The challenges faced by social enterprises in North West England

On 9th February 2015, a questionnaire was sent out electronically to all businesses in Cumbria and Lancashire that appeared to be social enterprises. The database of email addresses of these businesses was compiled using regional databases such as the Cumbria Social Enterprise Partnership http://www.socialenterpriseincumbria.org/A_to_Z_of_Enterprises, social media and previous UnLtd award winners. The project manager also took printed questionnaire surveys to events in Cumbria (Cumbria Social Enterprise Partnership Awards and the Annual Conference and Cumbria CVS Funding Fair). In this document, we are analysing the responses that were returned by 15th June 2015, although it must be noted that a few others have come in since that cut-off date.