FAQs

We are a social enterprise ourselves and our surpluses are used to support the work of The Big Issue. We have an experienced team of staff and a 12 year track record of investing in social enterprises and charities. We will offer support and guidance throughout the application process and provide a response as quickly as we can.

Please apply through our online investment enquiry form above. Once we receive your details, a member of staff will be in touch to discuss your request. If we think that your application is fundable by Big Issue Invest, we will ask you provide further information. We will check the information provided, meet people from your organisation including beneficiaries, visit you and your team and find out more about what you do and how you create social impact. Our staff present their recommendations to provide funding to one of our Investment Committees. The time taken to progress from application to final decision can vary from application to application. A simple loan of £25,000 can take a little as a month with larger investment requests taking longer.

We try to be very clear at the outset of the process about the range of documentation and other information we will require and will only ask for what is needed to complete a fair assessment of your application. The information we require will vary from case-to-case but will almost always include:

– Historical annual accounts;
– Current management accounts;
– Financial forecasts for the next two years;
– A business plan or business summary;
– Details of your key personnel.

If we are not able to support you at this time, we will try to provide constructive feedback and, if possible, point you to others who may be better suited to supporting your organisation.

We invest in organisations who deliver positive social impact. These tend to be organisations that have the following legal structure; charities, CICs and Community Benefit Societies. In some circumstances we may invest in for-profit social sector organisations.