We work with our partners to build better places.
We know community business works to build stronger communities and better places to live. We back them to grow and succeed. But we don’t do it alone, we work in partnership with a range of organisations to shape the conditions for community businesses to thrive.
We work with a large range of organisations to shape the conditions for community businesses to thrive. This includes:
- Funders and foundations
- Investors, from social investors to private investors
- Government at all levels, including regional and local authorities
- Think tanks and advocacy organisations
- Community businesses
Want to work with us?
We do, test and learn in three areas
News and views
Our thinking and latest updates on how we’re backing community business.

Pool table democracy
A small conversation taking place in a community business can reveal a lot about what it takes to strengthen our democracy. Where people don’t have the time to engage in local decision making and don’t think they can make a difference, we argue that the government, political parties and community organisations can do more to close the void between ordinary people and politics.

You’re invited to dinner: The unlikely allies reimagining our high streets
Platform Places shows how community leaders, local business owners, asset owners and councils can gather—not as adversaries, but as co-creators of a shared future. In this essay, co-founder, Bex Trevalyan, explores how grassroots collaboration and imaginative placemaking are breathing new life into Britain’s high streets.

Beyond the post-its: Local growth lessons from Liverpool and beyond
Kindred in Liverpool City Region is a story of collaboration, innovation, and social impact. As we mark our tenth anniversary, we explore how partnerships with strategic authorities have shaped a flourishing social economy.
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Learning what works
We’ve built up significant evidence and research about what works for community business to thrive. We are committed to partnering with think tanks and research institutions to test, do and learn how to tackle the barriers to their success.

The economic contribution of community business
There have long been gaps in quantitative evidence around the unique economic contribution that community business makes. This new research provides an estimate of the total economic contribution made by community businesses to the national economy. It highlights the different ways, to whom, and where community businesses drive economic benefits locally.

Powering Up diversity, equity and inclusion reports
The Powering Up Programme offered deliver capacity building support for the organisationThese interim and final reports outline the diversity, equity and inclusion approach taken during the Powering Up programme.

‘No-code’ but not alone
A guide for community businesses developing the right tech with the right type of support, drawing on lessons from our Powering Up programme. This guide is designed to help community businesses explore a model of digital development that balances the strengths of no-code solutions with the benefits of expert collaboration.
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