We gathered earlier this year with socially-trading organisations (STOs) who have had Kindred investment, for a conversation full of energy, honesty and ambition.
The shared ambition for the next five years is simple but transformative. STOs want a social economy that continues to grow – not as an alternative system, but as part of how our region works. They want to see every borough alive with creative energy, every empty space full of possibility – and every person who wants to make change given the means to do it.
Liverpool City Region’s social economy is a thriving, growing part of our economy, with Kindred members have grown from 150 to 1,500 members in five years. It’s already shaping the region’s future – and our STOs know exactly where they want to take it next.
It wasn’t about scaling endlessly or chasing headlines, it was about deepening opportunities, connections and relationships. About what it really means to grow an economy built on trust, inclusion and shared purpose.
STOs spoke about their pride in what has already been achieved: 200 new jobs, stronger local networks, thriving STOs growing at an average of 20% year on year, with some achieving 50+% year-on-year, and creative spaces where communities gather, imagine and grow more.
They also spoke about momentum – many have grown steadily, building their core team with Kindred’s support and reinvesting their energy and earnings to deliver over £35 million of social and economic impact improving over 4,000 lives.
They’ve become anchors in their communities – the connectors that make neighbourhoods feel alive – and they see what’s possible next.
Taking buildings back
One theme came through clearly: property and place. STOs want to take unused buildings back, filling our city region with life, services and opportunities. They are creating the content buildings need and they can only grow with space to grow into.
Empty shops and unused properties could become shared workspaces, studios, cafés, and childcare hubs. They see these as anchors of community wealth, places that bring people together and make local streets thrive again.
This isn’t wishful thinking. It’s already happening across Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens and Halton, where STOs are breathing life into unused spaces. They’re taking on the risk, pooling their money, time and imagination to turn vacant spaces into vital spaces.
A different kind of growth
STOs were clear about what growth should look like: it isn’t about size; it’s about reach, fairness and the ability to support others.
The social economy has a ripple effect. When one organisation succeeds, it lifts others with it. STOs train local people, commission their peers and colleagues and spend locally. They build supply chains that keep value in the region and create cascades of opportunity. They’ve built economies in places that were once locked out of the economy altogether – and they want that to continue.
Learning the language of investment
STOs also spoke about how they have grown in confidence and skill. They’ve learned the language of investment, reshaped how money works for them and shown that patient capital, rooted in lived experience, delivers real and lasting value.
The next step, they said, is to grow the investment pot to £50 million – through plans for the Liverpool City Region Social Investment Pathfinder – so ideas can grow at their own pace and in their own way.
What STOs need from the wider community
STOs aren’t asking for more attention; they asked for collaboration. They want public bodies, investors and policymakers to work with them, not around them. They want to see the social economy embedded across every sector – in housing, transport, health, culture and beyond.
They called for long-term commitment: flexible finance, supportive policy, access to land and buildings and trust in local leadership. They are ready to lead, but need others to make space for them to do so.
Since our earlier days, Kindred has been led by the needs of STOs and the next five years of our strategy are shaped by these conversations and the collective ambition behind them.
We share the same goal: a city region where social business is the norm, where community wealth is built locally and where the economy works for everyone.
Their views and ideas are reflected in our new film – Kindred, the next five years, which you can watch here: