Government to extend investment tax relief to social enterprises

The government must do more to support "moral markets" and attract socially responsible investment of private wealth.

That is according to Social Enterprise UK, which aims to promote and support businesses run to improve local, national and international communities.

It has urged the government to extend investment tax relief to start-up social enterprises, as well as changing corporate governance rules to incentivise more effective ownership structures and encourage greater involvement from stakeholders.

Responding to prime minister David Cameron's calls for a socially responsible form of popular capitalism to replace the "turbo capitalism" of recent years, the organisation's UK chief executive Peter Holbrook said that this is already happening, but that politicians are being left behind.

"Moral markets are already rising and consumers are driving this trend, choosing to buy from social enterprises," he said.

Mr Holbrook said that there has been a "start-up explosion" in social enterprise over the past two years, with profits being reinvested in communities, rather than going to shareholders.

"There's no doubt that with more support from our policy-makers the social enterprise sector could bring about a responsible recovery," he concluded.

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