"A social enterprise is not a legal structure but a powerful way of doing business."
The UK defines a social enterprise as an organisation that applies commercial strategies which maximize commercial operations, for improvements in socioeconomic and environmental well-being.
Socioeconomic impact is the foundation of our business model!
Incorporated in England & Wales alongside thousands of other small and medium sized businesses, the Pluggin Ecosystem Limited is a social enterprise which is operating a business model grounded in profit-for-impact.
We launched as a social enterprise in October 2020 during the global pandemic, self-funded by our founding shareholder Jaysco Holdings.
Until June 2024 we bootstrapped the business, using impact investment from Jaysco Holdings. Our goal being to establish the UK's first self-sustaining social value marketplace - powered by technology, embedded deep into public procurement and with activities being led from within UK communities.
In July 2024, having embedded and proven the ecosystem, we launched a commercial offering to to financially sustain us.
We generate channel marketing-based revenues drawn-from: supplier businesses seeking to reach and market their social value into exclusive audiences of public buyers and; consumer brands seeking to become more strategic in how they market their community social impact investments.
Frequently Asked Questions
We appreciate that coming from nowhere, questions will be asked (we recognise the need for due diligence on who and what we are).
Having met with many businesses since 2020, a lot of the questions they've asked us are now the same and so we've put-together this FAQ as a quick reference place going forwards.
Below, you'll find section which take you deeper into our people and background.
Isn't a social enterprise like a charity?
Yes and No. In the UK, the majority of social enterprises listed on Companies House (in a different highly governed section) tend to be set-up to trade, but rules prohibit them from awarding shareholder dividends from profits or to sell-on their assets, or sell equity for investment. These social enterprises can (and do) hedge their income bets by also seeking and receiving donation/grants/funding from official or charitable sources. Like us, there are a growing number of commerce-first businesses (led by owners/leaders who run them as profit for purpose social enterprises) who trade to survive and do not seek or accept grants/funding. These operate with equal (often more) probity and governance, but retain full autonomy to build profits and deliver impact they want - against clear impact targets.
You are not then, a CIC or limited by guarantee with an asset lock?
No we are not a CIC, nor do we have locks on how we grow and expand to meet community needs and demands we identify. We trade to survive, and don't serve shareholder dividends. We capped all earning to £60k per person. All of our shareholders are co-founders and directors who run the business to facilitate the delivery social impact by others. We don't seek or accept charitable grants or governmental funding like other social enterprises who are CIC incorporated or limited by guarantees with asset locks in place.
How do you make money then?
We have a well-developed digital infrastructure within the ecosystem, with audience reach perfectly suited to business marketing and sales needs. Brands can utilise our exclusive environment and reach-into UK communities, for their channel marketing - our sponsorship tariff enables brands to invest marketing budgets into brand placement and social value & impact marketing into buyer audiences (public & government or UK consumers).
Why does Companies House show very little activity until 2023?
We bootstrapped our start-up until June 2024, using shareholder impact investment to built and embed into UK communities and to create partnerships that can now mobilise revenues. Our business owes no money to suppliers, and has the ability to expand rapidly through 25/26 and onwards.
Is the Pluggin Ecosystem looking to grow and invest its profits?
Yes. With the ropll-out of our DICM with public procurement bodies across 12 UK regions we have the ability to expand our membership and establish a very exciting marketplace for social value and impact. This we believe, will create market competition for brands to stand-out and as such enable us to maximise revenues. As the ecosystem membership significantly increases, and the volume of collaborations with it, we will re-invest back into our technology and services, along with the future-proofing of charity & social enterprise members.
So, you are not reliant upon outside financial backing to keep going?
No. Our up-front investment into design, market testing and operationalisation of technology now provides a cost-free scalability - with data security. Having embedded partnership models ( which add-value to them and deliver a win/win) we are now focused upon scale, to disrupt current thinking and practice without outside financial or political influence.
Our People
The ecosystem was built with and for UK communities, with some social entrepreneurism and impact investment thrown in too.
Meet the people behind building and running the ecosystem.
Our History
Pluggin began life back in 2014, connecting international brands into charities (NGOs) deep within the communities of West Africa.
See what happened in the decade leading to this Pluggin Ecosystem.
Our Structure
From our African beginnings we refined and tested a model we called the Pluggin Ecosystem (originally called Activ8Change); a full-circle approach powered by technology.
See what this looks like today, as a fully self-sufficient UK support environment.