Yes its that time of year when as well as promoting social enterprise to anyone who will stand still long enough to hear me, and looking after the family, you can add Christmas fairy.
At the best of times life can be a bit circus like, hitting all the targets, making all the meetings and as I did last Tuesday picking up a winter coat for my eldest and then dragging it from venue to venue. Actually it was quite an interesting day. I had a great chin wag with government innovation leading light, Ruth Kennedy in Westminster then off to the very grand Marlborough House on Pall Mall for a reception for the First International Responsible Capitalist of the Year awards. My co-chair Sophi Tranchell, the Managing Director of Divine Chocolate was getting one of this years awards and despite the dodgy title it was a very exciting moment for Sophi and our movement, so I wanted to be there to cheer her on. Previous winners have been the CEO's of GlaxoSmithKline, Starbucks and Siemens. This was their first sortie into the social enterprise world and judging but the cheer Sophi's speech got, I hope it won't be their last. She was given her award by Vince Cable, who was a very engaged listener as Sophi's spoke eloquently of being in business to change business and ethical behaviour needing to be central to what you do not just a nice add on.
Prior to the ceremony I chatted to Douglas Hurd about his son Nick, our Minister. He spoke of Nick's enthusiasm for the brief and seemed a very proud dad, which was nice. I also bumped into Trevor Bayliss who was charming as always. We often see him in our favourite pub in Twickenham so seeing each other in such a grand setting was odd. My 12 year old is his biggest fan and wants to be Trevor when he grows up, either that or Gromit.
I then shot off late to the Guardian Public Service Awards, a dinner I needed to go to as I had been a judge this year. On the way there, I got a call from the event organiser which made my heart sink. My first thought was that I was speaking and had forgotten, after all you don't usually get a call checking if your turning up once an event has started. No, she reassured me, it was just that they had put me on the top table with the Guardian MD and Jeremy Vine and by not being there I had left an empty seat. Oops. It turned out to be a really fun table, apparently I was the only person there whom Jeremy had not had on his show and as if to make up for it he gave me quite a grilling on social enterprise, which he seemed really interested in. The awards were inspiring, its a great idea to recognise those people who often do thankless jobs in the public sector and do them really well for the benefit of all of us.
At midnight I picked up my son's coat from its third cloakroom of the day and headed home thinking about the thousand additional little jobs that need doing in the next 4 weeks. Thank god for technology. I have created my annual multiple Christmas spread sheets, drawn up my schedules and hit the internet hard. All very spontaneous. With over 50 close friends and relatives to gift, and the kids to sort as well as the house to de clutter, again, decorate and prepare for invasion, its always a lively month. Still, as a firm believer in the six p's (Prior planning prevents a piss poor performance) and as someone who needs very little sleep, I'm ahead of the game.
I tell you what I am looking forward to though, is a drink! This is Day 24 of my no-alchol regime and I can't wait for sight of the finishing post on the 16th. I can't remember why I started this nonsense, but Christmas will be a lot more fun once I jump of the bloody wagon. After all, the Christmas Fairy needs to get her spirit from somewhere.
Showing posts with label Vince Cable. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vince Cable. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Thursday, 26 August 2010
If I had a hammer
As the heavens open, again, I think of Noah, the patron saint of forward planners. Even without Mr Fish, those of us working with Government can read the signs. Only strong swimmers need apply.
So if you can hear the sounds of busy hammers its the strategists determined to keep their head above water by building vehicles fit for the new era. Anyone labouring under the misapprehension that the status quo will prevail should check their water wings for holes, cos they're gonna need 'em.
I do think a lot of wonderful social enterprises will go. Those too small to respond to the meta programs the Government are constructing, and too bespoke to fit into the new o/s era. I don't know about you but I have never looked good in o/s, and an o/s society seems counterintuitive to Big Society to me.
But it is possible for some to construct a mighty ark. I had a meeting with the fantastic Sue Slipman yesterday, Director of the Foundation Trust Network, and she has some top tips on boxing and coxing for success. Sue and I had a really good explorative talk about her model and what makes it so perfect for the times. Sue helped develop my thinking on hybridisation and its profound relevance for social enterprise. As I said to Sue, and to anyone who will listen, the strength of social enterprise is in its ability to maximise social value in any commercial transaction. For me Foundation Hospitals are not only social enterprises but bloody good examples of it. What we need are more of the same and there is a high probability that if we are clear in our thinking and articulate in our approach we will have the opportunity to strut our stuff.
