BUSINESS BIO

Where are you based? London, but operates around UK

Key business markets: Public services

Annual turnover: (08/09) (Social Lab is a start-up)

% of turnover which is trading income (as opposed to grants): 100%

Number of employees: 9

 

ambassadors

Chris Allwood

Chris Allwood
  • thinkpublic

  • business development manager

  • London

Chris Allwood has built a fantastic environment for young people that delivers for partners in private business and charities

Chris Allwood isn’t your typical social entrepreneur. In a sector bubbling with strong social passions, many of the prime movers have large personas to match. Chris favours a milder approach but he’s still getting big results.

After building a unique internet auction social enterprise, Chris has moved to a company which helps communities shape the services they use - and he’s wasted little time in injecting social enterprise into the mix.

His major success story so far has been Auction My Stuff, an innovative social business that makes it easier for charities and brands to use eBay. Working for a commission or set fee, the company manages all aspects of charitable auctions – from researching and testing equipment to managing bids and invoicing.

What makes it different from most online businesses is that all profits are donated to its parent charity Community Links, which runs services for vulnerable people in east London. In addition, Auction My Stuff seeks to employ young people who have successfully completed its training course.

The ambassador’s time at the businesses saw some big hits, notably, in 2009, when Auction My Stuff was asked by The Sun newspaper to manage the charity auction for its Help for Heroes campaign for wounded soldiers.

“We needed someone with expertise to manage the whole process,” says Ben Hughes, Head of Digital Marketing at the paper’s parent company, News Group Media. “Auction My Stuff were fantastic. They worked beyond the call of duty and we’re delighted with the level of service.

The trust that people now have in our brand is vital… eBay has always been supportive but over time they’ve seen that we’re reliable and professional too. Now they refer people to us.

Before starting Auction my Stuff, Chris gained his social enterprise wings by managing a fair trade café and a centre for asylum seekers. In 2006 he saw the potential, initially on a smaller scale, for charities to use the world’s most popular online auction website to sell goods more effectively. He took on unemployed young people for three-month work placements and trained them in all areas of the auction business, from writing lot descriptions to answering emails from potential bidders. It is, he says, a “fantastic live environment” for young people to get the skills experience and confidence for work.

After his sterling input into the business, Chris decided to take on a new role as business development manager at thinkpublic in October 2009. The company provides strategic support to charities, social enterprises and government departments, to encourage active healthy living, help unlock social potential, and give people more say in the governance of local services. “Social enterprise,” he says, “is increasingly becoming part of the solution.”

Since Chris joined, he has taken the lead in creating the company’s Social Lab, which will help get new social enterprises off the ground. “We’re trialling incubating our first social enterprise at the moment (Jan, 2010),” he explains.

“The residents group from a housing association in Plymouth is looking to set up a community internet cafe and we’re hoping out support will help them be successful,” adds Chris.

With such a committed social enterprise ambassador on board, you can bet the Social Lab will be spawning some of tomorrow’s brightest social enterprises and social enterprise leaders very soon. 

Quick Facts

  • In 2008, more than 90 young people successfully completed placements with Auction my Stuff. Half of them went on into employment or training.
  • Auction My Stuff’s 'Help for Heroes' auction for The Sun newspaper has received over one million hits from the public.
  • Parent charity Community Links helps more than 54,000 people every year to get out of poverty, debt and poor housing.
  • thinkpublic has worked with staff from Birmingham North and East NHS Primary Care Trust to develop a prototype for a portable 'Clinic to Go' toolkit, designed to increase localised health care.

Print