Social Business Trust was started in 2010 by Sir Damon Buffini, founding partner of Permira, the global investment fund, and Adele Blakebrough MBE, a leading social entrepreneur. They believed in the importance of social enterprises in addressing society’s toughest social issues and understood the benefits of bringing together the best of business with the best of social enterprise to create greater impact. Those beliefs remain the essence of SBT today.

SBT was born out of the aim to bridge the gap between large corporations and social enterprises, to help build new connections and boost the social impact being delivered. We are an organisation that achieves that by bringing together nine outstanding corporate partners to help scale up and deliver business advice to a select group of some of the UK’s most high-potential social enterprises and charities.

“With the right support - successful, thriving social enterprises can scale, become more sustainable and grow to ultimately reach many more people.” Adele Blakebrough MBE, CEO Social Business Trust

We have a team of talented, diverse, and highly capable people who collaborate with our chosen social enterprises and help them achieve their growth ambitions and purpose. This includes full-time staff, trustees, and volunteers who each bring their own flair, passion, and experiences to the table.

The volunteers from our corporate partners find that working for SBT has not only been a refreshing and rewarding experience, but they are also able to practise and improve their wide skillset while gaining inspiration from a new network of contacts.

We are currently working with 12 inspiring and dedicated social enterprises have been carefully selected from thousands of potential candidates. Organisations in our portfolio tackle social problems ranging from educational disadvantage and employability through to social care.

With the help of SBT and its contributors, these social enterprises have been able to develop and refine their business plans, build relationships with our corporate partners, and achieve impressive growth. We also offer support to additional social enterprises through our SBT Design programme, giving support to create a plan for growth.

Since 2010 we have had the privilege of helping the lives of 2.7 million people via the cash grants we give to our portfolio and the professional support we enable through our leading corporate partnerships. We look forward to changing many more millions of lives, creating greater impact for a better society.