I had lunch on Monday with Stephen Bubb ceo of acevo the wonderful organisation I have the privelidge to be Vice Chair of. I was horribly late because getting around London can be a joke, which upset both of us. Stephen and I really enjoy one another's company. Stephen is the consumate advocate who does not take himself seriously, which is precisely why he has been spoofed, and why he is very good company. Oh we do have a laugh, although we got quickly to the very serious business of working out how to offer direction to our movement when all but the rhetoric seems disasterous for small, local community based groups. As Stephen has said in his blog, the Ministerial visits are sure to dry up with the funding.
Yesterday I was met by Giles Wilkes, Vince Cable's Special Adviser, to talk about the plight of the social enterprise regional support bodies. Giles confirmed what I suspected, which is that in closing the RDAs there was no intention to deconstruct the social enterprise support infrastructure. Giles could not of course make any undertaking but did say he would make enquiries and see how the land lay. Sitting in BIS for what must be the hundreth time I was struck at actually how many times I have had that conversation. In one form or another I have explained to at least four Secretary's of State, a dozen Ministers and a bus load of officials how our fledgling movement has grown sometimes in spite of Government "support". We have survived to date because we are clever and able and we have members who respect and need us. But we could have done more with a leg up from BIS and if they want unprecidented social enterprise growth in the public sector, we of the supra local networks, would be a very good place to start.
Maybe its time to see a fully fledged return of social enterprise to BIS?
So if you can hear the sounds of busy hammers its the strategists determined to keep their head above water by building vehicles fit for the new era. Anyone labouring under the misapprehension that the status quo will prevail should check their water wings for holes, cos they're gonna need 'em.
I do think a lot of wonderful social enterprises will go. Those too small to respond to the meta programs the Government are constructing, and too bespoke to fit into the new o/s era. I don't know about you but I have never looked good in o/s, and an o/s society seems counterintuitive to Big Society to me.
But it is possible for some to construct a mighty ark. I had a meeting with the fantastic Sue Slipman yesterday, Director of the Foundation Trust Network, and she has some top tips on boxing and coxing for success. Sue and I had a really good explorative talk about her model and what makes it so perfect for the times. Sue helped develop my thinking on hybridisation and its profound relevance for social enterprise. As I said to Sue, and to anyone who will listen, the strength of social enterprise is in its ability to maximise social value in any commercial transaction. For me Foundation Hospitals are not only social enterprises but bloody good examples of it. What we need are more of the same and there is a high probability that if we are clear in our thinking and articulate in our approach we will have the opportunity to strut our stuff.
I had lunch on Monday with Stephen Bubb ceo of acevo the wonderful organisation I have the privelidge to be Vice Chair of. I was horribly late because getting around London can be a joke, which upset both of us. Stephen and I really enjoy one another's company. Stephen is the consumate advocate who does not take himself seriously, which is precisely why he has been spoofed, and why he is very good company. Oh we do have a laugh, although we got quickly to the very serious business of working out how to offer direction to our movement when all but the rhetoric seems disasterous for small, local community based groups. As Stephen has said in his blog, the Ministerial visits are sure to dry up with the funding.
Yesterday I was met by Giles Wilkes, Vince Cable's Special Adviser, to talk about the plight of the social enterprise regional support bodies. Giles confirmed what I suspected, which is that in closing the RDAs there was no intention to deconstruct the social enterprise support infrastructure. Giles could not of course make any undertaking but did say he would make enquiries and see how the land lay. Sitting in BIS for what must be the hundreth time I was struck at actually how many times I have had that conversation. In one form or another I have explained to at least four Secretary's of State, a dozen Ministers and a bus load of officials how our fledgling movement has grown sometimes in spite of Government "support". We have survived to date because we are clever and able and we have members who respect and need us. But we could have done more with a leg up from BIS and if they want unprecidented social enterprise growth in the public sector, we of the supra local networks, would be a very good place to start.
