Thinking Big at VOICE11

Since I started on my placement with O2 in January, VOICE11 has been looming larger and larger and growing bigger and bigger, gaining momentum with every week.

O2 is proud to have been a principal strategic partner in delivering VOICE11 with the Social Enterprise Coalition. As an event it reflects O2's Think Big commitment to sustainability, communities and social enterprise and a brilliant opportunity to connect their people,customers and suppliers with social enterprise.

And Voice11 was massive, with over 1300 delegates and an exhibition of more than 130 social enterprises alongside a range of passionate and charged panel debates, followed by an awards ceremony recognising the best in social enterprise. Here Peter Holbrook, Chief Executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition, explains the features and zones on the day. What became clear through the day was that VOICE11 had to be big to represent the variety and success of social enterprise. Simon Devonshire, General Manager of Small and Medium Business at O2, is sure “ Companies that deliver shared value are becoming more and more important to the economy."

The event was helpfully split into a number of different zones packed full of exhibitors, debates and masterclasses. The feeling that we are on the brink of a new era for social enterprise was evident throughout the day. Nick O'Donohoe is currently putting the finishing touches to a the roadmap for a "Big Society Bank," which he plans to reveal to the government in the coming weeks and which he suggested, during his Voice11 presentation, could be up and running by this summer. The bank, O'Donohoe suggests, will kickstart "a sea change in sentiment towards investing in social enterprise." Its main aim will be to help boost investment in social enterprise, something O'Donohue himself believes has greater opportunity now than even three years ago. Read more by The Guardian on the Big Society Bank.

Elsewhere, the Big Venture Challenge is offering a range of investment opportunities for 25 lucky winners. Voice11 saw the start of its search for 25 winning social enterprises, which will each win an initial grant of £25,000 before being able to apply for an additional seed investment of £150,000. The scheme is looking for enterprises which can "scale up quickly" and benefit from rapid investment. Launched by UnLtd, the Big Venture Challenge will be announcing its winners in September. Check out the Big Venture Challenge website for more.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley revealed an additional £10 million investment in the Social Enterprise Investment Fund to help deliver the Right to Provide scheme. This will enable staff across the NHS to set up as independent organisations to run the services they deliver. It's a bold move but an empowering one for those involved and a big boon for social enterprise. 7thSpace.com has a good write up on the details of the deal. The Social Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow held a series of events showing the work that they are doing in their communities supported by O2’s Think Big programme, from fashion shows to dance demonstrations

Over the course of the day a challenge was laid down. Social enterprise has been asked to provide a way of moving away from big banks and towards what, according to @e4educated, Ali Parsa called "a rebalancing of society" which has greater social ownership and consequently more social responsibility.

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable called for ideas around "unconventional finance" and suggested social enterprise could provide the model to deliver Post Offices.

So the sector had it’s biggest conference, evidenced more success than ever and received it’s biggest challenges yet.

See what the Twitterati had to say about Voice11.