The London Development Agency (LDA) is helping leaders of social enterprises in the capital to build their organisations through a series of interactive workshops which are being held in conjunction with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and Social Enterprise London(SEL).

The workshops will offer valuable advice to directors and trustees to help them strengthen their processes and improve their effectiveness. In this evening’s event - the first in the series - experts from PWC will help participants address the challenges of operating in the current economic climate. Rodney Schwartz from social enterprise development hub ClearlySo and Stephen Dawson from social investor Impetus Trust, will also guide leaders through governance and finance issues specific to this sector.

London Development Agency Group Director Brendan Loughran said:

"London’s social enterprises make a valuable contribution to the capital and by drawing on the expertise of leaders in their field and experts in the private sector they can increase their impact even further.

"I would like to thank PricewaterhouseCoopers and Social Enterprise London for their support in sharing their knowledge, discussing the current challenges and helping social enterprise leaders to explore ways to make the most of opportunities for growth."

Ensuring social enterprises are able to access the knowledge and expertise in commercial organisations in London is an important way of building the capacity of these organisations.

In the coming months the LDA will be working with PWC and SEL to provide more interactive workshops.

Philip Wright, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, commented:

"Social Enterprises need to think like any other enterprise and use opportunities to their advantage and gain market share. To be winners, social enterprises will need to be proactive and focus on what really matters, plan for different scenarios, take advantage of every opportunity and manage costs."

Allison Ogden-Newton, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise London said:

"We are delighted to be working in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers and the LDA on this outstanding new initiative. London’s social enterprises are some of the best in the world and in order to continue achieving their potential they require the best advice and support.

"The contributors this evening are at the cutting edge of business development, and the fact that they are focussing their talents and energy on social enterprise demonstrates just how important the social enterprise movement is to the UK economy." 

Notes to Editors

·Tonight’s event will be covered live on Twitter. If you’re not coming along then follow it here: http://twitter.com/search?q=%23questsocent

·The London Development Agency aims to improve the quality of life for all Londoners - working to create jobs, develop skills and promote economic growth.

·Social Enterprise London runs a network of almost 2000 social enterprises in London, and provides a full programme of business support and guidance to social enterprises from pre start-up to full maturity. It has achieved particular impact in its development of a groundbreaking model for social impact assessment (Social Impact for Local Economies) and in founding the influential Social Enterprise Journal.www.sel.org.uk 

·This evening’s workshop is being held at the BT Centre, with support from BT.

·It is the first in a series. Future workshops are expected to address the following issues:

1. Social Accounting and Social Return on Investment

2. Risk Management & Governance

3. Getting involved with Government and commissioning

4. The role of the Chairman, Chief Executive and Board

5. Commissioning and managing a commissioning bid

6. Governance implications of scaling up

7. Finance for non-financial Board members

·Dates for these workshops will be available via the LDA (www.lda.gov.uk) and SEL (www.sel.org.uk) websites shortly.

·The series of workshops is the first part of the LDA’s package of support for social enterprises in the capital. An online toolkit to help social enterprises set up and grow will be available through Business Link in London in March.

For further information please contact:

Brooke Baldwin, Press Officer

Tel: 020 7593 8474 BrookeBaldwin@lda.gov.uk 

LDA out of hours: 07977 439371 Public enquiries: 020 7593 9000