Ground-breaking collaboration brings new investment choice for Scotland’s social entrepreneurs.
By David Cousland
16.09.2014
Big Issue Invest Scotland (BIIS) is an essential joint venture bringing together DSL Business Finance, Scotland’s not-for-profit lender with its impressive 21 years’ worth of grass roots investment, with The Big Issue’s influential investment arm, The Big Issue Invest.
Driven by commercial common sense and desire for positive change, BIIS ensures Scotland’s social enterprises can access the type and level of funding and support they need to help tackle poverty and inequality.
BIIS will offer a flexible finance model by offering loans from £5,000 to £1.5m and social investment from £50,000 to £1.5m. It is aimed at socially minded ventures such as co-operatives, employee owned businesses or trading charities that are seeking to invest in buying or improving property, plant and equipment, working capital or business expansion.
Like The Big Issue, BIIS aims to help people to help themselves by investing in social enterprises that have business-like responses to social problems, with self-help and prevention at their core.
With its like-minded and refreshingly down to earth approach, BIIS is a one stop shop that connects investment, people and the knowledge organisations need to help build a future where Scotland’s social enterprise infrastructure thrives.
Big Issue Invest Scotland’s clear vision and shared ethos means and offers much more than just finance.
In addition to the financial investment, as a BIIS partner you are part of the bigger picture as:
ü we share your story with the UK’s 399,000 Big Issue weekly readers
ü we introduce you to the growing network of like-minded enterprises we know and work with
ü we connect you with investors seeking a social as well as a financial return on their investment
ü we further raise the profile of social enterprise amongst the Scottish public
ü we work in partnership with other providers of finance and investment
BIIS will build on DSL Business Finance’s expertise and experience of lower value lending, with speedy, efficient and competitive finance between £5,000 and £50,000 for smaller enterprises. And BIIS will also build on Big Issue Invest’s innovation. Big Issue Invest was the first venture established as a social enterprise to bring patient capital and equity-like funding to social businesses in the UK.
To find out more contact
David Cousland or Nicola Cosgrove.
www.bigissueinvestscotland.com, [email protected],
Tel: 0141 425 2930