12 Dec 2014

A Sustainable Place CIC gains valuable support from Inspire2Enterprise

A small group with backgrounds in research, teaching, art and design had formed to take over the running of a disused biological field centre in Mid Wales. The plan was to use action research methods to learn about the challenges and opportunities of sustainable place making, while returning the buildings to use as a resource for local communities and a base for teaching and learning.

Director, Jake Elster-Jones says, “We all believe strongly in the need to find more sustainable and equitable ways forward. We are setting out to apply our experience, together with theory and evidence, to the practical challenge of creating more sustainable places. In doing so, we aim to explore the limitations and constraints of many conventional approaches and develop new, more collaborative and effective ways of working."

The plan for the buildings is to run them in a non-profit but financially-sustainable way. The group wants to find ways of renovating and improving the buildings without relying too heavily on unsustainable grants or borrowing. This will involve exploring the use of low-impact, local and recycled resources, low-tech solutions and community / user involvement.

While they bring a wide range of skills and experience from their own fields, by their own admission, Jake and his colleagues had little experience of setting up a not-for-profit organisation, particularly one with such a complex business model. They were faced by a long list of tasks, including deciding on an appropriate business structure, agreeing a lease, getting appropriate insurances and developing building management and accounting systems.

This is when Director, Jake Elster-Jones picked up the phone to Inspire2Enterprise. Jake continues with the story, “When I called Inspire2Enterprise, I was impressed by the friendly, positive and above all extremely helpful response I received. Since I first got in touch, Myles Cooper (I2E’s legal expert) and Sian Ryan (I2E Operations Manager) have helped me with a whole host of things from advising on our lease agreement, talking us through the decision of which legal structure best suits our needs, to completing CIC registration documents. Sian also helped me with details of building management as well as suggesting appropriate insurance providers.”

The new organisation was incorporated in March 2014 and named ‘A Sustainable Place’ CIC (ASP). An ethical bank account has now been opened and ASP has started to win its first paid contracts. A buildings risk assessment and management system has been developed and the buildings are slowly being brought back into use. Together with staff at Cardiff University, ASP is developing work to continue important long-term biological monitoring that has been carried out at the site. ASP has also been working with students and academics from the Welsh School of Architecture on plans to improve the buildings.

Jake continues, “I can’t thank Myles and the Inspire2Enterprise team enough for their help. I have had experience of using different support organisations in the past and the typical response I have had is a lot of signposting and the handing out of help sheets. Where Inspire2Enterprise has been different is in the fact that I could actually talk to a knowledgeable individual straight off who, if they didn’t know the answer to any of my questions, would go away, find out the answers and ring me back.

As well a friendly voice at the end of the phone, Inspire2Enterprise responded both reactively to my queries, and proactively in calling me on a regular basis to see how I was getting on. In short, I have felt genuinely supported and will continue to draw on I2E support as our project goes forward.”