need. Since April 2005 has secured over 2.5million in public funds to tackle worklessness by securing contracts with a range of agencies including the London Development Agency, London Councils (ESF programme), Job Centre Plus and various local authorities.

6 How used loan finance as development capital and to manage cashflow timing issues has benefited from loan finance agreements from Venturesome. About Venturesome Venturesome is a social investment fund - a Charities Aid Foundation initiative launched in Venturesome provides advice and capital investment to charities and other social purpose organisations. Venturesome recognises that capital investment is necessary - for growth, covering cash flow difficulties or weathering difficult periods - but difficult to access. Such financial needs may fall outside the criteria of a grant maker, but be too risky for a bank loan. Venturesome fills this funding gap, providing capital investment tailored to suit the needs of individual organisations. Venturesome learns from its practical work with charities and captures that learning, sharing it with the emerging social market in order to encourage greater access to capital investment. What is social investment? Social investment is the use of money to achieve both a social and financial return. Social investment can range from making loans to charities to buying shares in companies with a social mission, such as Café Direct. Social investment does not usually include giving grants or donations, nor mainstream commercial loans. Venturesome is a social investment fund using money to achieve both a social and financial return. 6

7 Sustainable Funding Project Case Study: Venturesome loans to Venturesome places a high value on social impact and works with organisations to ensure that their work is effective, so there was a good fit with. Loan finance agreements have been arranged to meet two main needs: A need for development capital A need to ease cashflow pinch points The most recent facility is to support working capital needs as it strengthens its presence in London through its two offices. This strengthening requires investment into new staff (especially in HR, IT and Admin), marketing (e.g. to promote the private coaching service), and additional office space at its north London site. 7 In May 2005, Venturesome offered a start-up, a 50,000 unsecured facility structured into two tranches: (i) 25,000 standby facility; and (ii) 25,000 unsecured loan facility available until 30 April The first tranche was recycled undrawn. The second tranche was drawn down and 15,000 remains outstanding. In August 2006, Venturesome offered a 35,000 working capital loan facility to manage short-term cash flow difficulties during the final quarter of 2006 that arose from the timing of the receipt of confirmed contractual income. The facility was accepted, but never drawn down. It was fully recycled on 31 March In May 2007, Venturesome offered a 50,000 standby facility to underpin reserves. This was offered on a reducing balance basis so that no more than 25,000 is outstanding from 1 December 2007 to 30 September It was never drawn down. In March 2008, Venturesome offered 125,000 an unsecured standby loan at 6% on a reducing balance basis.

8 Sustainable Funding Project Case Study: Conclusions What were the key learning points? always listens to what its clients are saying. They found early on that there were two key barriers that women were coming up against in getting back to work: confidence and contacts to find work. So they set about addressing these barriers. Listening to what s right for the women has always been key in their evolution. Karen Mattison says that, early on, they came to trust their own instincts more. Sometimes you know something isn t quite right and when that happened, sometimes we doubted ourselves and could have acted quicker What does it mean to run as a social enterprise? It might help to firstly clarify what constitutes a social enterprise : it is any revenue-generating organisation that produces tangible social benefits to society (and are motivated more by public and social good than private gain). overall social aim is to support women with children to return to employment that fits around their family life, and it reinvests its profits back into the business to continue to achieve this objective. goal has a core social purpose, which it chooses to operate as a social enterprise as this allows it to run a competitive service for both women and employers. It means that its clients can be assured they are receiving a highly professional and efficient service and that they can achieve profit targets that help to grow the business and ultimately reach more women who need their support. The high levels of worklessness amongst women particularly single women with young children is one of the prime causes of poverty and social exclusion. directly tackles this issue, helping women to return to work in part-time, flexible jobs and earn income for their families. This in turn increases labour productivity from an otherwise economically inactive group in the community, whilst also enabling parents to spend quality time with their children. In addition, as well as positively impacting on child poverty, Women Like Us supports community cohesion by linking women with local jobs 8

9 The future Acting on the Prime Minister s Women and Work Commission recommendation for the national rollout of its services, has already extended its services to South London with a new branch in London Bridge. Awards has been awarded/ included in: Queen s Award for Enterprise (innovation category), 2009 She Magazine s Social Pioneer category in the 2009 Inspirational Women of the Year Awards (Karen Mattison, Director Women Like Us) 2008 Archant North and West London Business awards, Business Innovation category Named as one of Striding Out s Future 100 Social Entrepreneurs (David Curtis, Director of Women Like Us) 2008 Prowess Awards Winner in two categories Inspirational Business Mum and Female Social Entrepreneur (Karen Mattison) 2007 Enterprising Solutions Award for Best New Social Enterprise - Winner 2006 Recruit Rank Award for Best Recruitment Advertising - Winner Summary of key facts and figures 500,000 women in the UK who want to get back in to work (part-time) 100,000 women have been contacted by through its schools network 11,000 women have registered with since start-up in ,000 unique visitors per month to website Partnered with 160 schools to reach school gate mums 350 new women register with every month supported over 1,000 women to receive coaching and enabled over 700 to find employment 50% of women have over 10 years previous work experience. The average annual full time equivalent salary level for vacancies filled is over 24,000. This ranges from 18,000 to 60,000. Of women registered, 36% are lone parents, 16% are on benefits, and 48% of those directly supported are from BME groups works with over 750 employers from national corporates and large charities to local authorities and small businesses. Nearly a quarter of employers are from repeat business. Works with over 40 training and advice agencies. 97% of employees work part-time, and over 80% are women who have returned to work after having children 9

10 Contact details: To contact call or womenlikeus.org.uk Address in north London: Bickerton House 25 Bickerton Road London N19 5JT Address in south London: 5-11 Lavington Street, London SE1 0NZ Venturesome: A Charity Aid Foundation (CAF) initiative aspx?page=6903 You can contact Venturesome by ing them using the form on their website, and one of their team will then call you back. Or you can contact them direct by calling Or by writing to: Venturesome Charities Aid Foundation St Andrew s House St Andrew Street London EC4A 3AY This case study was completed through the Innovation Project which receives funding from the Office of the Third Sector. NCVO s Sustainable Funding Project is the sector s premier provider of tools and resources encouraging and enabling voluntary and community organisations to develop and implement a sustainable income strategy. Visit our website at or call us on for further information and to subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter.