Social Enterprise as Local EnterpriseHow ACT's Journey Reflects a Changing Ireland

Five years ago, when Accelerating Change Together (ACT) was founded, the three directors faced a dilemma familiar to many purpose-driven organisations, what type of organisation should we become?

As architects, urbanists and policy specialists, we knew the work we wanted to do. We wanted to use regenerative design not simply to create buildings and places, but to help accelerate Ireland's Green Transition.

What was less clear was the legal structure that would best enable that mission.

A traditional limited company offered commercial flexibility but did not fully reflect the purpose that sat behind our work. A charity aligned closely with our values but would have limited our ability to deliver professional design services at the scale we envisioned.

After many conversations, we chose a third path.

ACT was established as a social enterprise.

At the time, it was an unusual decision particularly for an architectural design practice. While social enterprises have long delivered extraordinary work in areas such as social inclusion and community development however very few operated within professional services and none within architecture and urbanism in Ireland.

Yet the decision felt entirely logical.

In 2019, Ireland became one of the first countries in the world to declare both a Climate Emergency and a Biodiversity Emergency. Those declarations recognised that business as usual was no longer enough and that addressing these challenges would require new ways of thinking.

We believed that design had to be part of the solution.

Many of the challenges Ireland faces today, from carbon emissions and biodiversity loss to flooding, housing and the quality of our towns and public spaces are, at their heart, design challenges. The way we plan, build and manage our places has a profound influence on the environmental and social outcomes we achieve.

We believed regenerative design could become one of Ireland's most powerful tools for accelerating the Green Transition, bringing together architecture, urbanism, ecology and community participation to create places that are healthier, more resilient and better for both people and nature.

That belief shaped the organisation we wanted to build. Rather than establishing another conventional design practice, we wanted ACT to be measured not only by the buildings and places we designed but by the positive environmental and social impact those projects created. The social enterprise model allowed us to combine commercial expertise with public benefit, ensuring that every project delivered and every surplus generated could be reinvested into creating greater impact.

Five years on, that decision has shaped everything that followed.

Today, ACT employs fourteen people across full-time and part-time roles and has delivered more than forty projects across the island of Ireland. From our Ballina base in the West of Ireland, we now work with local authorities, government departments, universities, community groups, social enterprises and private clients to accelerate the Green Transition through regenerative design.

Our recently published Impact Report reflects that journey. Like any enterprise, we create skilled employment, purchase local goods and services, invest in innovation and contribute to our regional economy. The difference is that our commercial success is inseparable from the environmental and social outcomes we seek to create.

Looking back however, one lesson stands out above all others.

No enterprise succeeds alone.

ACT's journey has only been possible because organisations across Ireland were willing to back an idea that had not really been tried before.

From the outset, Rethink Ireland recognised the potential of combining professional design services with social purpose. Their support has accompanied ACT through every major stage of our development from the early Social Enterprise Start-up Fund in 2021  through Social Enterprise Development (SED) Fund in 2023 and now through Scale-Up funding between 2024 and 2027 through the Entrepreneurship Impact Fund.

More than funding, Rethink Ireland helped demonstrate that social enterprises can thrive in highly skilled professional sectors.

“ACT is a great example of the potential of Ireland's social enterprise sector. They embody the ‘PASTA’ principles set out in Trading for Impact policy, to define a Social Enterprise, they do this through a clear social purpose, additionality, the generation of a surplus, active trading and strong accountability. Their success demonstrates that social enterprises can compete and thrive in highly skilled professional sectors while keeping social and environmental impact at the heart of what they do. The next step is to create more opportunities for organisations like ACT to trade and grow. Currently, social enterprises account for just over 2% of public procurement spend, and there is significant room for that figure to increase. By purchasing from social enterprises, public bodies can access high-quality goods and services while also delivering wider social, environmental and community benefits.” - Agnes O Shaughnessy Head of Social Enterprise, Rethink Ireland

Closer to home, Local Enterprise Office Mayo recognised something equally important.

While financial support from LEOs is typically directed at private enterprises, LEO Mayo recognised that while ACT was a social enterprise it had a strong commercial focus with the capacity to compete on the international stage. It was also creating local jobs and developing innovative professional services.

The LEO supported the business through the Priming Grant, Trading Online Voucher, Business Expansion Grant and Green Start programmes. At critical moments in our development, they invested not because we fitted a conventional category, but because they recognised the ambition, innovation and potential of the enterprise itself.

That support carried a powerful message: social enterprises are a key element of the local enterprise landscape and those that have a strong commercial focus can attract real support.

"ACT's recent National Enterprise Award win is a fitting recognition of an organisation that has made an exceptional contribution to both enterprise and society. Their success reflects the strength of Mayo's enterprise sector and demonstrates the powerful impact that purpose-led businesses can have on local communities. LEO Mayo is proud to have been able to play a role in supporting the growth of ACT” -  John Magee, Head of Enterprise, LEO Mayo.

The wider enterprise landscape has evolved significantly over the past five years.

Thanks to the advocacy of organisations including Rethink Ireland, Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland (SERI), The Wheel and many others, together with the Government's Trading for Impact - National Social Enterprise Policy 2024-2027, social enterprises are now increasingly recognised as an integral part of Ireland's economic landscape.

That shift has been reflected in ACT's own journey.

Earlier this year, ACT were honoured to receive the LAMA Award for Social Enterprise of the Year, recognising the impact our team has created through purpose-led design.

Shortly afterwards, Mayo Local Enterprise Office selected ACT to represent the county at the National Enterprise Awards, where we were proud to receive the Green Award.

Individually, each award meant a great deal. Together, however, they tell a much bigger story. One recognises ACT as an outstanding social enterprise. The other recognises ACT as an outstanding enterprise. Together they validate the very decision we made five years ago. They demonstrate that social enterprise and enterprise are not competing identities. They are complementary.

For too long, social enterprise and local enterprise have often been spoken about as though they occupy different worlds. Our experience has been the opposite.

Social enterprises create jobs. They innovate. They develop products and services. They support local supply chains. They generate economic activity. They strengthen their communities. In every meaningful sense, they are enterprises.

The difference is simply that success is measured not only by financial performance but also by the positive impact created for society and the environment. That feels increasingly relevant as Ireland seeks to build a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable economy.

Five years ago, describing ACT as both a social enterprise and a local enterprise often required an explanation. Today, thanks to the support of organisations like Rethink Ireland and Mayo Local Enterprise Office, growing national recognition and an evolving policy landscape, that distinction feels much less important.

Our journey suggests something simple but significant.

Social enterprises are local enterprises.

And perhaps Ireland's greatest enterprise opportunities lie with organisations that recognise that purpose and commercial success do not compete, they strengthen one another.