LEVENSHULME HIGH STREET COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (CED) PLAN

9th March 2016 0

CONTENTS

2. Introduction Summary of approach Why bother? Other sources 5. Programme timeline 7. Conclusion What would we do differently next time? Key learnings from the report 9. Outcomes and planned activities Resources Ownership Outline timetable of activities 16. Appendix CED application 2011 census data – economic activity 2011 census data – ethnic origin

Technical support application Research brief CED stakeholder meeting – February 2016 Levenshulme CED - sources of social investment finance

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Introduction From the outset the goals of this project were framed around understanding, which we prioritised over actions as a secondary set of objectives. We hope those actions will follow via means of engagement with stakeholders as a result of the plan itself, which will act as direction and tactics to be implemented by various stakeholders. The main objective remains to offer insight and clarity on the current economic status of the high street in Levenshulme and Gorton South. This is a deliberate choice and a response to the fact that the high street in Levenshulme/Gorton South has been subject to previous projects, including our own, that intended to kick-start regeneration but that have resulted in little effect on the ground. As a street market the weekly Levenshulme Markets have drawn additional footfall to the area on Saturdays and as a social enterprise we have empowered local entrepreneurs (including – in March 2015 – awarding £15,000 of grants to residents with high street-based projects). As of the beginning of this project in June 2015 those combined efforts, which would be considered a positive approach by many regeneration professionals, have resulted in no businesses being started on the high street. It is clear, then, that significant barriers to high street occupation by creative residents still exist. Levenshulme Market CIC’s application to the CED programme1stated our desired outcomes as follows: Understanding the economic reality of our high street is the only way we can hope to effect some meaningful change to it. That change will mean more opportunities for local entrepreneurs, a stronger local economy and employment opportunities for residents. Understanding, then, has been the watchword of this project – with the belief that in understanding we will be better able to work with key stakeholders from the community, Manchester City Council and local residents to make recommendations on actions that can bring about change. Active parties The project has been led by Levenshulme Market CIC, with a support from Culture Co-op and the New Economics Foundation. Our partners in the community have been Levenshulme Inspire CIC and LoveLevenshulme, with a stakeholder support from the Levenshulme Traders Association, Levenshulme Community Association, Levenshulme Neighbourhood Planning Forum and Manchester City Council officers and members. Summary of approach Working within the context of the CED programme has necessitated the development of a “plan” for our area, and while the research project and a simple reporting of the information gathered has been a clear priority in our approach, the final “product” for the programme does use this information as a means to developing recommended actions. As you will see from the timeline below this element of our plan is supplementary to the report itself and the intention is that ownership will be devolved to the community of Levenshulme and Gorton South who – we hope – will be empowered by having both a body of research that supports the actions they are undertaking and the ability to draw from that research in further work. However, the data gathered is time-limited and amounts to a snapshot of the Levenshulme/Gorton South high street area at a particular moment in time (December 2015 – January 2016). These limitations are further underlined by the findings within the research around the high rate of business turnover in the area. On the other hand, while businesses may change hands, property ownership in the defined area is relatively static and, therefore, it can be assumed that many of the factors that govern those businesses from the landlord “end” will remain the same for some time. It is also worth noting that this project sought to determine activity on the high street as an economic entity, and it was beyond the resources and scope of the project to determine demand for potential businesses or the individual 1

Appendix - CED Application

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success (or otherwise) of existing or proposed businesses for the high street. The research project asks whether a new business can open on our high street – what barriers are in place to stop them and what incentives to encourage them – and not whether it would be wise for them to do so. Why bother? Levenshulme Market hosts creative, independent traders and attracts shoppers who respond to that offer. It is not an unreasonable assumption that as projects leads we entered into this process wanting to identify ways that those businesses could be represented on our high street and those shoppers further served within the community - the benefits to communities of providing opportunities for residents to shop locally underpin our approach as a social enterprise. However, we were also crucially aware of our own representation bias – it would be disingenuous for us to claim that the Market’s customers (traders and shoppers alike) are economically or ethnically representative of the majority of residents who live in Levenshulme and Gorton South and who access our high street. There can be no doubt that Levenshulme/Gorton South is an economically diverse community – although data on economic activity regarding unemployment in Levenshulme ward2 compares favourably to Manchester, the North West and the UK as a whole, the same is not the case in Gorton South where residents who are economically inactive through unemployment, retirement, looking after home or family, long-term sick or disabled and other outnumber those in full time or part time employment. In the latest Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), Levenshulme was ranked 8,0853 and Gorton South as 27064 out of 32844 in England (where 1 was the most deprived). To underline this disparity readers should consider that in February 2016 a new library and sports complex opened in the area, representing a £9.3m investment from Manchester City Council, with membership process ranging from £20.00 to £35.00 - costs in line with many private health clubs, yet in the same month the area gained its first food bank and two local business owners were prosecuted for employing illegal immigrants, and entered a defence that they “acted out of compassion to help people desperate for work”.5 Levenshulme and Gorton South are also ethnically diverse – with a large Pakistani population which now far outnumbers the Irish population traditionally identified with the area6 – and an early question we posed ourselves was “what if this research tells us that the takeaways that we don’t feel serve our needs are serving the needs of another group within our community?” Throughout this process we have endeavoured to keep that question in our minds as a reminder of our own bias and the need to allow the data to speak for itself and not to seek confirmation of the conclusions we would prefer. Regardless, there is an assumption in this project that there is something wrong on the high street in Levenshulme/Gorton South, which requires clarification. In undertaking this project we have sought to determine whether the high street is serving its community in a way that is economically healthy – that is, to consider it within the CED framework of the triple bottom line, or an equal focus on economic, social, and environmental outcomes. At a local level, the New Economics Foundation have produced four crucial indicators of a well-functioning local economy, under which we should consider our high street:

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Appendix – 2011 Census Data – Economic Activity http://www.uklocalarea.com/index.php?lsoa=E01005215&q=Levenshulme&wc=00BNFX 4 http://www.uklocalarea.com/index.php?lsoa=E01005194&q=Gorton+South&wc=00BNFT 5 http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/madina-store-levenshulme-illegal-immigrants10908825 6 Appendix – 2011 Census Data – Ethnic Origin 3

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People are doing well financially

Diverse, resilient business sector

Strong supply chains, good money

Sustainabl e resource use

Even before we undertook our research it was clear that if the high street is to be considered a conduit to the local economy, it is failing in these respects – as above, there is a large degree of economic disparity and higher than average levels of poverty in the area. On visual inspection it seems that there is a proliferation of certain business types on the high street that undermines both its diversity and resilience to future change; that many of those businesses draw the majority of their custom from outside of the area, while the anchor retailer is a large national supermarket chain; and that there is little to no consideration from either the business community or the city council given towards either sustainable business approaches or use of resources. The premise of this project, then, accepts that our high street is not economically healthy and seeks to understand what is creating these conditions on a micro-economic level, and, having done so, to make recommendations for how our residents, high street stakeholders and Manchester City Council can help our high street to function as part of our local economy. Other sources The report should be considered in the context of existing plans for Levenshulme and Manchester, namely:   

