ABOUT US

Our Story

In 1987, Community Enterprise was at the forefront of the community business movement in Scotland.  In our 30+ year history, much has changed.

Community Enterprise was incorporated in 1987.  At that time it was called Community Enterprise Lothian and was very active in setting up and launching community business in Edinburgh.  Many, like the One World Shop, are still going strong.  Community Enterprise was established in the early stages of what was to become social enterprise and a pioneer in the sector, working strategically to promote the model at a time when it was relatively unheard of.  Soon, and due to demand, the organisation started to work beyond the city of Edinburgh and by the mid 1990s had become one of the very few national social enterprise support agencies.

In the early days we were heavily dependent on grants, largely from Europe and the local authority. Although helpful, we found this to be a vulnerable model.  As a result, we moved away from grant dependence and became a fully sustainable social enterprise ourselves.