A study by the Social Enterprise Coalition has concluded that the government must reconfigure the role of businesses in social benefit in order to achieve its Big Society aims.

A public attitudes survey conducted for the Time for Social Enterprise report found that one in three people believe the organisation they work for only cares about generating profits for their owners or shareholders. The report calls for the setting up of a national social enterprise taskforce to integrate social and economic policy and to create a standardised measurement for social value to make it easier for businesses to report it.

Peter Holbrook, chief executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition (pictured), said that there needs to be an attitude change towards social enterprises, which contribute £24bn to the UK economy:

“Social enterprise can help take the massive strain off our charitable sector and help our economy recover sustainably, rather than replacing like with like. There is a misconception that all 62,000 social enterprises in the UK sit alongside charities in the voluntary sector, but they don’t, they stride all sectors and industries. They are businesses,” he said.

Attitudes expressed by business leaders in the study agreed that there is work to do on addressing social benefit in the business world. But one businessman advised that the Big Society could provide a cultural change to drive social aims in business:

“We're at a  real tipping point in that the Big Society can raise consumer awareness and public perception of social enterprise to generate consumer pull towards a different way of doing things,” he said.

“There are large organisations that have had a huge realisation – that ultimately, social value needs to be at the heart of any corporation and to work alongside shareholder value – increased public understanding and a real consumer pull is what will make more organisations turn down that road.”

An investor noted that there needs to be a better education for all in society in how to earn, spend, give and save, and this forms the basis of the study’s third recommendation - for the government to work with social enterprises and consumer organisations to produce a business and consumer education strategy.

“Every transaction we make in our day-to-day lives can have a positive impact on the environment and our communities...this is the way the Big Society can work,” said the investor, whose identity has been protected.

But they warned: “People already do huge amounts and are often not recognised for what they do. The Big Society risks putting the onus on them to do more. They could be more efficient. What is needed is for them to be taught to achieve more with what they do with their money.”