Entrepreneurship
Theme: Social Enterprise
Cross-cutting themes covered: - An example of a social enterprise working in practice
Name of project: Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL)
City: London
What is it? GLL is a social enterprise that provides leisure services in London. GLL was founded in 1993, by Greenwich Council’s Leisure Department. The initiative was a huge risk at a time when significant budget cuts by local authorities were expected in the field of leisure. By establishing a not-for-profit organisation, or social enterprise, they could benefit from tax relief.
Who is it? Delivery partners include:
Where is it? GLL operates mainly in deprived areas: 63% of GLL’s business areas are in the top 20% of the nation’s most deprived wards. Surveys have shown that both customers and staff reflect the profile of local populations.
Who funds it?
How does it work? GLL provides leisure facilities across London. Key elements of its business model include:
Employee ownership: As a stakeholder-run organisation, GLL has a board consisting of elected staff, Council members, a Trade Union representative and customers. It now has around 450 shareholders. Day-to-day management responsibility is devolved to an experienced senior management team. All staff who work more than 15 hours per week can purchase one voting share and they can then stand for election to the Board or vote their colleagues onto the Board. The empowerment this provides contributes to the development of the company.
Engaging local communities: GLL also has local development officers whose role is to engage with local communities to maximise the use of the services and run area-based projects. For this, GLL often works in collaboration with community organisations.
Local employment scheme: GLL runs various employment schemes aimed at recruiting people who were previously unemployed. The London Leisure College, with which GLL has a partnership, runs vocational and academic training in the sports and leisure industry, matching skills to employers’ requirements.
Finally, the leisure centres also have special concessionary rates for specific target groups.
How has the social enterprise model been facilitated? GLL was founded in 1993, by Greenwich Council’s Leisure Department. The initiative was very risky at a time when significant budget cuts by local authorities were expected in the field of leisure. By establishing a not-for-profit organisation, or social enterprise, they could benefit from tax relief.
Leisure is a growing market in the UK, as witnessed by significant investments in the sector. The initiative has been replicated across the UK, so it can be said that GLL started a new ‘trend’ in the leisure market. Currently, GLL manages more than 40 leisure centres across London and is involved in the delivery of training at the London Leisure College.
What are the results? GLL’s business model has been very successful with local authorities because it combines public service standards and ethics with an effective private-sector style delivery. The model allows for opportunities to combine the best of the public and private sectors by allowing it to raise capital, take and implement decisions quickly, and act commercially but reinvest its profit in the business and the community.
A review of GLL’s operations in Greenwich demonstrated that since 1993 costs of running the service to the Council have been more than halved and turnover in the Greenwich centres has increased from £2.5 million in 1993 to over £9 million in 2004.
Is it successful? Greenwich Leisure Limited has achieved Inner City 100 status, as one of the fastest growing businesses in the country in 2003 and 2004. GLL also won the Social Enterprise of the Year award at the 2004 National Business Awards.
Is the model transferable ? The GLL model demonstrates that combining commercial success with social goals is possible. GLL was able to successfully fill a gap in the provision of leisure facilities, as public authority funding for these activities was being cut.
From an initial base in South-East London, GLL now operates across London, successfully managing leisure centres in various boroughs. The model on which it is based could be transferred to other countries should similar tax relief systems apply. Building on competitive advantages? GLL resulted from a local authority initiative, looking to address a gap in the provision of leisure services. GLL could provide an example to other local authorities facing funding cuts for specific areas of service provision.
What are the barriers to transferability? GLL was designed to fill a gap in provision. In areas where this gap does not exist, the initiative may not be successful. However, the idea could be transferred to other sectors besides the leisure industry.