The Levenshulme District Centre Action Plan 2009 - 20197 The proposed Levenshulme Neighbourhood Planning Forum Constitution 20158 The Greater Manchester Agreement (devolution deal) – specifically details regarding business support and access to finance 9

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http://www.manchester.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/15874/action_plan.pdf http://www.manchester.gov.uk/downloads/download/5442/neighbourhood_forum_applications 9 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/369858/Greater_Manchester_Agreement_i.p df 8

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Programme timeline April 2015 – Levenshulme Market CIC submits application to the Community Economic Development programme – a new programme led by Co-operatives UK and delivered in partnership with New Economics Foundation, Locality, Community Development Foundation and the Community Development Finance Association. The programme is designed to help 50 communities characterised by high deprivation (assessed on information taken from the national Index of Multiple Deprivation) to develop their own community economic development plans.10 May 2015 – Application to the Community Economic Development programme by Levenshulme Market accepted. The programme will provide the project leads with consultation support provided by a range of national specialist organisations and up to £5000 to be spent on delivery of the project that cannot be provided by those organisations. June 2015 – Initial scoping meetings between project owners and CED adviser. July 2015 – Needs analysis workshop – a full-day meeting is held to develop the aims of the project, with attendees representing: the Levenshulme Community Association, the Levenshulme Traders Association, Levenshulme and Gorton South councillors, Manchester City Council officers from the South Manchester Regeneration Team, Levenshulme Neighbourhood Forum, Love Levenshulme, Levenshulme Inspire, and local traders. Various exercises undertaken, encompassing a “wish list” of projects for Levenshulme/Gorton South, initial development of research proposal, SWOT on research project and “leaky bucket” exercise on local economy. At the conclusion of the meeting the stakeholder group confirmed four projects they felt would be of value to pursue:    

Business support services for start ups Supporting an anchor retail development Support systems for local traders and/or landlords Research project into high street economic picture

As per the original application for this project we developed a further application for technical and funding support for the research project but discussed the value of ensuring that our the eventual findings of the research and proposed actions could/should also consider the other three ideas proposed. Application for technical support (consultancy) with the New Economics Foundation and funding support for £4973 to cover researcher fees, engagement event costs, backfill administration and design work submitted.11 August 2015 – Application for technical support and funding approved. September/October 2015 – Research proposal developed in consultation with New Economics Foundation.12 November 2015 – Researcher appointed. December 2015/January 2016 – Research carried out. February 2016 – Draft research report shared with key community stakeholder group and Manchester City Council delegates. 29th February 2016 – Key community stakeholder group meets and outlines potential project recommendations based on research.13

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Appendix – CED Application Appendix – Technical support application 12 Appendix – Research brief 13 CED Stakeholder Meeting – February 2016 11

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4th March 2016 – Manchester City Council meets with project leads and discusses support that can be offered to project recommendations – meeting facilitated by the New Economics Foundation. 11th March 2016 – Final report and accompanying project recommendations submitted to CED and made available to the public to read. May 2016 (post elections) – Public engagement event held to discuss project recommendations and form working groups to take ownership of recommended actions.

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Conclusion What would we do differently next time? With complex problems there are no easy conclusions and the work undertaken in the research project has provided us with more questions than answers. The project recommendations document accompanying this report frames these questions within a context that seeks to understand how they can move closer to being resolved and our public engagement event will seek bring together resources and harness the energy of the community to move towards solutions but the fact remains that this project does not provide much in the way of solutions. We have also learned that the problem is yet more complex than we had imagined and the data we have gathered in the course of this project has multiple opportunities for conclusions to be drawn – not all of which can be covered within the report itself. With that in mind we have published all the data that is publically available elsewhere or published with the consent of the source to enable those who wish to do so to make their own enquiries of it. The report concludes with number of discussion areas identified by the research:        

Vacant properties and change The high street environment The property offer Landlords, tenants and prospective traders Leases Tensions Enabling factors for small businesses Suggestions

Therefore, the accompanying document of recommendations seeks to develop means to resolve problems around those themes by asking questions about what can be done to help. There are plenty more areas to be tackled and we hope that by providing the data and demonstrating how we have tackled “our” areas, the residents of Levenshulme and Gorton South will be empowered to keep working to improve the economic impact of our high street. Key learnings from the report The project leads identified four areas as key learnings from the report and took these to the high street stakeholders and Manchester City Council for further discussion: Empty properties and takeaways    

To what extent are authorities motivated to ensure empty properties are filled by independent businesses? They get more money (in rates) from empty properties Turnover of businesses is high – indicating more unviable businesses are opening than in other areas We have fewer takeaways than Rusholme….but only just – more than all other comparable areas Shuttered shops – whether vacant or closed – give an impression of neglect which discourages potential tenants, but landlords seem unmotivated to change: “I don’t care as long as someone is paying rent.” Landlord behaviour

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We don’t have many absentee landlords – many are based in Manchester although few live in Levenshulme Landlord standards of care/interest in the viability of their tenants’ businesses/levels of professionalism are mixed…but generally low – most prioritise the value of the property over the value of the tenancy Many properties are in a poor state of repair Some landlords will not let to certain business types for cultural reasons Successive poor tenancies (where landlords are left owing money) has made some landlords wary of encouraging untested enterprises on the high street 7

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There is no network for landlords to share best practice/improve standards Business success factors

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Rental values are slightly lower than most other areas of the city…although the perception is that this is not the case The area is diverse, as are the business owners, which has led to some cultural divisions Some landlords and shop owners believe that car parking is a major factor in the success of retail businesses yet few place the same emphasis on public transport or cycle infrastructure Community interest

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There is an appetite for independent businesses - online survey of 92 residents found 72% wanted more businesses of this type on the high street There is an appetite for the community to take some ownership of the high street: “We – and by that I mean the traders and the wider community – need to work hard to get some morale and camaraderie going in my opinion. We need to say ‘this is OUR high street’ and to start taking ownership of it.”

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Outcomes and planned activities Responses to the challenges above discussed in the high street stakeholder meeting identified three outcomes that the group wanted to pursue as a result of this research: Work stream 1: Research more about demand There is an appetitive for a further research project that seeks to understand what demand there is for high street retail in Levenshulme, remembering that:  

Any study should have a very clear remit to cover all of the many demographics represented in the area “I would like” often doesn’t translate to “I will actually leave the house to buy” and that any study intended to understand high street demand should seek to understand the realities of what is feasible, not just what is wanted Work stream 2: Develop an effective high street team for Levenshulme

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The high street stakeholders would like to formalise and meet regularly with defined aims Develop a concrete offer of what a high street stakeholders group can and will do for traders, landlords, prospective traders and other interest groups Host a traders’ meeting at which all stakeholders would take responsibility for ensuring we get maximum attendance from high street traders and landlords Create a network with the landlords Create reports on the business benefits/facts for Levenshulme for prospective traders with a view to developing a business brokerage service and outreach programme Connect with other area teams to increase collective bargaining power with the City Council regarding provision for district centre marketing etc Work stream 3: Develop the idea of a “retail social landlord”

Enable to the community to take ownership of a high street property, which would then be let to suitable retail tenants. In this way the community could act as an “agent for change” within the landlord and trader communities and act collectively to ensure that occupying businesses are of benefit to the retail landscape of Levenshulme:     

community ownership of a high street property via an asset transfer from MCC or outright purchase Funded via community share issue or social lending subsidised rents for new businesses (for a limited time) artist/studio space

Understand and lobby for the development of MCC owned property in a way that benefits the high street – in particular:     

The old baths site The old Library Elbow street site The station car park The “village green” Much of the above points to the formation of a Community Development Trust for Levenshulme.

