Internationalising Social Enterprise
The International Social Enterprise Observatory (ISEO) is managed by Community Enterprise in Scotland (CEIS) and draws on the strengths of specialist delivery partners under the ‘Team Scotland’ approach.
These specialist partners include Challenges Group, Social Enterprise World Forum CIC, Social Enterprise Academy, Scottish Development International and Scotland’s three national enterprise support agencies.
Together, we have extensive experience helping social enterprises of all sizes. We specialise in assisting Scottish social enterprises in their expansion into international markets, as well as supporting international social enterprises to expand in Scotland.
We are also passionate about sharing our knowledge of the Scottish social enterprise ecosystem with international organisations, governments, and partners. We arrange study visits for those that want to learn more about social enterprise in Scotland.
To find out about our work, look at some of our case studies.
Vision:
To ensure that Scottish social enterprises thrive internationally and play a leading role in embedding social enterprise globally.
Mission:
To promote Scotland as an international leader, partner and destination for the global social enterprise movement.
Objectives:
- To expand and build upon Scotland’s reputation as a global leader in the social enterprise movement
- To support Scottish social enterprises to access international markets and opportunities
- To promote Scotland as a home for global social enterprise
- To embed social enterprise in Scotland’s international trade and development policy and initiatives
- To showcase the impact of Scotland’s global social enterprises and partnerships
- To share learning from the global social enterprise movement
- To provide resources and support for agencies to share best practice and demonstrate Scottish social enterprises’ international impact and ambitions
Our Team
ISEO benefits from a “Team Scotland” approach, delivered by multiple partners each with their own specialism. As the lead partner, the CEIS team is the first point of contact. Our core team is:
James Finnie
ISEO Lead
James is a Senior Adviser with CEIS, the UKs largest social enterprise support agency.
James brings 34 years of business development experience to the role, working for 16 years with a global multi-national corporation up to European management level and for 18 years supporting the growth of social enterprises in Scotland and beyond.
He has played a lead role in starting two social enterprises. James is a very experienced adviser capable of offering advice and support across the range of business competencies, including business and strategic planning, manufacturing, supply chain, new product development, customer service, e-business and finance.
Maggie Frazer
Business Support
Maggie is a Senior Business Adviser providing support to social enterprises interested in internationalisation. She is an accomplished and results-driven senior director level professional with over two decades’ experience gained within global strategic marketing consultancies and the Chamber of Commerce network.
Maggie brings a wealth of experience to ISEO having previously worked with high-profile global brands and SMEs on strategy development, both in the UK and internationally, as well as overseeing global partnership working,
Specialisms include undertaking market expansion evaluations for export/import trade (including review of potential joint venture partnerships) and development of ‘Go to Market’ strategies. She has attended numerous trade missions as well as undertaking international market visits on behalf of clients, mainly across Europe and the USA.
Jo Seagrave
ISEO Programme Manager
Jo has been co-ordinating both inward and outward study visits for groups interested in learning about social enterprise models in different countries since 2014.
She has experience in working with networks in Scotland and globally to organise tailored study visits to specific requirements and budgets. She manages all aspects from programming, logistics, visa and cultural considerations. Her aim is to provide participants with relevant insight and takeaways combined with an experience of the culture and social enterprise sector.
She has organised inward study visits to Korea, Quebec, Sweden, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic and hosted delegations from countries including Shanghai, Ethiopia, Brisbane, New Zealand.
Mark Fraser
Communications and Marketing
Mark began his marketing career at one of Scotland’s leading social enterprises, Kibble Education and Care Centre, in 2015 by spearheading their social enterprise podcast Social Enterprise Conversations. Since then, he has worked in the private sector on both B2C and B2B marketing campaigns in grocery and tech, before returning to the social enterprise sector with CEIS in January 2022.
He brings a wealth of marketing experience to ISEO. He has extensive experience working on organic and paid social media campaigns across a range of platforms, as well as demonstrating skill across Google AdWords, SEO, copywriting, photography, videography, and digital design.