In September 2021 North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) set out several objectives and approved in principle a significant investment to support the social economy. NTCA is now working with Power to Change to review the nature and scale of the social economy in the North of Tyne and explore ways of promoting and further developing this activity.
Through this call for evidence NTCA would like to update its understanding of: the current context, including details of any support available to Socially Trading Organisations (STOs), the nature and scale of any current activity, and the likely pipeline of STOs locally. A key part of the process will be to explore the sector’s appetite for innovative financial products including loans and equity to support start-up, innovation, and scale-up.
This call for evidence is a first stage in the process of NTCA updating its understanding the opportunities in the North of Tyne. It is interested in the views of:
- Socially Trading Organisations (STOs) from food coops to community energy initiatives (see below for our definition) and those wanting to establish new projects of this nature;
- Infrastructure and Business Support organisations/professionals supporting this activity;
- Those providing finance solutions such as Fund Managers and Community Development Finance Initiatives (CDFIs).
NTCA has launched this call to gather views on the opportunities and barriers to growth in the social economy, and in particular the sector’s appetite for innovative financial products including loans and equity to support start-up, innovation, and scale-up. This will inform significant investment into new and innovative social finance funds by NTCA and wider partners in the Summer. This call for evidence will remain open until May 13th 2022.
Please send any enquiries to socialeconomy@northoftyne-ca.gov.uk
To respond to the call for evidence, please complete this online survey.