In presenting these findings to key officers in Manchester City Council and discussing the outcomes and planned activities we have garnered the following support: MCC are broadly supportive of the idea of a Community Land Trust for Levenshulme but noted that the key challenge would be forming the high street stakeholder group into a body that could meet the demands of this 9

project while remaining inclusive and representative of the community that group would be seeking to serve. As one delegate said “the reality is that that should be the easiest bit of what you’re proposing, but it will probably be the hardest!” Officers indicated that they would be willing to explore the idea of an asset transfer for a “social landlord” approach if an appropriate project were identified and a business case developed (as is currently in process with the Levenshulme Old Library group). However, there were some misgivings about this being undertaken by a relatively new group and it was felt that in order to undertake a large project of this kind the group would need to be able to demonstrate their “sea worthiness”. Resources Whilst the continued meeting of the stakeholders involved in the CED work can proceed without funding, many of the possible outputs of this plan will require funding and/or finance. Likely support and funding required are as follows:  Money to pay professional advisors around business planning, feasibility studies and asset transfer.  Money to pay professional researchers to build on the findings of this CED work.  Money to purchase and invest in community assets Types of support Financial support - In the past grant funding in the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) world typically took the form of capital finance to buy things and revenue finance to fund workers in the early stages of a project. This was generally in the hope that when the funding ran out, the project would continue to operate having established a trading enterprise independent of grant funding. This funding was only given to organisations that were strictly not for profit. What actually happened was that the organisation happily spent the money, bought the stuff, delivered the outcomes and then spent the last part of the funding to reinvent itself to apply for the next funding priority of the funders. Very few sustainable enterprises were created as a result. This type of funding is now much rarer. The focus more recently is to fund support or capital/revenue allied to support. The idea is that the grant funding is spent on the development work to create a sustainable trading enterprise that is “investment ready”. Any traditional grant element merely assists the process. Nowadays, capital finance is far more likely to be raised as part of the process from investors, be they social investors, social lenders or community investors. Below is an overview of the support currently available or about to become available and the trends emerging in the support landscape. A list of existing fund finding websites is given below and an overview of the sources of social finance can be found in the appendices of this plan.14. Levenshulme Market Fund It is likely that Levenshulme Market CIC will have further funds available in early 2017 to support the continued work resulting from the CED plan – and a formal proposal to the directors of the Market should be put forward at the end of 2016. Previous fund moneys available were £15k although this was supplemented by funding from Manchester City Council so funds available in 2017 are expected be lower if this support is not available. It should also be considered that Levenshulme Market are likely to be key members of the Stakeholder Group and therefore any application for funding through this route should be done in full view of the community to ensure that full accountability is maintained for both groups. Manchester City Council While no current funds for this work are currently in place, the meetings held as part of the CED process have opened a dialogue that should ensure that the group is notified of any future funding available for ongoing work of this kind.

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Appendix - Levenshulme CED - Sources of Social investment Finance

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Awards for All One of the few remaining examples of the traditional “get money to do nice things” type of funding. It has however changed recently to allow the payment of wages and can be particularly useful for funding very early stage feasibility work, when you're at a stage when other funders won't yet look at you. They focus on projects that will impact on local communities, particularly around skills, health and the environment. This would be particularly suitable for feasibility work around a particular project or event. Available throughout the UK. Offering between £300 and £10,000 https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/funding/Awards-For-All Heritage Lottery Funding There has recently been an increase in the funds offered by HLF, some of them aimed specifically at enterprise. These would be particularly suited to enterprise involving historic buildings or landscapes. They have specific funds for start-ups, heritage enterprise, parks, townscapes and places of worship. http://www.hlf.org.uk/looking-funding/our-grant-programmes Power to Change Power to Change is probably the biggest player in the “market” at the moment. Power to Change is an autonomous trust created by the Big Lottery with an endowment of £150 million, that they intend to spend over the next 10 years. Power to Change intends to grow the “Community Business” sector, defining community business as locally rooted, demonstrating community control and trading for the benefit of community. Power to Change is currently closed to applications at the moment, having run a massively oversubscribed initial grants programme in 2015. Their Community Business Fund will be opening in early 2016, providing revenue and capital funding. They will also be offering support around “blended funding”, using grant funding to unlock access to affordable loan finance. They will also be running a community shares support programme and delivering training to community entrepreneurs to create a network of community business “leaders”. Big Potential Big Potential, run by the Social Investment Business (SIB) is aimed at existing social enterprises looking to grow and provides up to £70,000 of grant funding to support organisations to become investment ready and develop their investment proposition. The funding pays for the time of approved business development providers and the time of the organisation. This support is particularly focussed on organisations that can demonstrate community benefit and who will undergo a journey of development as part of the process. Typical support includes governance and structure, marketing, business planning, financial planning and social impact strategy. There are two strands to Big Potential: 1. Big Potential Breakthrough – providing support and grants to organisations that have not used investment before and are looking to raise up to £500k of repayable capital (the existing programme). Can provide up to £70K of support in two stages (£30K to develop business to investment readiness (or show that investment not possible) and a further £40K to develop investment product – share offer etc.). For existing enterprises (not start-ups) seeking up to £500K investment 2. Big Potential Advanced – providing grants for more established organisations looking to raise in excess of £500k of investment or win contracts worth in excess of £1m (the new stream). Works as for Breakthrough. http://www.bigpotential.org.uk/ Our Urban Shop Our Urban Shop is a new pilot project involving partners Plunkett Foundation, Locaility and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, providing grant funding of up to £30,000 to help communities to set up community owned retail 11

enterprises. This programme is currently closed to applications, but has many on-line resources and a newsletter: https://www.plunkett.co.uk/our-urban-shop The Hive - Community Business Support programme Having just been launched as this plan is written in early 2016, this programme of support, funded by the Cooperative Bank and delivered by Co-operatives UK, aims to support new and existing co-operatives to develop. They will offer one-to-one support, peer mentoring and group training sessions, covering key issues such as registration, membership development, and co-operative finance. An online co-operative community will unite member-owned businesses across the country, creating networking and business development opportunities. http://thehive.coop

