Why use our services?...Department of Enjoyment is a businesses with primarily social objectives and our profits are reinvested in the communities we serve rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for our shareholders and owners. By using ethical principles of business to help our communities, the Government believes that social enterprises like Enjoy.co.uk CIC have a distinct and valuable role to play in helping create a strong, sustainable and socially inclusive economy. Department of Enjoyment (Enjoy.co.uk CIC) became incorporated as a Community Interest Company on 4th February 2009. As a Social Enterprise we have ambitious plans to further develop our work on a National level including the opening of our first 'Outdoor Development and Adventure Sports Centre' this year. Well known examples of social enterprises include The Big Issue, Jamie Oliver's restaurant Fifteen, and the fair-trade chocolate company Divine Chocolate. The 2005 Annual Survey of Small Businesses UK found that there are 55,000 social enterprises in the UK with a combined turnover of £27 billion. Social enterprises account for 5% of all businesses with employees, and contribute £8.4 billion per year to the UK economy. - Social Enterprise Coalition |
How do CICs benefit the community though this work?This includes such things as: Empowering local people, regenerating disadvantaged areas, improving the environment and providing local services (such as education, leisure, childcare provision, transport, housing,etc.). CICs are not supposed to deliver essential public services such as hospitals and schools. Instead, we are intended to complement core public services whilst still maintaining strategic control of our own organisation. Main features of CICs is that we have a statutory asset lock to prevent the assets and any profits being distributed, except as permitted by legislation. This ensures the assets and profits are retained within the company for community purposes, or transferred to another asset-locked organisation, such as another CIC or charity. Also, the decision as to how much an individual director should paid is left up to the CIC itself, but if stakeholders believe that pay levels are inconsistent with the CIC’s community benefit aims, they can go to the CIC Regulator. Organisations who adopt this structure (Social Enterprises) are also commonly referred to as the Third Sector. We hope this short overview has given you a better understanding of our organisation and the broader Social Enterprise. To learn more about Community Interest Companies, click here |
