This week we’ve released our 2023 impact report, which delves into the impact of Kindred’s investees.
The 44 socially-trading organisations we’ve committed money to have created 49 new jobs within the reporting year (which totals 126 jobs in two years); they’ve increased turnover by 77% between 2021 and 2023 and attracted £14m of additional funding.
Our mission has always been to help STOs improve their impact, benefitting the people within their local communities to build a fairer Liverpool City Region – somewhere that’s the best place to grow up, grow a business, and where everyone lives well for longer. Significantly, 49% of the money we invest goes to women-led organisations, and 25% to Black-led social businesses.
Liverpool City Region’s Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has hailed the success of the STOs, saying: “Community businesses are the beating heart of our region, driving both economic growth and social change. We’re the only ones in the country levelling the playing field. With Kindred, we’re putting power and resources into the hands of those who know their communities best, helping them to create good-quality local jobs and attract millions in additional funding.”
Liverpool City Region is making socially-trading organisations central to our economy. Kindred has had visionary support from LCR Combined Authority and our Metro Mayor that is growing social innovation here – and these are the fruits of that work. In 2021, Kindred invested an initial £1m in 24 STOs. By 2023, that had risen to £2m investment in 44 socially-trading organisations, creating 126 new jobs across the two years – they now sustain 281 full-time equivalents between them, a rise of 51%. Their combined turnover rose to almost £10m, an increase of more than £4.3m and attracted an additional £3.5 in investment in 2023 (£14m across the two years).
Kindred’s director, Jennifer Van der Merwe, says, “STOs are demonstrating the long term economic change that social businesses can create. Lots of small organisations, aligned in their mission for impact, are creating something bigger together – and these numbers evidence that impact. Our growing community is growing fast, with impact doubling every year, as socially-trading organisations build a more inclusive and diverse economy. We will only create the economy we want in the Liverpool City Region by making sure that we have robust, resilient and sustainable socially-trading organisations across the region. More jobs, more trade and more investment is just the start of a vision that improves people’s lives, by creating thriving neighbourhoods and communities.”
STOs are high growth and diverse – Vision Community Football CIC had a growth rate of over 200% in 2023; nearly half (49%) of STOs are women-led, and 25% are Black-led social businesses. This is in sharp contrast to research that shows that all-ethnic teams received an average 1.7% of venture capital investment between 2009 and 2019. And, while all ethnic entrepreneurs are underfunded, Black-led organisations receive the smallest share, with 0.24% of the total sum; Black female entrepreneurs experience the poorest outcomes, at just 0.02% over that decade.
Mayor Steve Rotheram adds: “This is devolution in action, enabling local businesses to build a fairer, more inclusive economy, and I’m proud that Liverpool City Region is leading the way.
You can also download and read the impact report in full, here…