Reaching Communities Buildings – Big Lottery Provides funding for land and buildings projects costing more than £100,000. It can also provide revenue funding to help to get the building running and deliver project activities. Community must benefit and be involved. This would be particularly useful were the community looking to take ownership of a building in Levenshulme. https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/global-content/programmes/england/reaching-communities-buildings-england Crowdfunding We continue to see the growth in crowdfunding for social enterprise. The REconomy Project of the Transition Network have a slightly out of date blog overview here, but many are still current http://www.reconomy.org/top-40platforms-for-crowdfunding-social-change/. NESTA are also hosting a more up to date directory of crowdfunding sites: http://www.crowdingin.com/. One particularly interesting development from a CED point of view is the rise of locally based crowdfunding initiatives, that facilitate place-based crowdfunding. A good example of this is Crowdfund Bristol initiative, which has raised nearly £400,000 for 93 local projects. http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/campaign/bristol/. Another example is Spacehive https://www.spacehive.com/. It will be worth exploring whether a place-based crowdfunding initiative could support new enterprise in Levenshulme whilst building a community of enterprise. The possibilities around financing local business support, enterprise networks and association with Local Entrepreneur Forums (similar to the proposed community event “Hack the High St.” proposed in this plan) such as those run in Totnes and Brixton using these affiliate type relationships with crowdfunding platforms is particularly exciting. A recommendation for the ongoing stakeholder group will be to explore this option with crowd funders. Financing community assets and enterprise Any work involving the purchase or refurbishments of assets to provide space for community enterprise will require finance as well as support. There is a massive growth in social and community finance. Where you can demonstrate a viable social business, communities and social investors are happy to invest to receive both a financial and social return. The types of initiative that are likely as a result of this ongoing CED work within Levenshulme and South Gorton would be ideal investment opportunities, which could be financed by community investment, social investment or a mixture of the two. In addition there is a plethora of grant funding and additional support attached to this area of work. Some are listed above, but there is a more comprehensive overview of social investors in the supplementary document to this plan – Levenshulme CED - Sources of Social investment Finance. There are numerous resources available to support community investment, such as the Community Shares Unit: www.communityshares.org.uk and there will be an element of the Power to Change programme specifically aimed at community shares, which will offer £1 million of match funding. This programme will be particularly suited to Levenshulme and South Gorton and the CED work in this plan as the pilot will support and stimulate public involvement with community share offers, particularly in more disadvantaged areas and sectors where community businesses are under-represented. 12

Fund-finding websites and other useful resources The resources listed above are ever changing. Up to date information can be found using the websites below: Funding Central: http://www.fundingcentral.org.uk Big Lottery funding finder: https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/funding/funding-finder UK Business Funding Centre: http://www.ukbusinessgrants.org/grants-loans-calculator/funding-finder.php Ownership It is proposed that Levenshulme Market CIC will take ownership of the initial “scoping” work for forming a Community Development Trust – with the understanding that the three work streams above can be pursued independently of this work for the time being, with the intention that they could all – eventually – be “brought into” the Trust once they are further developed and the Trust is formed. Those work streams would be owned by the community – a process that will be facilitated by the proposed “Hack the High Street” event to be held in May 2016 – and Levenshulme Market CIC would take administrative responsibility for ensuring the three work streams progressed along the timelines identified from the event. However, it should be absolutely clear that, although Levenshulme Market CIC is happy to facilitate this work, we are not intending to take ownership of any projects or the Trust in the long term and are aware a single commercial ownership would be damaging to the projects’ long term viability. Outline timetable of activities The timings below are largely dependent on the outcomes of the first event scheduled – the “Hack the High Street” event whereby ownership and timelines will be devised for the three work streams defined in the outcomes, so times beyond that are somewhat speculative at this stage: May 2016 (post elections) 

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“Hack the High Street” - public engagement event to be held to discuss the three proposed work streams and form working groups to take them forward o Attendees: All interested parties – open invite: high street stakeholders, traders, residents, council members, council officers o Desired outcomes:  Terms of reference/vision defined for each work stream  A register of interested persons to pursue each of the three work streams and be involved in future meetings  A detailed timeline devised for each project with ownership assigned  As part of this process resources should be explored by the groups, using the above as a starting point Levenshulme Market CIC to approach potential support networks for the development of a Community Land Trust – namely Locality and the Community Land Trust Network

Summer 2016 Work stream 1: Research more about demand 

High Street Stakeholder Group/Levenshulme Market CIC/other interested parties to explore funding streams for demand research o Attendees: Interested persons as defined at the Hack the High Street event o Desired outcomes:  Funding routes identified and applications made

Work stream 2: Develop an effective high street team for Levenshulme 13

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High Street Stakeholder Group to define aims and membership o Attendees: Interested persons as defined at the Hack the High Street event o Desired outcomes:  This group to have a clear leadership, membership and governance structure  The group to document its values and aims  Groundwork undertaken to ensure trader and landlord meetings can take place successfully as below), namely:  How will the group ensure that people will come?  How will they group demonstrate value to the traders/landlords to keep them invested?

Work stream 3: Develop the idea of a “retail social landlord” 

High Street Stakeholder Group/Levenshulme Market CIC/other interested parties to explore support options and develop a financial and social case for the project o Attendees: Interested persons as defined at the Hack the High Street event o Desired outcomes:  A documented business plan  A confirmed set of social objectives for the project  Initial approaches to appropriate support/funding resources to understand the wider context

Autumn 2016 Work stream 1: Research more about demand  

Research proposal developed Funding applications made

Work stream 2: Develop an effective high street team for Levenshulme 

“All trader” meeting held o Attendees: Interested persons as defined at the Hack the High Street event and all traders on the high street – this is a large and disparate group and a considerable amount of mobilisation will be required to make this a representative and useful meeting. Prior thought should be given to the offer that will be given to traders to motivate their attendance and keep them interested in any resulting trader group. o Desired outcomes:  A large representative attendance from high street traders  A register of traders who would like to be part of a future trader group  Defined aims of a trader group and a schedule for future meetings/consultation work

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Landlord meeting held o Attendees: Interested persons as defined at the Hack the High Street event and all landlords of properties on the high street – again, this is a large and disparate group, with yet more issues regarding communication as they are not always located in Levenshulme. Again, prior thought should be given to the offer that will ensure their attendance and keep them invested in any future work o Desired outcomes:  A large representative attendance from high street landlords  A register of landlords who would like to form a future trader network  Defined aims of that network and a schedule of future meetings etc 14

Work stream 3: Develop the idea of a “retail social landlord” 

Applications to be made for funding, depending on available/suitable retail space (chicken/egg scenario may exist with funders)

Spring 2017 

“Hack the High Street 2 ” – a conference of all working groups and interested parties to asses work so far, regroup and rationalise activities and – if possible/suitable - formulate into the Community Land Trust.

