Two pioneering social enterprises have received the most prestigious award for businesses in the UK. In April 2008, both Green-Works and Shared Interest were named as winners of this year’s Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition of their contributions to sustainable development.
Shared Interest is a co-operative lending society that aims to reduce poverty in the world by providing fair and just financial services. The society has more than 8,600 members who have invested over £23 million enabling it to make a range of financial services available to fair trade producers and the businesses that buy, market and retail their goods. Primarily it provides finance up front to producers, often via their buyers, to enable them to buy raw materials, tools and the other things they need at the time they need them. It also offers longer term loans and other credit facilities to support the development of fair trade businesses.
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| Sifting coffee beans at Villa Oriente Co-operative, one of Shared Interest’s customers in Bolivia. Photo courtesy of Shared Interest |
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The society, which has headquarters in Newcastle, has been part of the fair trade movement for 18 years and works extensively with community-based businesses in Africa, Asia and South America to help them make the most of fair trade.
Patricia Alexander, managing director of Shared Interest, said: “This award is a great achievement for everyone involved with Shared Interest. It is a tribute to our staff, investors and customers. It shows that being ethical and enterprising are not mutually exclusive ways of working.
“Being a modern business devoted to social impact means everyone wins - our investors, staff and most importantly our customers. We can support people to enjoy better livelihoods through our lending by being efficient and effective as a business in a way that is the envy of commercial enterprises across the country.”
Established in London in 2000, Green-Works is a pioneering social enterprise and environmental charity that manages and recycles redundant office furniture on an industrial scale. It does this by collecting unwanted furniture from corporate clients, refurbishing the items, and then selling the recycled furniture at discounted rates to not-for-profit organisations, charities and social enterprises.
Since it was set up the enterprise has greatly expanded and its services are now delivered through a growing network of delivery partners across the UK, including charities and social enterprises. In 2006 it also launched a joinery service with finance from a £2 million London Development Agency fund which is managed by Co-operative & Community Finance and London Rebuilding Society. The service means that as well as refurbishing items, Green-Works now also manufactures new and bespoke furniture for the home and workplace using materials from unwanted items. It is also involved in numerous employment and training programmes and has created more than 80 jobs for marginalised people across the country.
Speaking on the award, Green-Works founder and chief executive Colin Crooks said: “Since 2000 we have diverted more than 60,000 tonnes of redundant office furniture away from landfill and redirected second hand equipment to over 5,000 organisations including schools, charities and small businesses, saving them around £2.5 million in the process. This in itself marks Green-Works’ success but it is fantastic that this achievement has been recognised and this award will provide us with a platform to continue our work not only in the UK but across the globe.”
The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise recognise and reward outstanding achievement by UK companies and are presented in three separate categories: international trade, innovation and sustainable development - recognising companies that have integrated environmental, social, economic and management aspects of sustainable development into their business.
The Awards are made each year by the Queen, on the advice of the prime minister, who is assisted by an advisory committee that includes representatives of government, industry and commerce, and the trade unions.
www.shared-interest.com
www.green-works.co.uk
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