Big Issue’s social investment arm reaching 1.8 million Brits through investees

1.8 million people – many of whom live in the UK’s most deprived towns and cities – are being supported by Big Issue Invest‘s amazing portfolio of social purpose businesses, its 2023/24 impact report has revealed today (Tuesday 19 November).

Big Issue Group’s social investment arm has invested £2.7 million in 13 social purpose organisations in the past 12 months, expanding their portfolio to 145 businesses. These businesses in turn have provided life-changing services and support for a combined total of nearly 2 million Brits.

The UK impact investing sector is growing rapidly, and now accounts for around 8% of the global impact investing market. With around 14 million Brits living in poverty, social investment is an increasingly popular way to create change at a grassroots level – as signalled by the UK government’s recent budget, which promised to create a new social impact investment vehicle to “mobilise private investment to deliver positive social impact”.

Big Issue Invest continues to make a significant contribution to the expansion of the sector. More than £30 million funds have been raised, of which more than half is from investors who are new to social impact investing; their finance is being deployed via Big Issue Invest’s various financial products to entrepreneurs on the group, working to create localised change for their communities.

More than two-thirds (67%) of Big Issue Invest’s invested funds work in one of the most deprived areas of the UK, while 94% of these businesses provide core solutions to poverty in some way – addressing disparities in health, education, housing and work up and down the country.

Over half (51%) of funding was awarded to diverse-led organisations. Thanks to their Big Issue Invest funding, 87% of investees reported feeling more financially stable and able to seize on long-term opportunities.

Also in the past year, Big Issue Invest has gained further industry recognition with top gongs at the Investment Week Sustainable Investment Awards and the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) Awards.

Big Issue Invest CEO Danyal Sattar said: “At a time when approximately 22% of the UK population is in poverty, the need for social investment has never been clearer or more relevant.

“What we do at Big Issue Invest points the way to the wider social solutions we have to the problems we experience. We’re thrilled to support initiatives like Home Kitchen, a restaurant employing people experiencing homelessness to learn the restaurant trade, and London Community Land Trust, providing quality affordable homes designed by the local community, for the local community in Lewisham.”

Big Issue Invest Chair Mark Porter added: “In 2024-25, as BII nears 20 years of social impact investing, we are proud of the part we have played in the rapidly evolving social investment industry.

“As we prepare for this anniversary, we look forward to continuing to deliver for social entrepreneurs and their service users while expanding our offer, both by continuing to make investment available to those who have traditionally been denied it through our Growth Impact Fund and by investing in established social purpose organisations through our Social Impact Debt Fund IV.”

Home Kitchen has been the recipient of £210,000 of Big Issue investment. The Primrose Hill fine-dining restaurant gives people experiencing homelessness a route into stable, quality employment in the hospitality industry.

On their experience working with Big Issue Invest, Home Kitchen said: “We prefer knowing that the investment is coming from an organisation with the same goals and values as us, it means we’re dealing with people who understand the social impact and not just the financial side.

“The input we got from the BII team has been really valuable and will help make Home Kitchen stronger as a business. Ultimately, that translates into us being better able to support our employees and achieve our impact goals.”