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APPENDIX

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CED application Community area description Retail district centre of the A6 in Levenshulme, areas of which fall into both Levenshulme and Gorton South wards of Manchester City Council Challenges and Opportunities Levenshulme Market has been in operation as a CIC since March 2013 with great success - we are considered one of the best markets in the region and this year [2015] we are finalists in the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards Market of the Year category. As a CIC our profits are allocated specifically to help develop the high street retail environment in Levenshulme, which is one of three in Manchester considered "endangered" by Manchester City Council. In December 2014 we launched our first awards fund and in March this year [2015] awarded £15,000 to eight residents of Levenshulme who had applied for funds to develop retail enterprises - from pop up art hubs to market stalls and renovations for existing retailers - in Levenshulme. Through this work and the increased footfall we are bringing into the district centre in Levenshulme we are making some inroads into changing our high street for the better but we are still meeting significant challenges. Primary amongst those is that lack of available retail space. Despite the fact that much of the retail units in Levenshulme appears unoccupied there appear to be very few on the open market to potential tenants. We receive countless emails from potential high street traders who are keen to set up in Levenshulme but cannot find any properties for sale or let or find that all their calls to potential landlords go unanswered. Ownership details seem very hard to come by and what few properties there are available seem very often to be priced above the market rate or have onerous terms attached to the lease. Additionally there are a number of fast food takeaways in the area. Community perception is that there are too many but MCC do not agree that we have met this threshold and continue to approve change of use applications for properties which then get turned into takeaways that frequently change hands without appearing on the open market. Similarly in the last 18 months a trend has emerged for change of use applications for retail premises to convert to office space. These too have been continuously approved and, again, converted and let without appearing on the open market. All of the above adds up to a complex economic picture for our high street that neither we, or it seems - Manchester City Council understand. We want our high street to develop and it is well placed to do so: the success of the market shows that there is a strong desire amongst residents to utilise independent retail opportunities in the area and with the fund we have been able to demonstrate a wealth of entrepreneurial talent in the area - but there doesn’t seem to be spaces for businesses to develop on our high street, despite it being underoccupied, and those businesses that do develop do not seem to be designed to serve the needs of our community. Why? Work so far We have been gathering anecdotal evidence of experiences in the two years since we incorporated and have tried to mediate between landlords and potential tenants where possible but with little or no avail. Involvement so far Levenshulme Market CIC has led on all projects to date. We have worked closely with South Manchester Regeneration in developing our plans for a market that directly benefited the high street. Consultation so far There is a highly active Facebook group of residents of the area (3500 members) who are aware of this application and are broadly supportive. There is also research available on shopper needs/wishes for the area, conducted by a resident. Programme outcomes

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Understanding the economic reality of our high street is the only way we can hope to effect some meaningful change – change that will mean more opportunities for local entrepreneurs, a stronger local economy and employment opportunities for residents. Specific proposals comments We believe that we cannot help our high street move forward as a community until we understand what is really happening and therefore we are applying for funding to commission some independent research into retail space ownership, value and intentions in the district centre - creating an economic map of the current picture and a route to a future which will allow residents to take back ownership of the high street.

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2011 census data – economic activity

Economically Inactive; Retired, looking after home or family, unemployed, long-term sick or disabled, other Economically Active; Employee; Full-Time Economically Active; Employee; Part-Time Economically Inactive; Student (Including Full-Time Students) Economically Active; Self-Employed Economically Active; Full-Time Student

Levenshulme

Gorton South

Manchester

North West

UK

24%

35%

28%

31%

29%

26% 10% 22% 7% 11%

32% 14% 8% 7% 5%

34% 11% 14% 6% 7%

38% 14% 6% 8% 4%

39% 14% 6% 10% 3%

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2011 census data – ethnic origin

Levenshulme White; English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British Asian/Asian British; Pakistani White; Irish White; Other White Black/African/Caribbean/Black British; African Other Ethnic Group; Arab Asian/Asian British; Bangladeshi Asian/Asian British; Other Asian Asian/Asian British; Indian Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups; White and Asian Black/African/Caribbean/Black British; Caribbean Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups; White and Black Caribbean Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups; Other Mixed Asian/Asian British; Chinese Black/African/Caribbean/Black British; Other Black Other Ethnic Group; Any Other Ethnic Group Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups; White and Black African

51% 21% 4% 4% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1%

Gorton South 50% 16% 3% 5% 8% 1% 2% 2% 1% 1% 2% 2% 1% 2% 2% 1% 1%

Manchester 59% 9% 2% 5% 5% 2% 1% 2% 2% 1% 2% 2% 1% 3% 2% 1% 1%

North West 87% 3% 1% 2% 1% 0% 1% 1% 2% 0% 0% 1% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0%

UK 80% 2% 1% 5% 2% 0% 1% 2% 3% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 0%

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Technical support application 1. What does the community want to work on? 1. Understanding the ownership of retail premises on the local high street, the needs, expectations and motivations of the landlords and potential tenant enterprises and the barriers to access to these premises for new and existing enterprise. 2. Once the above is known, to explore the support needs of this enterprise. 3. To explore the role of an "anchor development" in supporting the above.

2. What outcome/s do the community intend to achieve as a result of the technical support? A thorough understanding of the Levenshulme high street retail environment/local economy and how new and existing enterprise can be supported and encouraged to access this resource. Technical Support Package - Preference 1, NEF How many days support would the community like to receive from this provider? 6 How would the community like to receive the support? Please provide an indication of how the community would like the support to be provided (e.g. workshop or direct support, or a combination of. Please also provide any additional detail on the specific type of support required. Design of a research methodology. Support in sourcing and supporting researcher. Facilitation of stakeholder events. Advice on sources of additional data. Advice on presentation of results. Advice on use of results to suggest next steps around enterprise support and engagement with local retail economy.

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Research brief Levenshulme Market CIC overview Levenshulme Market is a weekly market with approximately 50 stall holders at every market. We provide a family friendly atmosphere where neighbours can share a drink from our real ale bar and enjoy live music in our covered seating area...and do some shopping! The business was formed in 2013 as a social enterprise with a specific remit to deliver a market that improves the larger retail environment it inhabits - the team behind Levenshulme Market have always been loud proponents of the idea that bad high streets don't happen to economically healthy retail environments and that putting a market into a high street with multiple problems is not going to solve those problems overnight. This year we launched a funding scheme and issued £15,000-worth of grants to residents who wanted to start or improve retail or market businesses or run projects to benefit the high street. In recognition of the success of the market and the pioneering work we are doing as a social enterprise the market was a finalists in this year’s BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards and the Manchester Food and Drink Awards and was cited as a reason to visit in Lonely Planet’s entry for Manchester when it was named as one of their top 10 cities to visit in 2016. The Market is the only market established in the UK as a CIC and the first market to operate this innovative business model. All of this while delivering a fantastic, family friendly, well-loved market which is at the heart of a community it is truly serving. Community area description Retail district centre of the A6 in Levenshulme, areas of which fall into both Levenshulme and Gorton South wards of Manchester City Council Challenges and Opportunities As a CIC our profits are allocated specifically to help develop the high street retail environment in Levenshulme, which is one of three in Manchester considered "endangered" by Manchester City Council. In December 2014 we launched our first awards fund and in March this year awarded £15,000 to eight residents of Levenshulme who had applied for funds to develop retail enterprises - from pop up art hubs to market stalls and renovations for existing retailers - in Levenshulme. Through this work and the increased footfall we are bringing into the district centre in Levenshulme we are making some inroads into changing our high street for the better but we are still meeting significant challenges. Primary amongst those is that lack of available retail space. Despite the fact that much of the retail units in Levenshulme appears unoccupied there appear to be very few on the open market to potential tenants. We receive countless emails from potential high street traders who are keen to set up in Levenshulme but cannot find any properties for sale or let or find that all their calls to potential landlords go unanswered. Ownership details seem very hard to come by and what few properties there are available seem very often to be priced above the market rate or have onerous terms attached to the lease.

