1. Strategies for scaling up social enterprise: lessons from early years providers
Third Sector Research Conference
2nd November 2012, South Hall, Pollock Halls, Edinburgh University
Heather Fernández

2. Introduction… Social enterprises in early years and childcare
How can social enterprises scale up their impact beyond small projects?
What are the challenges?

3. Early years provision in the UK
15,600 full day care nurseries
Sector value of £3.9 bn per year
Majority of sector made up of sole providers
Proportion in social enterprise sector unknown
Research shows the benefits of high quality childcare, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds
Social justice and the childcare market
So what does early years provision in the UK look like?
“You can’t put a price on the safety and happiness of your child” mother.
predominantly private sector sole providers
also some big chains which account for 16% of the market
social enterprise proportion unknown – not surprising as studies have found that there is little understanding of social enterprise even among providers highlighted as delivering this model
And what happens in the very earliest years of life makes the biggest difference as brain development is most rapid in the months before birth and up to age five.
There is a direct link between the experiences of early childhood and subsequent adulthood.
Research shows that support and education in parenting plus well-delivered, enriched day care pay dividends to the family, the child and society, with the greatest returns seen for those from so called disadvantaged backgrounds.
However, children in deprived areas are still getting the lowest quality childcare.
Childcare has become central to the contemporary social policy agenda, as initiatives here can theoretically address several issues: increasing social inclusion and in particular combating child poverty, revitalising the labour market and raising standards in education.
quote - the childcare market is a very ‘peculiar’ one.
It is one in which social relations play as important a part as economic considerations and trust becomes a key component between ‘provider’ and ‘consumer’.
Therefore it is suggested that as conventional economic rationales do not apply, competition in the private-for-profit childcare sector (as we have seen, the majority of the sector) fails to provide high quality, equitable childcare.
Community social enterprise childcare has been highlighted as a model with the potential to meet this need.
We are now going to go on to consider 4 case studies of social enterprise childcare, before examining the strategies they are using to scale up their impact.
Source: Children’s Nurseries Market Report (Laing and Buisson, 2009)

4. Case 1. The London Early Years Foundation
Socially inclusive fee structure
Flexible, innovative and responsive to filling gaps
Strong community roots
History of multi-disciplinary working
Intergenerational programmes
Focus on quality of provision
Training and qualification offer
Consideration of environmental impact (e.g. procurement)
LEYF – Partner Organisation in the KTP
Established in 1903, LEYF is a charity and social enterprise that aims to build a better future for London’s children by delivering excellence in the early years
Provide early years education to 1200 children across 20 community nurseries in 3 London boroughs, employing 250 staff.
LEYF has a banded fee structure based on parental income
There are a number of enterprising elements across the organisation that allow them to be flexible, innovative and responsive to filling gaps.
Firstly, they are very diverse – the nurseries include mixed income nurseries, nurseries in more affluent areas where the surplus can be used to support other nurseries and contract nurseries, where they have a contract to deliver for a local authority or an employer.
Secondly, they have a training centre for research, learning and development that provides training and consultancy support both within the organisation and to the sector at large.
Thirdly, they network. They have effective relationships with all the key players in the sector and aim both to know what is coming up in terms of funding sources, policy changes, etc and also to influence them.
The parents and families around the child, naturally, are very important to LEYF, as are , in turn, the communities around them. They support and involve them as much as they can, with workshops, social events and signposting to other services.
All the nurseries have very close links with the local children’s centres (sometimes managing them or sited within the same building)
A lot of these points all tie into issues of quality. LEYF is a high quality provider, as seen in their Ofsted reports, but also in their day to day approach to reflective practice.
Through their own dedication to high quality provision, LEYF has developed their training programme, which includes new bespoke qualifications for early years chefs, and an accredited leadership and management course for deputy managers.
Finally, LEYF is trying to take a triple bottom line approach in terms of environmental impact by doing an environmental audit and having a local procurement policy.

5. Single Site Charity Nurseries
Case 2
Parent board of trustees
Subsidised nursery places
Parent workshops
Training offer to staff
Information and advice given to families re. childcare costs
Local purchasing/grow own vegetables
Innovative relationships with local businesses and community groups
Case 3
Company limited by guarantee
Management committee of parents and community representatives
See Case 2 points 2 - 5
Marketing strategy to actively target lower income families
Recruitment policy (local students)
Intergenerational activities (local school and elderly care home)

6. Case 4. Private Childcare Company (with social aims)
Private limited company
7 nurseries
Crèches, holiday play schemes and after school clubs
Sister organisation – provides training to staff and forest school for nursery children
Cross nursery subsidies
Policy of inclusion
Personal development plan for staff members
Local employment
Strong links with local schools

7. Strategies taken by different case studies
Strategy for scale
Case 1
Case 2
Case 3
Case 4
Maximising social impact of provision X
Diversification
In house growth of existing nurseries
Starting new nurseries
Taking over existing nurseries
Winning contracts for new nurseries
Spin out organisations
Social franchise
Kite marks and quality standards
Training and accredited courses
Networks
Provision of open source material

8. Capabilities required for different strategies
Strategy for scale
Capabilities required
Maximising social impact of provision
Leadership & management
Diversification
Relationship building 
In house growth of existing nurseries
Marketing and fundraising 
Starting new nurseries
Growth management & central support  
Taking over existing nurseries
Managing staff & work culture 
Winning contracts for new nurseries
Bid writing & capacity to invest time  
Spin out organisations
Market research & business planning
Social franchise
Clear procedures & capacity to recruit, support and monitor franchisees  
Kite marks and quality standards
Identification of best practice 
Training and accredited courses
Training & marketing skills 
Networks
Networking and ability to deliver 
Provision of open source material
Investment of time without financial return  

9. Increasing potential scale of impact of innovations
Scale and control
Decreasing control over how innovations are implemented
A - Growth within the organisation
B - Scaling through formalised relationships with other providers
C - Open access sharing and disseminating good practice

10. Conclusions… Challenges of social enterprise at a time of recession
Opportunities with increased government interest in social enterprise concept
Need to know more about strategies and capabilities required to implement them
Future challenges of strategies that reach out beyond the organisation

11. Any questions?