Since 2014, Cwmpas who deliver the Social Business Wales programme, have commissioned Wavehill to conduct a biennial mapping survey of the social business sector in Wales. The purpose of the mapping exercise is twofold:
to understand the size and scale of the social business sector
to conduct a health check of the sector, including identifying some of the challenges and opportunities that the sector face.
Our latest research shows the strength and resilience of social businesses in Wales in 2022. This is particularly important given the challenges all businesses faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. The recently released report shows that the sector is supporting the covid-recovery in Wales. Notably since 2020 there has been a 22% increase in the number of social businesses in the sector and an increase in total employment by 16%.
Our longstanding involvement in mapping the sector has enabled us to build a strong understanding of social businesses in Wales over nearly a decade. Our approach has focused on two main activities:
working alongside key stakeholders to identify businesses operating in the sector. This is an important part of the mapping process as there is no easy way of identifying social businesses.
undertake a survey of the sector with detailed interviews designed to explore the scale, scope, and health of the sector.
The mapping exercise provides important insights to help inform the sector at a critical time in its development. The report makes recommendation to address key challenges to help the sector to grow in strength so that they can continue to support the communities they serve.
For more information on our mapping work please contact Endaf Griffiths and Ioan Teifi.
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