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Additionally there are a number of fast food takeaways in the area. Community perception is that there are too many but MCC do not agree that we have met this threshold and continue to approve change of use applications for properties which then get turned into takeaways that frequently change hands without appearing on the open market. Similarly in the last 18 months a trend has emerged for change of use applications for retail premises to convert to office space. These too have been continuously approved and, again, converted and let without appearing on the open market. All of the above adds up to a complex economic picture for our high street that neither we, or it seems Manchester City Council, understand. We want our high street to develop and it is well placed to do so: the success of the market shows that there is a strong desire amongst residents to utilise independent retail opportunities in the area and with the fund we have been able to demonstrate a wealth of entrepreneurial talent in the area but there don't seem to be spaces for businesses to develop on our high street - despite it being under occupied - and those businesses that do develop do not seem to be designed to serve the needs of our community. Why? Work so far We have been gathering anecdotal evidence of experiences in the two years since we incorporated and have tried to mediate between landlords and potential tenants where possible but with little or no avail. Involvement so far Levenshulme Market CIC has led on all projects to date. We have worked closely with South Manchester Regeneration in developing our plans for a market that directly benefited the high street Consultation so far There is a highly active Facebook group of residents of the area (5000 members) who are aware of this application and are broadly supportive. There is also research available on shopper needs/wishes for the area, conducted by a resident. Programme outcomes Understanding the economic reality of our high street is the only way we can hope to effect some meaningful change to it - that change will mean more opportunities for local entrepreneurs, a stronger local economy and employment opportunities for residents. Specific Proposals Comments We believe that we cannot help our high street move forward as a community until we understand what is really happening and therefore we are applying for funding to commission some independent research into retail space ownership, value and intentions in the district centre - creating an economic map of the current picture and a route to a future which will allow residents to take back ownership of the high street. 23

Research Brief I) Key activities 1. To carry out desk research, including a. Sourcing and assembling data already collected by other agencies about the high street / retail environment b. Tracing ownership structures and contact details for landlords, for commercial premises in the high-street c. Identifying potential interviewees amongst local landlords, for a possible second research phase exploring barriers and enabling factors to regenerating the high street 2. To carry out up to four face-to-face, qualitative interviews with local high street traders 3. To co-ordinate the collection of new data through a face to face survey with local high street traders (collating data collected by volunteers) 4. To co-ordinate and processing data collected through an online survey with local market traders 5. To work with the Levenshulme Market CIC steering group to analyse the data collected and identify further research questions II) Research questions and methods Research Question 1.a) What are the general characteristics of Levenshulme’s High Street retail environment? - Vacancy / occupation ratio - Costs – psm (need to benchmark this again other local areas) - Rates and available rate relief from the council - Current landscape of high street - Mediums used for advertising rental space (private, agencies, websites etc)

Method Desk research, including: - Liaising with Local Authority to access relevant data sets and information sources - Identifying other sources of relevant data and assembling data from these - Other research methods as needed, including making direct enquiries with businesses or agencies, reviewing companies house data, submitting FOI requests, etc

Role Carry out research

1.b) What is the ownership and rental status of the retail premises in Levenshulme High Street? - Ownership details – landlord (local resident?, when purchased, how much for) - Type of tenancy including any restrictions (terms, length, conditions etc) 24

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Class of use on each building (council) Landlord restriction on class of use

1.c) How does the Levenshulme environment compare to similar areas elsewhere in Manchester? - How have other areas, e.g. East Didsbury / Chorlton, developed a good retail mix in their high street? - What are good practice examples of approaches to developing the high street that are replicable in Levenshulme? [please note that this element of the brief was later removed] - What are possible reasons why no chains have been established in Levenshulme? - Benchmarking average psm rental costs against Chorlton, Didsbury, Northern Quarter, Spinningfields, Cheetham Hill and Withington. 2) What are the barriers, and enabling factors, to new small businesses opening premises in Levenshulme?

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Online survey with Market Traders

Project manage the collection of data through survey (survey will be written and publicised by Levenshulme Market CIC steering group)

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Face-to-face survey with existing high street traders

Project manage the collection of data through survey (survey will be written and carried out by Levenshulme Market CIC steering group and volunteers)

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Interviews with 3-4 local traders

Carry out and analyse data from interviews 25

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Potentially, telephone interviews with landlords

Carry out and analyse data from interviews

Costs Remuneration is available for this work for up to 15 days work at a rate of £200.00 per day to be undertaken by a freelance individual who must be registered as self employed. Reasonable additional costs will be covered if agreed in advance with the project lead (Levenshulme Market CIC). Applications Interested individuals should contact Helen Power by emailing [email protected] and attach a copy of their CV and a supporting document outlining any related experience. Suitable candidates will be asked to commence work as soon as they are available and it is anticipated that all research should be complete before 31st December 2015.

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CED stakeholder meeting – February 2016 Attendees: Geli Berg - Levenshulme Inspire Paul Bower – Levenshulme Market John Commons – Levenshulme Traders Association Maria van Elk - Levenshulme Neighbourhood Planning Forum Amanda Finch – Levenshulme Market Bethan Galliers - Levenshulme Inspire Lawrence Hennigan – Levenshulme Traders Association Pauline Johnston – Love Levenshulme Peter Naughton – Levenshulme Community Association Dzidra Noor – Councillor – Levenshulme Ward Helen Power – Levenshulme Market Basat Sheik – Councillor – Levenshulme Ward Mark Simmonds – Culture Co-op (CED Adviser) Notes Welcome and introductions  

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Round robin introductions from the room JC and LH both expressed concerns that given the length of the report and the time available for review they felt that they had not had sufficient opportunity to reflect on its contents prior to the meeting. HP apologised for this and explained the tight turnaround – she is more than willing to take any further comment via email although attendees to be mindful that meeting with MCC is on 4th March and final submission date is 11th March Community meeting set for 3rd April – JC pointed out that this date will be in purdah which may place some restrictions on it. HP advised that this date is flexible if need be and the date can be reconsidered if it is felt that purdah would restrict its viability/usefulness Transport – JC advised that references to car parking in the district centre should clearly distinguish between public and private car parking. Also advised that there should be a stronger emphasis on the public transport links into Levenshulme as a matter of economic importance. All agreed and some information on this to be added to the report and explored as a potential outcome.

