SEPTEMBER 2018

“Collectively, therefore, there is clear evidence
of a growing, increasingly confident and
entrepreneurial social business sector that is built
upon strengthening foundations,” said the report.
“The increase in turnover, jobs and volunteer
opportunities supported by the sector will
have an impact on local economies, community
cohesion, and individual people’s potential to
develop themselves through paid employment,
work experience, and training. The social benefits
of these businesses have tangible effects which
are having a positive impact on communities
throughout Wales.”
The SBW Conference 2018 will build on these
findings, with talks, practical workshops and a
celebration of business growth. The speakers
will come from a range of backgrounds, to
provide different perspectives on the role social
businesses can play in the future growth of the
Welsh economy – particularly post-Brexit.
One of the keynote speakers will be Dai
Powell CEO of HCT Group. He has been with the
organisation since 1993, leading the company as
it developed from a community transport charity
in Hackney, London, into a social enterprise
Channel Islands, a fleet of 730 vehicles and a
2017/18 turnover of £62.9m.
Its commercial track record spans a wide range
of services too – from London red buses and park
and ride to social services and school transport.
HCT says it does this not to create shareholder
value, but to create community value. This is done
in three ways: profits from commercial contracts
are reinvested back into further transport
services or projects in the communities it serves;
training services are delivered for people who
are long term unemployed that specifically focus
on employment and skills; and employment
opportunities are created for people in deprived
communities as the organisation “actively
seeks new ways to make our communities
better places to live and work through the way
we operate”.
Joining Dai Powell are Ken Skates (the economy
secretary for Wales) and Guy Singh-Watson (the
founder of Riverford Organic Farmers, which
recently switched to employee ownership), while
the event will be hosted by Sarah Dickins, BBC
Cymru Wales economic correspondent. Additional
workshops will cover topics from risk management
of national scale, creating over 1,500 jobs and
servicing over 30 million passenger trips annually
across England and the Channel Islands.
“In 1993, with traditional grants under threat,
we came to the realisation that the best way to
become a sustainable social enterprise was to
become an effective enterprise,” says HCT Group.
“We began to compete for commercial contracts
in the marketplace to ensure we could continue to
provide community transport.”
This approach has seen HCT Group grow from a
handful of volunteers and a couple of minibuses
with a turnover of £202,000 in 1993, to a largescale
social enterprise with 1,500 employees,
depots spread across London, Yorkshire, the
south west, the north west, Derbyshire and the
and developing technology for growth, to engaging
the workforce of the future, measuring social
impact and using Welsh language to generate
commercial value.
Businesses attending the event will also be
able to connect with a range of exhibitors from
the public, private and social enterprise sector in
Wales. The exhibitors will feature all the finalists
from the Social Business Wales Awards 2018.
The Social Business Wales Awards and
Conference take place at Cardiff City Hall.
Awards: Wednesday 26 September, 6.30pm-
10.30pm. Conference: Thursday 27 September,
9:30am-4.30pm. For more information, and
to book your free conference place, visit:
wales.coop/sbwconf2018
SEPTEMBER 2018 | 31