Social businesses can deliver systemic change. Here's how we can help them build a better Britain

Something is not working. The money government spends on services to those most in need is rising inexorably, yet we seem no closer to solving our problems. The prime minister has declared that rough sleeping will be eliminated by Christmas, and we at Big Issue Invest will support him all the way, but can a long-term solution be found or will we be back to square one, once attention has moved somewhere else? Or is the ongoing cost simply going to add to our burgeoning bill of services? 

We need systemic change. Instead of creating new services that address our ever multiplying problems we need to look at the wider system and find where things are going wrong. This is hard to do. Causes are often complex and the short-sighted political debate around the best solutions too often results in watered-down policies. 

Social businesses can offer some of the solutions. I recently met with the people behind BillyChip. It’s a transferrable token system that allows people experiencing homelessness to access goods and services across the UK. The public can buy BillyChips at local outlets and then donate them, to be redeemed for items such as food, clothing and pet supplies. In addition to addressing people’s anxiety about donating cash, participating stores have seen a reduction in antisocial behaviour. Unintended consequences can be positive! Now this social business is leaning in: by partnering with more outlets and working with local authorities, BillyChip wants to amplify the positive impact it is having on communities. 

At Big Issue Invest we try to change systems through investment. By channelling capital into a diverse group of social enterprises we are giving solutions a chance to emerge, demonstrate their impact and grow. Our ambition is to fill in a missing rung in the ladder to support social businesses’ growth.

Read more:

• Celebrating 20 years of Big Issue Invest: Proving what was once only imagined
• Big Issue Invest more than triples investments in 20th year, with £9.4 million deployed to social purpose organisations
• Yo-yo homes, 10Foot and autism assessments: This is how Big Issue made change in 2025

While affordable finance of up to £25,000 is available through the government-backed Startup Loans Company to get entrepreneurs started, it is harder for them to secure follow-on funding around the £100,000 mark. This means those additional jobs are not created. It means those goods and services for which there is demand are not delivered and the economy does not grow. Making follow-on capital available to entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities will enable them to scale up their ventures and build valuable assets in those communities. 

The creative and enterprising people of Britain will continue to do their part, but their work will achieve much more if government can help. All of the policies making it harder to run businesses also make it harder to run social businesses. It is hard enough for businesses to survive in an economic climate of rising costs, let alone if you’re a start-up looking to grow. Our government must do what it can to facilitate an environment where small businesses, social or otherwise, can thrive. 

Part of improving conditions for businesses is for government to make the hard choices and address system failures, rather than perpetuating the use of sticking plasters. BillyChip didn’t start by asking how to create another service. It looked for a way to fix a specific problem, learned from its activities and improved the way it worked. It is now creating value, both social and economic, for communities across the country. Thousands of small businesses are looking to achieve the same outcomes and, by supporting them, we can ensure more people have the opportunity to create wealth, own it and benefit from it. 

Holger Westphely is the managing director of Big Issue Invest

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