Social Firms UK

 Dorking-based Netherne Printing Services (NPS) was visited by Maria Miller, Minister for Disabled People, on Tuesday the 16th of November. Netherne is a commercial printing company and a Social Firm, as its primary purpose is to create meaningful employment for people with disabilities.

Staff talked to the Minister about their roles in the successful print company and the benefits of being in work.

The Department for Work and Pensions Minister’s visit was well-timed as Social Enterprise Day took place today (18th) during Global Entrepreneurship Week. This day is about encouraging people to use enterprising ideas for social and environmental change and is promoted by Enterprise UK and the Kauffman Foundation.

The European Social Firms of the Year Awards, which took place during the Social Firms UK and Social Firms Europe CEFEC annual conference, celebrated some of the fantastic work taking place across Europe was showcased and celebrated in style.  Those winners in full:-

Social Firms UK recently ran a competition for schoolchildren to consider what would make a good Social Firm. Two groups of teenagers aged between 14 and 16 years old, one from Bournemouth and one from Manchester have been selected as the winners.

The competition, run to celebrate Social Enterprise Day, asked students to consider what type of Social Firm they would set up and why. Says Sally Reynolds, CEO of Social Firms UK, “Congratulations to all the students who took part. We were really impressed by everyone’s entries and delighted that young people, who are of course our future, are engaging with the idea of running a Social Firm.”