Legal & General's award-winning social investment fund returns to support 'greater Brighton' economy

Long term direct Investment in infrastructure such as housing, businesses space and energy generation, employing people in Legal & General offices and social investments and supporting organisations innovating social and environmental challenges.

This March sees the fund bring together more investors than ever before looking to support the growth of purpose driven business including Legal & General, The Pebble Trust, Coast 2 Capital LEP, Brighton & Hove City Council and the Goodall Foundation.

A strong and established growth city, Brighton is continuing to experience a vast increase in the number of young professionals moving to the City and has one of the most talented labour pools in the South East. It is also a great place for innovation particularly around the environment and making society better.

The £300k SE-Assist fund is designed to provide interest free finance to social enterprises that are having a positive economic, social and or environmental benefit in Greater Brighton City Region. They are a vital part of the economy and particularly important for the Greater Brighton Region to thrive, an area which now stretches from Worthing in the west to Newhaven in the east, and up to Gatwick and Crawley in the north.

Lynne Sheehy, CSR Manager , Legal & General said “We are delighted that the fund returns to Brighton. Our partners CAF Venturesome and The Platform are helping to make sure that this initiative is widely publicised and we have some amazing organisations stepping forward who would benefit from funding, mentorship and business support. We are also very proud to have locally connected people join the Social Investment Committee in Greater Brighton. This team led by Peter Field, Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex will be responsible for making the initial investment decisions and the ongoing support for the backed businesses to help them grow and become successful”.

ABOUT SE-Assist

SE-Assist is an award winning innovative model of social investment allowing social enterprises to access both funding and support from business experts. It was founded by Legal & General and the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), with support from NESTA and the initiative was successfully piloted in Brighton & Hove back in 2013. Following the pilot it expanded to Croydon (2014–15) and then to Wales (2016–17).

In 2018 Greater Brighton and Wales are two key areas in the UK that will further benefit from this funds impact.

So far the SE-Assist has helped create around 30 jobs across a mix of sectors, has financially supported 27 enterprises with mentorship and there has been circa £600k of social investment to date. With the latest rounds of funding we will reach over £1m of funding via this programme in 2018. Some of the great businesses with social and environmental impact in our portfolio so far include hiSbe, The Bevvy, The Book of You and Elite Paper Solutions