He’s joined by Katie Alcott, the founder of charity FRANK Water, which sells ethical bottled water to fund safe drinking water projects in developing countries.
Bristol was named, along with Plymouth, as one of the UK’s first Social Enterprise Cities by Social Enterprise UK in September because of its efforts to ‘spearhead the push for a more ethical and inclusive business culture’.
The city is home to over 600 social enterprises, employing close to 11,000 people with an annual turnover of over £378 million.
RISE 2013, formerly called the Bristol Social Enterprise Conference, takes place on 23 November and is organised by Inc. and Bristol Hub to dispel the myth that making money and doing good are mutually exclusive, through a combination of talks and workshop sessions.
It’s open to anyone who wants to debate, exchange and launch new ideas, from students who aspire to run their own social enterprise to local business professionals.
Ollie Yorke, the Managing Director if Inc. - the University of Bristol Enterprise Society, said: “Students are very much part of Bristol’s burgeoning reputation as a city which is passionate about social enterprise. We hope the conference will attract a wide range of people who share this passion and would like to debate, exchange and launch new ideas with like-minded people.
“We’re really excited to have such highly-regarded speakers who will hopefully inspire budding social entrepreneurs and raise awareness of social enterprise as both a viable business model and fulfilling career choice.”
Latest data estimates that there are approximately 70,000 social enterprises in the UK contributing £18.5 billion to the UK economy (based upon 2012 Small Business Survey, 2013) and employing almost a million people.
Famous and well-established examples include The Big Issue, the Eden Project, John Lewis and The Co-operative.
Other highlights of RISE 2013 include:
- A talk by David Hunter from Bait Wells Braithwaite, a commercial law firm and the leading charity and social enterprise lawyers in the UK
- A talk by the Head of HR and Head of Finance at Triodos Bank
- A talk by Sam Simmons from Social Enterprise UK
- Free lunch provided by FoodCycle Bristol and the Fairtrade Café
- A street market with social enterprises selling their own produce.
RISE 2013 is being held in the Social Sciences Complex on priory Road. Tickets cost £5 for students, £20 for Bristol University staff and £25 for everyone else. They are available via the RISE 2013 website.
For more information, join the Facebook event page or follow @RiseSocEnt on Twitter.