In the seventh of a series of interviews with social enterprise professionals, On Purpose Associate Jack Scriven talks to Patrick Reyburn, strategic development manager at HCT Group an award-winning public transport provider and social enterprise.
How did you get to where you are now?
After a degree in philosophy stateside and a few years in the private sector, I joined the London School of Economics for a new take on things and chose a degree in NGOs and development. After that I found myself at a crossroads where I needed to combine my passion for social change along with my education and work experience. HCT seemed like a logical next step as it combined the best of both the private and third sector while offering a unique opportunity to make a positive impact through innovative approaches.
One of the greatest opportunities for our sector is to make the way we attract talent more systematic. Speaking from experience, my joining the sector was both chance and choice I suppose. Through the growth of our sector and organisations like On Purpose, we can begin to create more direct entry routes.
Why is being a social enterprise important to you and your organisation?
It is important to HCT Group because it allows us to provide necessary services in deprived communities. It has liberated us from grant-funding bodies, and empowered us to invest where we operate. We make our money in the market place, and how we re-invest our profits is left to our board and us. We cannot be bought or sold, and are here for the long haul.
It is important to me because it is harnessing the power of business for the benefit of people who need it. I see an organised, driven social enterprise as an opportunity to turn the traditional business model on its head. It is important to me to change the way business operates, and ensure that people see the profits reinvested not squirreled away for the benefit of the few.
What does your job involve?
Thankfully, my job offers great challenges and diversity. My main focus is in business development and improvement, but I also oversee IT and more or less anything that requires a fresh take on things and a can-do attitude to get a challenging goal accomplished. I have enjoyed redefining how we can be a better social enterprise and re-engineering our supply chains. For example, getting Fairtrade products into our depots, hiring disadvantaged people as capable members of staff, switching our phone contract to one with a co-operative and delivering training to smaller social enterprises. It has been one challenge after another, and no two days are ever the same.
What are the most difficult and the most rewarding things in your job?
The most difficult thing is losing a new business opportunity to a private sector organisation, which may value short-term returns over their impact on the community. HCT stands as an example of how business can operate differently, and how you don't have to squeeze your supply chain or focus solely on profits to be a successful enterprise.
The most rewarding thing is the ability to provide someone with access, allowing people to live their lives to their full potential. We keep people mobile: whether it is in a community bus, mobility scooter or through attaining a qualification, which will empower someone to attain employment.
What do you see the social enterprise movement being in five years time?
Social enterprise in five years will be strengthening across multiple sectors and creating competition amongst each other as well as with traditional business models. It will be continue to attract investment as it will have demonstrated that you do not have forgo your impact on society and our planet to operate a successful enterprise. This success will not only be here in the UK, but it will continue to spread and become global.
And where do you see yourself at that point?
In five years I want to have helped social enterprise grow from not just a nudge in the side of the Leviathan, but to a formidable opponent teaching it how to be more agile, more passionate, more driven, and more successful.
I want to see social enterprise conquer other sectors of the economy. At HCT Group, I have worked to empower other organisations through procurement and training. We have a strong role to play in the future of social enterprise, and I look forward to being at the forefront of the movement.
Patrick Reyburn was interviewed by Jack Scriven, a 2011 On Purpose associate. Jack joined On Purpose with a background in finance and experience volunteering in the sector. His On Purpose placements are at JustGiving and HCT Group
On Purpose is a leadership programme that helps high-calibre professionals kick-start a career in social enterprise; it combines paid work experience with intensive training and support. A new cohort of associates will join in January 2012.
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