Project overview and key findings See slides:

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Thoughts and feedback 

 

PN – All the analysis is on the supply side, we need to understand the demand side. How do we know what would make the high street thrive? In terms of what do the diverse residents / communities want to see on our high street. HP response – absolutely this is the case due to the limits of the report and it there is a very clear case for this further research – two important points to consider here: o That the users of the high street are representative of the community in Levenshulme – some demographics of the community seem to shout louder or access certain channels easier to articulate their needs – any study should have a very clear remit to cover all of the many demographics represented in the area o It’s worth keeping in mind that “I would like” often doesn’t translate to “I will actually leave the house to buy” and that any study intended to understand high street demand should seek to understand the realities of what is feasible, not just what is wanted Business turnover – has a double meaning - need to clarify to avoid confusion Hack the high street – this event was originally intended as a means to place some of the challenges discovered in the plan into the hands of the residents but AF wonders whether we could use this (instead or in addition to the original idea) to find out what the ideal high street would look like. Could we use PJ’s info from her pop up event? Blend it together to help map out the ideal levy high street. We also need to try and invite some people that don’t live in the area, that visit friends/family as a tourist, don’t just want resident opinions, on the whole we do but we need capture other views. 29

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LH - Engagement with all the businesses is just as key as engagement with the community. This lead to a broader discussion on how few of the business owners on the high street are actively networking via the Levenshulme Traders Association and whether a key outcome of this project should be a concerted effort to reverse this. LH’s experience is that traders are more likely to engage if there is “something in it for them” and this may require funding to support it. All – the report creates a lot of questions, not many answers. HP response – absolutely agree and it would be a much larger piece of work to create the answers too – if there even are any! Our aim in this work was very much to avoid providing those kind of answers but at least to open up the discussion by increasing our understanding. GB has been working on a project understanding the needs of home-based entrepreneurs and this can be imbedded into the report PN (and others) – We should seek to ensure the Arcadia is embedded in high street activity. HP – agreed, especially since it could be seen as a considerable carrot to MCC to help ensure that the high street flourishes when they have invested a significant sum into a property within it All - How quickly will this report go out of date? HP: In many ways the report is a snapshot and certain proportions of it will be out of date already, and many others will be soon. However, there are evidence of larger trends and issues that it has highlighted which will have a longer lifespan and this should be motivation to o Develop plans to deal with these longer term issues o Find a way to share knowledge between the high street stakeholders so that the “dateable” information can be kept as up to date as possible (although accepting there are limits to how much we, even collectively, can keep tabs on) HP/LH - What about the Town Team? We have had no meetings of the Town Team for some time and there is a sense that this idea has been abandoned by MCC – although there has been no communication to this effect. However, it was noted that all the people gathered at the stakeholder meeting were those you would expect to see at a Town Team meeting and that maybe it is time for us to take over proactive ownership of this function. PJ - What is the draw for traders to come to Levenshulme? Is there a way of developing some sort of inward investment offer for prospective traders – in terms of what is available, the benefits of trading in Levenshulme and then offering some sort of brokerage service or being proactive in seeking new traders?

Ideas for future work  

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This group (the high street stakeholders) should be formalised to meet regularly with aims defined Meeting of all traders – a set date in the future for which all stakeholders would take responsibility for ensuring we get maximum attendance from high street traders and landlords: o LH advises that traders are much more likely to attend if there is something on offer in terms of funding or other incentives – can this be explored with MCC o We need to develop a concrete offer of what a traders group can do for traders beyond whatever offer may get them there the first time, otherwise they will have little motivation to come back o Longsight did some work around recruiting business owners into a network – MCC were involved in that – what can we learn from them o Nawaab could potentially sponsor an event o The Federation of Small Businesses – may be able to offer support/training – specifically around changes to rates? Engaging/creating a network with the landlords – again, some very strong outreach work would be needed to make this effective 30

o o

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Can/should this be done separately from traders? Again, the “offer” should be carefully considered but on the face of it we understand their motivations easier and the idea (below) of some form of brokerage could be a good start o Other issues around rates and rates changes may well be a motivator Creating reports on the business benefits/facts for Levenshulme for prospective traders with a view to developing a business brokerage service and outreach programme The idea of finding some way for the community or the high street stakeholders to purchase or build a property on the high street and act as a “retail social landlord” with subsidised rents for new businesses (who would be able to occupy for a limited time while they got established) and/or artist/studio space (for which there appears to be some demand). This could be via an asset transfer from MCC, community share issue for a property purchase, a right to bid/build etc We should connect with other areas to understand where their traders’ associations/town teams/high street partners have had success/failure etc. This also speaks to comments that LH and JC made around MCC’s apparent reluctance to market Manchester beyond the city centre – could a collective of South Manchester high street groups have a bit more lobbying power in this respect? The baths site should be considered within the larger plan – we do not yet know the planned future but there is potential for this space to house an entertainment/events venue similarly to how Victoria Baths operates Much of the above points to the formation of a Community Development Trust for Levenshulme – for information on how these function see here.

What do we need to ask the Council to do? Council land/property 

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Provide us with a full register of land the council owns in Levenshulme which have a potential to house retail and indicate where there are those that have a potential to house retail and what the current plans are for those areas Tell us whether their intentions for the site bordering Elbow Street - could this be considered in the context of creating an anchor business for Levenshulme high street? Explore the idea of an asset transfer of land or property to the community to enable it to act as a retail social landlord Explain what works are planned to improve the public realm on Levenshulme High Street

Planning/transport  

Set a limit on percentage of hot food takeaways or tell us what we would need to demonstrate to make that happen Give us a steer on how the public transport and cycle infrastructure can be better integrated into the retail environment on Stockport Road – incentives to travellers, support for cycle schemes and communications with GMPTE

High street stakeholder group support  

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Support the establishment of a formal high street stakeholder group with regular interface with council officers Help us to understand what funding is available and by what means – especially if we were to form as a Community Development Trust – would they be prepared to match fund on appropriate projects Lend support to stakeholder group outreach activities to attract new business to the area by providing information gathering via an officer 31

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Fund further research into understanding high street demand

Supporting business owners and landlords   

Make suggestions on schemes to support long term business owners whose businesses are struggling to renovate shop fronts etc Explain what measures are taken to encourage landlords to fill empty properties Provide more guidance on how areas outside of the city centre can benefit from city marketing activities and on how other effective high street teams are working

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Levenshulme CED - sources of social investment finance Sources of Social Investment for Levenshulme and South Gorton CED work Where a viable social enterprise can be evidenced, there are numerous sources of social investment as both debt and equity easily available. This investment is provided or brokered by social investment finance intermediaries (SIFI's) offering many different financial “products” which open and close on a regular basis. Below is a snaphot of the SIFI's that may be appropriate as investors (debt or equity) in any enterprise arising from the ongoing work detailed in this plan. This information was current in February 2016. Many of these funds operate as intermediaries for the £400M of funds brokered by Big Society Capital. For the purposes of this plan, we have only included funds that offer finance over £150,000 and we have excluded funds that will not work with start-ups. Many funds do not publish their interest rates and will create tailored packages. However the recent Big Society Capital, Oranges and Lemons report on social impact of Social Investment Finance Intermediaries stated that: Five SIFIs publish their expected return rates from investees, and these range from 5% to 15%, with simple loans at the lower end, and equity-type investments at the higher. Across the seven SIFIs we had information for, the average stated minimum interest rate for debt loans is 7%. Oranges and Lemons, 2015 http://media.wix.com/ugd/fec9e8_dbf389d5bb544d119c561cca946ffc8c.pdf Other reports (earlier) have anecdotal reports of slightly lower rates than this (around 4%). The potential investors are clustered into:    

Social banks Social investment finance intermediaries for Big Society Capital Foundations Peer to peer lenders

Social banks Charity Bank 

£50K - £2.5M secured lending with tailored package. Application through regional manager. Rates not specified.

