About us
At Social Investment Business, we use finance to build stronger communities and a fairer society.
Through a mix of funding, investment and innovation, we back the organisations that make up the social economy – those tackling inequality, improving lives, and driving positive change every day. Our role is to provide the support, flexibility, and trusted partnership they need to thrive.
As one of the UK’s largest social investors, we’ve deployed over £0.8bn in loans and grants since 2002. We’ve supported more than 6,000 charities and social enterprises to build a fairer society, while using our expertise to research, innovate and advocate for the sector.
Driving our work are three core priorities: unlocking energy resilience, transforming public services, and strengthening community assets like housing, community buildings and land.
Our 2030 strategy
Recent years have seen significant growth for SIB. We have disbursed the largest amount in the shortest time ever. We’ve invested in our team, doubling in size and have become a fully ‘remote’ organisation whilst improving staff engagement. We’ve launched innovative new streams of work, grown the proportion of our funding to disadvantaged areas and groups, and supported a more diverse set of leaders.
Our 2030 Strategy outlines the priorities and direction of our work between now and 2030. We’re expanding our vision as a strategic partner to the community sector, while our new core priorities are directing our focus.
While there are real challenges ahead for the social sector, we believe by 2030, with the right finance and support, the sector can not only be more resilient but have expanded its influence.
Read more about our core priorities and 2030 Strategy.
Our journey
We began as the Adventure Capital Fund (ACF) – a pioneering initiative backed by the UK Government to explore how social investment could build sustainable community enterprises.
The pilot grew and by 2009, we became the Social Investment Business Group, bringing together ACF (as a parent charity) and Social Investment Business as our fund manager.
In 2011, the Communitybuilders Fund was transferred to the group as a permanent endowment to continue supporting local community projects. Three years later, we became the Social Investment Business Foundation, aligning our name with our mission and strengthening our identity.
In 2025 we launched an ambitious new five-year strategy, with a sharper focus on areas where social investment can make a huge difference: Green Transition, Community Infrastructure, and Public Services.
Key stats
Our Values
We’re inspired by our five core values. They are fundamental to our relationships with the charities and social enterprises we support, our behaviour towards each other and the manner in which we conduct our everyday work.
Curious
We’re not afraid to ask questions and think about new ways of doing things. We want to develop new approaches and learn from the results so we get better at what we do.
Collaborative
We know we can achieve more working with partners than we can alone. We want to combine our skills and experience with others so we can increase the impact we make.
Accountable
We deliver what we say we will, and are open and honest in how we work. We all take responsibility for what we do and the impact we make.
People-first
We want to help improve people’s lives. Whether it is listening to what our customers need or treating colleagues with respect, people are at the heart of everything we do.
Bold
We’re confident in the value of our experience and are willing to take risks to get results. We’re not afraid of failure and are willing to do things differently to improve people’s lives.