Maybe its time to see a fully fledged return of social enterprise to BIS?
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Arghhhh
I have a meeting with senior executives at John Lewis, one of my favourite social enterprises this morning, and I am late. Getting around this lovely city of ours can be a joke. Why are the roads all full of road works without actual people working on them? Its cones day out as my Dad used to say. Who's in charge? I feel a letter coming on. I hope they forgive me at JLP.
Vince was good last night, although obviously shattered. He was all over the news and with the budget today has been very busy. Nonetheless he listened to what we had to say and agreed with most of it. Encouraging.
Vince was good last night, although obviously shattered. He was all over the news and with the budget today has been very busy. Nonetheless he listened to what we had to say and agreed with most of it. Encouraging.
Friday, 20 November 2009
Straight talking
I thought I’d take the time spent in the hairdresser’s chair having my hair straightened (first time ever – hope it doesn’t fall out!) to update you on Social Enterprise Day.
No 10 was fun, bumped into lots of old friends including SEL pin ups Micheal Pyner of the Shoreditch Trust and Campbell Robb, who is leaving the Office of The Third Sector in December to take over as CEO of Shelter. Good for Shelter, but our loss. Campbell has been a great champion of social enterprise and has been particularly effective in developing support for the movement to play a key role in England’s economic development strategy. Sounds boring but makes all the difference to our members, who are crying out for the information, guidance and support provided through things like CapacityBuilders and the Social Enterprise Knowledge Exchange, both of which Campbell has put in place. He will be missed.
At the reception the Prime Minister spoke warmly to the gathered social entrepreneurs, telling us how much he admires what we do. He said he applauded the fact that we are working to make people's lives better. It sounds cheesy but was really nice actually and I think he meant it. I managed to hook up Reed Paget of Belu Water and the amazing Lynn Berry of the massive volunteering organisation WRVS, who is on a mission to make her organisation more environmentally sustainable. WRVS makes and distributes more sandwiches than anyone else in the UK and they also sell a great deal of bottled water, so let’s hope Belu hits the mark. Wholfing a few delicious canapés courtesy of CafeSunlight, Peter Holbrook’s outstanding social enterprise, I headed off...
...to The Guardian conference in Birmingham where I joined the round table delegate discussions. The questions centred on how we can deliver more public services and whether social enterprises can work with the private sector. I did an Anthea to Patrick Butler's (Head of Health, Society & Education at The Guardian), Brucie and we each read out individual table findings. One of the things that struck me was how positive people are on the proposition of working with the private sector, the general consensus being that as long as we negotiate effectively it is absolutely possible. I have been saying this for years and as a result SEL has had several highly successful commercial relationships with the private sector. I had always thought it was controversial and so was fascinated to see that in that auditorium at least, the attitude was very positive.
We then had speeches from Vince Cable of the Lib Dems and Barbara Follett, Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government. Vince was really interesting, he had clearly thought the issues through for himself and confessed to us all that until he recently met Margaret Elliott from Sunderland Home Care he didn’t really understand was social enterprise was. Having got to grips with it he feels it has a strong future, particularly in delivering local services. In print recently he un-packed the 'big government vs local government' debate, arguing we need local services delivered to national standards - I think he’s spot on. Barbara said ‘social enterprises express what people really feel’, I liked that.
In the q & a Vince threw my question straight back at me, asking what I think government needs to do to better support social enterprise. I said:
1. Government needs to be a better shopper - buying from organisations which deliver real positive social change
2. Existing capacity building support (which Vince had slightly upbraided in his speech) is vital and needs to be continued and developed.
Caught the train with Patrick and Mark Gould from The Guardian, Gemma Hampson of Social Enterprise Magazine and our Matt Jarratt, where we had a good debate over whether social enterprises really will end up running public services on a large scale. We agreed that they could do rather well if the planets align in our favour. Earlier I had chatted to Sophi Trachell, MD of Divine Chocolate and SEL’s co-Chair, who had been frustrated that The Guardian had chosen Social Enterprise Day to report on the collapse of Total Healthcare. I put this to Patrick who maintained that he had done it to put the debate about the future of public services into context: social enterprise can be a winner but it can lose too. Fair enough I think, when Woollies went down no one said that it marked the end of high street retailing.
