What do these organisations all have in common?

Wiccaweys Rescued Border Collies and Working Sheepdogs; Bostin’ Creative Arts & Theatre; Space Kids;  Ramseys Boxing Gym; Mindfulness South; Aspire to Inspire Communities; The Jack and Jill Market; Working4Women; The Tai Chi Union for Great Britain…

….they are all Community Interest Companies (“CICs”) registered in March 2018.

The term “social enterprise” covers a wide range of organisations operating in an exciting and fast-growing sector. In broad terms, CICs were established to bridge the gap between charities and commercial companies and provide a purpose-built legal framework and “brand” identity for social enterprises.

Key features include that:-

• they are companies, registered at Companies House and regulated by the CIC Regulator;
• they may be established for any lawful purpose, provided that their activities are carried out for the benefit of the community;
• they are free to operate more “commercially” than charities – including making payments to directors and, subject to some limits, paying dividends to any shareholders;
• those who support the work of CICs (for example any shareholders, investors or donors) will have the assurance of community benefit through an “asset lock” and transparency about the activities of the CIC through the annual community interest report which must be filed with the CIC Regulator;
• as they do not have certain tax advantages that charities have, they are less heavily regulated than charities. CICs can be established as “stand alone” organisations or as trading subsidiaries of commercial organisations or charities. Existing non-charitable companies can convert to CICs and, in some cases, a charity may convert to a CIC.

If you would like to know more please contact:

Jenny Smith – Head of Charities and Not for Profit Sector

jsmith@thursfields.co.uk  01905 677052