The founder of a business making 7,000 macaroons every day has been named one of the most exceptional social entrepreneurs in the UK.
Rosie Ginday trained as a high-end pastry chef and worked in a Michelin starred restaurant before creating Miss Macaroon, a social enterprise combining premium quality food with opportunities for young people seeking a career.
Since opening its first retail store in Birmingham, Miss Macaroon has grown from producing 500 macaroons per day to over 7,000. It is the only patisserie in the world able to create macaroons matched to specific Pantone colours, enabling the firm to secure numerous corporate and wedding customers.
And thousands of discerning cake-lovers buy its gluten-free concoctions online and from its Colmore Row shop, or visit tasting events featuring Ginday’s macaroons which “harness art and science.”
Indulgence is, according to Ginday, a virtue at Miss Macaroon as the business reinvests all profits into training and employing long-term unemployed young people in retail and catering.
Its MacsMAD (Macaroons that Make A Difference) training courses enable people to build their confidence and skills to become work ready.
Each course, for small groups of trainees aged 18 to 35, involves learning from peer mentors who are MacsMAD graduates with jobs. Professional head chefs provide tours of their kitchens.
Trainees learn industry and workplace skills which they can practice in Miss Macaroon’s production kitchen or macaroon and prosecco bar. A bespoke and wide-ranging programme addresses personal barriers to employment, and there’s one-to-one mentoring throughout the course, during follow on work experience and as trainees go into employment for up to six months.
MacsMAD trainees leave the course with five-year plans, an up to date CV, extensive interview practice, industry contacts and help to apply for jobs.
Despite Rosie’s commercial success and extensive recognition for her social impact, when she needed to access capital to grow Miss Macaroon she was let down by traditional lenders.
But a business loan from BCRS Business Loans, a responsible finance provider, with match funding from Big Venture Challenge, enabled Rosie to fund Miss Macaroon’s expansion and facilitated the employment of four full time staff.
This week Rosie was named one of just 3 UK finalists for the “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” category in the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards, funded by the Citi Foundation, an annual celebration of Britain’s microentrepreneurs that have accessed “responsible” business finance.
Rosie Ginday MBE said:
“I’m delighted that Miss Macaroon has been shortlisted in these prestigious awards. It’s fantastic that our work enabling young people who need a helping hand to gain the skills and experience needed to re-enter the world of work has been recognised in this way.
“Many of our Macaroons that Make A Difference course trainees and graduates have mental health issues, are on the autism spectrum, are lone parents, care leavers or ex-offenders. They thrive when we as social enterprises, the business community and the public sector collaborate to support them.”
The UK’s 5.6 million microenterprises – businesses with 9 or fewer staff – account for 96% of all businesses, and employ over 9 million people. Some would not exist at all without the financial and business support they access from the UK’s ethical “responsible finance” sector, which in 2019 lent £171 million to thousands of credit-worthy businesses and social enterprises rejected by or unable to access finance from mainstream lenders.
“Social entrepreneurs like Rosie play a vital role in strengthening communities throughout the UK by creating jobs, unlocking opportunities, and addressing social and environmental challenges,” said Bob Annibale, Global Director, Citi Inclusive Finance and Community Development.
“The Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards recognise the positive impact they are having on a local and national scale, and these exceptional finalists and the responsible finance providers which supported them all contribute to the economic, social and environmental vibrancy of their communities. We are proud to support the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards and the eighth cohort of finalists in the UK.”
Theodora Hadjimichael, Chief Executive of Responsible Finance, said:
“With impressive entrants from all over the UK, entrepreneurs and their businesses needed to be truly remarkable to make the shortlist. Rosie shows how business can be a force for good. A thriving social enterprise, Miss Macaroon also demonstrates the impact of responsible finance providers, embedded within the communities they serve.”
Rosie must now wait until 9 July 2020 when the winners of the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards will be announced.
Read about the other finalists here.