Even by the high standards of his field, Tim West stands out as a passionate, articulate and accomplished social entrepreneur. He founded Pioneers Post, the magazine for social entrepreneurs, runs Matter&Co, a creative agency in the social innovation space, and turned Good Deals into the UK’s leading conference for social enterprise, impact investing and responsible business.
We spoke to him about this year’s conference, which is being delivered with Social Value International under the moniker Critical Mass.
Why did you launch the Good Deals conference eight years ago?
Tim West: Eight years ago the UK was really just beginning to explore the opportunities and challenges around growing social enterprise. Social investment was a term used by a task force (chaired by Sir Ronald Cohen) but not yet a term used to define a marketplace. Most of the events available to social entrepreneurs and social enterprises were quite basic and seemed to get stuck on the groundhog day debate of “what is it?” and not go much further. We were more interested in focusing on how we can help social enterprise grow and prosper.
At that point, finance was always on the agenda – both in terms of how to manage your finances and how to find the right finance to start up and grow. While many events focused on a particular sector we were also noticing that the social purpose agenda was attracting people and changing the way things were done across business and the public sector, as well as civil society. We wanted to bring these different players together to learn from one another and “get good deals done” – hence the name appeared.
How has Good Deals evolved? Has this matched your expectations?
In the first conference we had a kind of future-gazing session where we looked at the crazier ideas that were being talked about… We used science fiction music themes (Star Trek, Doctor Who, etc) to introduce our speakers. The three mad ideas we looked at: a social investment bank, social investment bonds and a social investment stock exchange.
Just a few years later and all these three are very much a reality – although perhaps they attract as much debate/scrutiny as they ever did!
In terms of the conference’s development, rather than focus solely on social investment, it has broadened to include more detailed and practical sessions on different aspects of managing a social business, as well as the big picture, inspirational stuff. Recently – and thanks to the engagement of organisations such as the British Council, RBS/NatWest and PwC – Good Deals has also developed a reputation abroad as a conference that offers an international agenda.
How is your partnership with Social Value International influencing this year’s conference?
It has changed things in two key ways.
First, we are looking at learning, policy and practice across nations and continents. UK social enterprise is trailblazing but should not operate in isolation.
Second, we are focusing even more on how you account for your actions, and how you measure and prove the positive change you desire to create. For too long, impact measurement and social accounting have been seen as peripheral activities that are complex, expensive, rather boring and irrelevant to social change happening on the ground. This has changed for social enterprises, governments and massive corporates alike. As we search for value and purpose in a global economy that has been in selfish, self-destruction, profit-maximising mode for decades, the social value agenda offers a door to making a major difference.
Why is this year’s theme “critical mass”?
The idea of critical mass of course comes from the science of nuclear reactions. You need the right amount of material to be available for enough time to reach the point at which nuclear fission can take place. This is a metaphor for much of what’s happening in social innovation and responsible business.
What is the point at which a social enterprise achieves the right level of growth, profitability and social impact to make a real difference to those at the focus of its social mission? When does it achieve the critical mass needed to attract game-changing social investment?
What level of cultural change must a global corporate achieve to transform itself from a self-affirming, profit-maximising monster to a global force for positive change and social purpose? How can a government move away from one-dimensional subservience to GDP and open its eyes and economic strategy to a multi-dimensional world where happiness and wellbeing are measures of prosperity?
What are you most looking forward to at Critical Mass?
Two things.
1. Embracing and learning from the unexpected. At some point – hopefully at several points – people on panels, in the audience and around the workshops will offer perspectives that are unexpected, disruptive and brilliant. Precious jewels of wisdom that are nothing to do with all our hard work but that hopefully we have helped along in some way.
2. Taking people on a positive journey. At the end of this event, we want everybody involved to have learned something or met somebody that will help them make good things happen.
About Critical Mass
The British Council is delighted to partner with PwC in delivering plenary and breakout sessions at Critical Mass. The conference will be held on 19-20 October at The Royal Institution, London. Tickets are available from the Critical Mass website. Enter British Council promotional code BC15 to enjoy a 10% discount.
About Tim West
Tim has been working in the space where business and social mission meet for well over a decade. In 2001, he founded Matter&Co after many years working as a journalist and editor on local, national and specialist publications. He is also founding editor of Pioneers Post, the digital and print magazine for social entrepreneurs, which itself is a social enterprise. Tim also founded Good Deals, the UK’s leading international conference for social enterprise, impact investing and responsible business, and he created the SE100, the UK’s market intelligence tool tracking the growth and impact of more than 1,300 social enterprises. He is a director of Big Issue Invest, the investment arm of The Big Issue; a trustee of ECT, one of the UK’s leading transport charities; and serves on the UK Council of Social Value International.
Content on this page is paid for and provided by the British Council, sponsor of the international social enterprise hub
