The Perfect Blend of Commercial and Social

Posted 27th October 2014

 

FRC Group has produced what is believed to be the first integrated financial and social value report.

As well as producing annual financial accounts, the Liverpool-based social enterprise has produced an award winning Social Impact report for the past 15 years which has always undergone a rigorous audit process but this is the first time the two reports have been brought together in one integrated report, combining financial statements and social value performance.

The report has been independently audited by BDO LLP and contains an audit report on the financial accounts as well as an assurance report on the social value information.

This clearly demonstrates the value FRC Group places on the social impact it creates as well as meeting robust audit standards for the financial performance of the charity.

Graham Morris OBE, Chairman of FRC Group, said: “For the first time our public reporting fully reflects the double bottom line approach that FRC Group takes. Communicating our social value creation alongside our financial performance takes our commitment to transparent and inclusive reporting to the next level. Our finance reporting tells us if we are doing things right whereas our social value reporting tells us if we are doing the right things.”

FRC Group was created as Furniture Resource Centre in 1988, a Liverpool charity formed to help families by redistributing unwanted, good quality furniture to those in need, and social purpose has always been at the heart of everything the charity does.

FRC Group is now a leading UK social business, running commercial businesses that produce financial profits and create a social dividend by giving people in poverty and unemployment the opportunity to change their lives.

Jeremy Nicholls, FRC Group Social Value Committee Chair, CEO SROI Network, said: “Integrating our social and financial reporting is a clear statement that all of this value matters to our stakeholders and that simply looking at commercial performance is not enough.”