Social impact investor Big Society Capital is rebranding to Better Society Capital to “better reflect our mission”, as it reveals plans to scale up the funds it can direct to social challenges.
The organisation, which was founded in 2012, said Better Society Capital (BSC) is a clearer articulation of its aim to grow the UK social impact investment market. It helps direct money from pension funds, trusts, foundations, family offices and other institutional investors to initiatives or companies that are tackling social challenges such as homelessness or access to healthcare.
“We are staying true to what we have done over the past 12 years, but we wanted to change the name to better reflect our mission,” CEO Stephen Muers (pictured) told PA Future.
“Our areas of focus remain the same. This name change is an opportunity to raise the profile of investing in social impact in the UK.”
Since launch, BSC has helped the social impact market grow more than tenfold from around £800m to £9bn through its own investments and partnerships with co-investors.
See also: Big Society Capital to double social impact market by 2025
Talking about the BSC projects, Myers explained it had been investing in social housing for the past eight years.
“There are 100,000 people in temporary accommodation in the UK. They are living in hostels or B&Bs, which is a horrible experience and costs the taxpayer vasts amount to money.
“We have been supporting the provision of long-term, stable accommodation and working with charities such as the Notting Hill Housing trust to help several thousand people.
“Our aim is to scale that up and help tens of thousands of people – and also save the government money.”
During the recent cost-of-living crisis, BSC also worked with financial lending charities to support those struggling with energy bill increases, as well as helping organisations that need to make buildings more energy efficient.
“Through our Energy Resilience funds, we offer grants from one of our partners for the technical works needed to improve a building’s heating costs and reducing the emissions. We also subsidise to help pay for improvements. The demand has been off the scale for this,” Muers said.
The firm has also worked with Schroders on the BSC Social Impact Trust enabling retail investors to access impact opportunities for the first time.
“We are also seeing more institutional investors, particularly local government pension funds, come to this space as they are attracted to the real long-term investment opportunities and having a social impact,” the CEO added.
Commenting on the name change, Robin Hindle Fisher, chair of BSC, said: “BSC achieved an enormous amount in its first 12 years and I am excited about the contribution it can make to the market’s growth in the future. For us to do this it is important that we define our role in the sector clearly and ensure that our outward messaging is as true to our mission as possible. I am confident that this change of name will unlock opportunities for BSC, and in turn for the organisations we fund and the investors we partner with, while making the UK a better place to live.”