Triodos Bank  

£100K - £15 million Will lend for a variety of purposes, including commercial mortgages and property purchase or refurbishment. Also offer loans and working capital for organic farming.

Unity Trust Bank 

Can provide 100% finance by combining with partner Big Issue Invest, rates up to 9.5% over base rate, with 10 year terms. https://www.unity.co.uk/lending/100-loan-finance/

Ecology Building Society 33

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Will lend to projects with novel construction methods and live/work units. Will lend to eco or community businesses. Housing co-operatives, small scale development projects. Offer a range of flexible features such as initial interest only periods, seasonal payment structures, payment holidays, underpayments or overpayments (terms and conditions apply). Will lend to corporate bodies. Will lend up to 70% of land value. Terms of 10 to 25 years.

Social Investment Finance Intermediaries Big Issue Invest – Social Enterprise Investment Fund   

Investment priorities include eduaction, training, environment and community development. Lend £50K to £1.5M, rates not specified. Social impact report required as part of application.

Keyfund  

Working in the North of England, Keyfund are the biggest and most experienced regional social investor. They will lend up to £300K for both revenue and capital finance, at an interest rate is 6.5%

FSE – Social Impact Accelerator  

 

£200K - £1M unsecured. They will consider propositions which fall outside or extend beyond traditional lending criteria; based primarily on current and projected cashflows and growth potential, rather than historic trading, asset-cover or balance sheet positions. Generally to enable organisations to increase their scale of impact and financial resilience. Will lend to a community benefit society (regulated social enterprises only). Probably only in this case suitable for deposit support “where bank finance results in a finance gap which would place undue strain on unrestricted cash reserves”.

Bridges Ventures   

Manage almost £600m across three types of funds: Sustainable Growth Funds - £2M - £15M, but looking for strong growth businesses with revenues of £5M to £50M. Property Funds – will invest in environmentally sustainable buildings and business spaces.

Social Sector Funds 

£300K to £1.5M.Looking at enterprises with demonstrable social impact.

NESTA impact investment fund 

Will take equity and lend to social ventures using technology and innovation to support ageing well, educational attainment and sustainable communities (Social and environmental sustainability of communities, including increased access to products and services for people and communities experiencing exclusion). 34

Impact Ventures UK   

Equity, debt or quasi-equity. Invest in enterprises that have a positive impact on disadvantaged and marginalised communities. This would be particularly suited to community enterprise in Levenshulme. Big focus on measuring social impact.

Resonance 

Manages two funds lending to social enterprise: • Community Share Underwriting Fund (CSU), which underwrites asset-backed community share issues by up to 50% of the project's fundraising target. • Affordable Homes Rental Fund (AHR), which offers loan finance for property acquisition and development to community-led groups. • Social Investment Business • Manage several funds of interest to this project:

Big Venture Challenge 2016 – aimed at entrepreneurs rather than enterprises. “The programme supports ambitious, ‘high potential’ social entrepreneurs to raise investment and rapidly grow their ventures by building a compelling growth story, finding investors, making strategic connections and supporting the entrepreneur during the journey.” It might be appropriate for individuals within Levenshulme to apply as entrepreneurs. Community Investment Fund (in partnership with Social and Sustainable Capital, SASC) - £250K - £1M. Focus on developing the local economy and creating positive change for the community. Impact Readiness Fund – closed Jan 2016. Third Sector Loan Fund (again in partnership with SASC). • •

£250K - £3M. Will lend to social enterprises with a robust business plan.

CAF Charities Aid Foundation • • •

Manage several funds. CAF Social Impact Fund - £25K - £350K unsecured loan. Suitable for bridging finance and working capital. Need to demonstrate social impact. Development fund - £25K to £250K loan; cashflow and investment for growth.

Community Land Trust Social Investment Fund – aimed at sustainable community housing in predevelopment and development phase. • •

•

Pre-development loans £20K to £60K. No interest rate, but there is a 25% success fee. Development loans – up to £350K loan towards construction costs. “Our support can derisk commercial finance and enable the CLT scheme to be completed. We take second charge on the properties and provide the remainder of the more difficult to raise finance (e.g. 20-40% Loan-To-Value after a commercial finance provider). The interest rate charged is initially 6.5%. The loan is typically repaid from the proceeds of the completed scheme.”

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•

CAF provide a useful overview of their loans and interest rates: https://www.cafonline.org/charity-finance--fundraising/borrowing/tools-andguides/interest-rates – 2.6% above base or from 6.5%; terms up to 25 years.

• •

Work with businesses focused on tackling social and environmental challenges. £150K to £1M, rates not stated

ClearlySo

Foundations and Trusts Esmee Fairbairn • • • •

Revenue and capital >£100K Provide loans, grants, equity and bonds. 5-7% interest. Max. term 10 years. Their funding priorities are around the environment, social change and food.

•

The Tudor Trust aims to help break cycles of disadvantage and dependency and to prevent people from being drawn into these cycles. It funds in a number of priority areas including youth, older people, health, learning, housing, financial security and criminal justice. The Trust holds assets of around £250 million. Also have a community land trust fund http://www.cltfund.org.uk/

Tudor Trust

•

Friends Provident Foundation • • •

Grant funding rather than investment. Have funded the REconomy project of the Transition Network supporting their work around building sustainable local economies. Currently running a “Building Resilient Economies” programme

Lloyds Bank Foundation 

Grants and some investment in specific sectors.

Polden Puckham Charitable Foundation 

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Supports work that addresses the pressures and conditions that risk global environmental breakdown and “projects that seek to influence values and attitudes, promote equity and social justice, and develop radical alternatives to current economic and social structures.” Their guidance indicates that they prioritise practical projects that aim to influence policy, attitudes and values. They will support non-charitable organisations, but work needs to be charitable and they need to pass funds through a registered charity as partner.. Only £5K to £15K, but might be appropriate for feasibility element of a project. Next deadline 15th September 2016.

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Peer to peer lenders We would likely only be interested in P2P debt as any equity would likely be financed through a community share offer. Zopa Funding Circle 

May have trouble as a Ben. Com. - site requires co. no.

Crowdcube   

UK's biggest network of angel investors Can issue bonds (typical fixed rate 6-15%) https://www.crowdcube.com/pg/businessfinance-3 ideal to use with existing stakeholders. May be eligible for SITR.

Funding Tree 

£500K over 5 years – monthly repayments of £9,686

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