e-Inclusion Recycling
July 24, 2008 Posted by Kevin in : Bristol , trackbacke-Inclusion Recycling refurbish and redistribute used PC’s from private businesses and public bodies to individuals, organisations and communities in Newport. I visited the centre yesterday and was hugely impressed by the efficiency of the operation and by their focus on using the business as a force for social change.
The organisation is established as a Community Interest Company, giving it all the flexibility and certainty of the company format, but at the same time ensuring that the enterprise works for the benefit of the community rather than for owners or investors. Julie Traynor, the Founder and Managing Director or e-Inclusion Recycling, has put together a set of excellent online videos demonstrating all aspects of their work.
Comments»
Your claims about the politically fashionable Community Interest Company structure may be a little wide of the mark.
The recent collapse of ECT - a flagship CIC with the domestic recycling contract for Bristol among many - and its subsequent fire sale to the private sector suggests social enterprise in its current form may not be quite the panacea its adherents claim.
The Guardian had this to say:
I don't feel that I've made any claims for the CIC that could be characterised as wide of the mark- the form is based on existing company structures, and the asset lock ensures that the company operates to benefit the community.
Some businesses fail- some prosper. I don't see that there is a fundamental flaw in the CIC arrangement that might make business failure more likely.