A Guardian Q&A with Tom Pratt, a solicitor working in a leading commercial law firm, centres on Community Interest Companies (CICs) and provides an excellent introduction to this growing niche area. The discussion focuses on the background, advantages, financing and regulation of CICs - as well as the logistics of how to set one up. A CIC is essentially a social enterprise with non-charitable status, and therefore is much closer in kind to a normal business than a charity. CICs have some features that preserve their social mission: for example, they must pass a ‘community interest test’ which assesses the extra-financial value of their goals, and they have a ‘lock’ on their assets which means that all profits are used for the community purpose rather than going back into the shareholder’s pockets. If you are considering starting up a CIC yourself, you will need £35 in application fees and should expect a two to three week wait in processing time - but, unlike when registering an ordinary business, you will not be registered electronically.
Read the full article on the Guardian website here.
