To celebrate the launch of the new partnership, Schroders and Social Business Trust recently joined forces to deliver the first Innovation Workshop. More than 20 employees from Schroders joined the fast-paced challenge day to pit their wits in against business issues faced by some of the SBT portfolio.

 Challenges ranged from recruitment and retention in the early years sector, put forward by London Early Years Foundation, to helping The Brilliant Club think about their customer sales journey.

Following idea generation and pitch preparation sprints, attendees pitched their recommendations to the audience, which included representatives from the social enterprises and Adele Blakebrough MBE, CEO of Social Business Trust.

It was really interesting hearing first-hand from I CAN about the necessity for digitisation of educational material, particularly as a result of the pandemic. I enjoyed brainstorming with them on different strategies for moving their material online whilst balancing the potential benefits and impacts on the children who use the service.- Daniel Wilson, Schroders

 

"It was great to hear the pitches from the Schroders volunteers, the challenges that we set them weren’t easy so I was thrilled to hear their recommendations! It was great to kick off our partnership with such a vibrant, helpful event, involving volunteers from across business areas." – Adele Blakebrough, CEO, SBT

 The audience voted the I CAN challenge as the best pitch of the day. Volunteers brainstormed ways in which I CAN could digitise offerings that help children with speech and language difficulties. They came up with a cost-effective solution that could be implemented with relative ease.

 “The session was really valuable for I CAN as it provided us with expertise and experience that we don’t currently have access to and identified a digital solution that could be used across multiple products”. – Neil Everett, Head of Commercial Services, I CAN