Strategy consultants from across Bain & Company came together recently to help five social enterprises in Social Business Trust’s (SBT) network plan for growth.

Those involved included:

• I CAN, whose social enterprise helps children with communications difficulties
• Hertfordshire Independent Living Service, supporting elderly and disabled people to live independently
• Brightside, providing online mentoring to help disadvantaged young people fulfil their ambitions.

Groups of consultants collaborated with social enterprise leadership teams to produce a ‘strategy on a page’ addressing a particular challenge. The sessions were part of a team social action event involving all Bain London staff.

Sue Maskrey, Deputy CEO of Brightside, said the morning was hugely worthwhile: “It’s been absolutely brilliant. The questions asked really challenged us, so we’ve come out of today’s session being more ambitious.”

She expressed her gratitude to Bain and SBT for making the event possible: “We had so much talent in the room, it’s like having an extension of our team, solving our problems. So I’d like to say a massive thank you.”

Bain Associate Consultant Rosie Thomas, part of the team working with Brightside, said she gained from the experience too: “Through this I get to work for social enterprises who are super-cool and effect change that I’d like to see in society: people who haven’t had the life chances I’ve had.”

Bain is a founding partner of SBT and has given thousands of hours of support over seven years to help our social enterprises scale-up. Those helped include The Challenge, Challenge Partners and London Early Years Foundation, all working with children and young people.