In this presentation I want to provide you with a picture of some of the trends that are developing for social enterprises in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Social enterprise are becoming an increasingly important part of the U.K. landscape and part of a wider Europe Union agenda Social innovation, which in turn is linked to a broad policy objective of smart growth. The economic difficulties currently being experienced in the U.K. is leading to cuts in state funding, the retreat of state welfare services, the opening up of services to other providers (including social enterprises), the development of a social investment market and the need for more socially innovative ways of delivering service