Who we work with

For community businesses

We back community business from the ground up.

Community businesses are helping communities across England to build stronger local economies and better places to live. 

With the right conditions, community businesses can thrive. But they face the same challenges as other businesses, with growing demand and less funding support.  

We’re here to back community business from the ground up.  

How we’re backing your community business

Working in partnership

We’re bringing partners together to fund and develop projects that demonstrate what works for community business. 

Demonstrating what works

Help us test and learn what works for community business. Get involved in our current and upcoming opportunities for community businesses. 

Resources for you

Through our evidence and our work with partners, you can access a variety of resources to help your community business.

Shaping the conditions that affect your business

We use our experience to bring partners together to do, test and learn what works. We use this activity to inform the policy, practice and behaviour of those that have an impact on community business – policymakers at all levels, funders, social investors and mainstream financial institutions. 

We invest in research and evidence and share it openly so that all communities can learn what works (and what didn’t).  

Get inspired

There’s a growing network of 11,000 inspirational and energetic community businesses up and down the country.  

No matter your size, function or location, there’ll be other community businesses who have faced the same challenges. 

Read their stories and learn more about community businesses.

News and views

Celebration to setback: lessons in advocating for community ownership

Celebration to setback: lessons in advocating for community ownership

The Community Ownership Fund has been a game-changer, helping communities to purchase the spaces they care about. But along with the latest allocation of funding came an announcement of the fund's closure, and an underspend that leaves many community businesses without the support they had been banking on. Our analysis explores why this happened and what we can learn from it.
One step…beyond?

One step…beyond?

This week the Government published its Devolution White Paper. We dig into what this means for communities and the regional authorities serving them. 
Testing and learning from Market Drayton

Testing and learning from Market Drayton

What I took from Pat McFadden's public service reform speech, and where this insersects with innovation already underway in my community.