Origins

Cartrefi Conwy Housing Association invests significant amounts of money each year on maintaining their portfolio of circa 4,000 properties. It was important for the board and executives to create a hardwired model for social return on this investment where money could be used in a different way to keep the spend in the local economy and any profits from the commercial works would be used to benefit their tenants. It was this driver that enabled Creating Enterprise to be formed four years ago as a social enterprise that would initially carry out commercial activities for Cartrefi Conwy to maintain their properties and use the profits to put back into the communities through Creating Futures to create employment opportunities for tenants. The model was so successful that over the last four years, Creating Enterprise has grown significantly and taken on more and more of the commercial contracts on behalf of Cartrefi Conwy as well as other external organisations.

Success Factor

Being able to deliver a quality service, on budget and within required timescales whilst demonstrating strong social value by putting profits back into the local community. Establishing a “social contractor of choice” model with hard wired social values has attracted significant interest from other public bodies outside of Cartrefi Conwy enabling the firm to win external contracts at such early stages and gain national interest from key stakeholders.

The Future

Creating Enterprise wish to continue its growth strategy over the next five years and beyond in order to stay committed to its key principles and offer as much employment and training opportunities to tenants and those furthest from the job market in all areas in which they work. It will continue to deliver quality work to all of stakeholders but also expand all core business areas to other external organisations by competitive tendering and entrance onto appropriate framework agreements. Its modular build division is now also up and running with its factory in Holyhead open for business with a secured order book of 77 “passive house” homes over the next 18 months. Finally, Creating Enterprise recently took on the Wales licence to run the Social Enterprise Academy, which delivers learning and development programmes to private, public and third sector companies. The Academy already delivers these programmes worldwide and there are plans to grow this area of the business over the coming years in Wales.