We sat around some poor chap who looked like he was trying to work. When we got out at Euston I apologised for disturbing him and he said he had really enjoyed the conversation, gave me his card and said he would welcome a further chat about the social impact I mentioned…. everyone is interested in social enterprise, they just don’t know it yet!
As I finish typing I’m presented with the result of the hairdresser’s endeavours. They say it won’t look like this forever... I feel a gin coming on.
No 10 was fun, bumped into lots of old friends including SEL pin ups Micheal Pyner of the Shoreditch Trust and Campbell Robb, who is leaving the Office of The Third Sector in December to take over as CEO of Shelter. Good for Shelter, but our loss. Campbell has been a great champion of social enterprise and has been particularly effective in developing support for the movement to play a key role in England’s economic development strategy. Sounds boring but makes all the difference to our members, who are crying out for the information, guidance and support provided through things like CapacityBuilders and the Social Enterprise Knowledge Exchange, both of which Campbell has put in place. He will be missed.
At the reception the Prime Minister spoke warmly to the gathered social entrepreneurs, telling us how much he admires what we do. He said he applauded the fact that we are working to make people's lives better. It sounds cheesy but was really nice actually and I think he meant it. I managed to hook up Reed Paget of Belu Water and the amazing Lynn Berry of the massive volunteering organisation WRVS, who is on a mission to make her organisation more environmentally sustainable. WRVS makes and distributes more sandwiches than anyone else in the UK and they also sell a great deal of bottled water, so let’s hope Belu hits the mark. Wholfing a few delicious canapés courtesy of CafeSunlight, Peter Holbrook’s outstanding social enterprise, I headed off...
...to The Guardian conference in Birmingham where I joined the round table delegate discussions. The questions centred on how we can deliver more public services and whether social enterprises can work with the private sector. I did an Anthea to Patrick Butler's (Head of Health, Society & Education at The Guardian), Brucie and we each read out individual table findings. One of the things that struck me was how positive people are on the proposition of working with the private sector, the general consensus being that as long as we negotiate effectively it is absolutely possible. I have been saying this for years and as a result SEL has had several highly successful commercial relationships with the private sector. I had always thought it was controversial and so was fascinated to see that in that auditorium at least, the attitude was very positive.
We then had speeches from Vince Cable of the Lib Dems and Barbara Follett, Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government. Vince was really interesting, he had clearly thought the issues through for himself and confessed to us all that until he recently met Margaret Elliott from Sunderland Home Care he didn’t really understand was social enterprise was. Having got to grips with it he feels it has a strong future, particularly in delivering local services. In print recently he un-packed the 'big government vs local government' debate, arguing we need local services delivered to national standards - I think he’s spot on. Barbara said ‘social enterprises express what people really feel’, I liked that.
In the q & a Vince threw my question straight back at me, asking what I think government needs to do to better support social enterprise. I said:
1. Government needs to be a better shopper - buying from organisations which deliver real positive social change
2. Existing capacity building support (which Vince had slightly upbraided in his speech) is vital and needs to be continued and developed.
Caught the train with Patrick and Mark Gould from The Guardian, Gemma Hampson of Social Enterprise Magazine and our Matt Jarratt, where we had a good debate over whether social enterprises really will end up running public services on a large scale. We agreed that they could do rather well if the planets align in our favour. Earlier I had chatted to Sophi Trachell, MD of Divine Chocolate and SEL’s co-Chair, who had been frustrated that The Guardian had chosen Social Enterprise Day to report on the collapse of Total Healthcare. I put this to Patrick who maintained that he had done it to put the debate about the future of public services into context: social enterprise can be a winner but it can lose too. Fair enough I think, when Woollies went down no one said that it marked the end of high street retailing.
We sat around some poor chap who looked like he was trying to work. When we got out at Euston I apologised for disturbing him and he said he had really enjoyed the conversation, gave me his card and said he would welcome a further chat about the social impact I mentioned…. everyone is interested in social enterprise, they just don’t know it yet!
As I finish typing I’m presented with the result of the hairdresser’s endeavours. They say it won’t look like this forever... I feel a gin coming on.
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