The ESES Communities Team have been working over the past few months to create a Social Business Directory to showcase social enterprises/CICs/local organisations with an excellent social ethos within Edinburgh, Fife, the Scottish Borders and the Lothians, with a focus on presenting suppliers and contractors with a tangible go to list.

The directory is open to social businesses across the region who play an important role in their community and are ‘business ready’ for various opportunities that are created during the lifetime of a large build.

The format is a downloadable PDF that will be refreshed twice a year and shared on the ESES Community Wealth Building Information Site.

Background
The ESES Communities team engaged with following organisations to gain their local expertise around potential social businesses who would be at capacity to deliver their goods and services to suppliers and contractors.

• Scottish Borders: Borders Community Action, Scottish Borders Social Enterprise Chamber, South of Scotland Enterprise
• East Lothian: Volunteer Centre East Lothian, Business Gateway East Lothian
• Midlothian: Midlothian Third Sector Interface, Business Gateway Midlothian
• West Lothian: Voluntary Sector Gateway West Lothian
• Edinburgh: Edinburgh Social Enterprise Network
• Fife: Fife Voluntary Action
   

The brief presented to businesses was: They must be relevant to this audience and of a certain scale so that they are ready to respond to this specific type of procurement request.

Examples of the type of services that could be required: PPE Supplier, training, i.e., first aid, mental health, events space, public engagement, catering, cleaning, recycling, reuse organisations, PAT Testing, landscaping, horticulture, marketing materials, printing, graphic design, venue hire.

How do I apply for my organisation to be considered for the next directory draft? If you would like your business to be included in the next update of the directory and are one of the following - Social Enterprise, CIC, Charity, Non-profit Organisation, Not-For-Profit Organistaion etc, please complete the entry document.

All completed entries should be emailed, along with a high-resolution logo to the team at info@esescommunities.org for consideration.