Simon Borkin Email & Phone Number

After a period of parental leave, I've setup as a freelance consultant, practitioner and researcher with a rich background in supporting social, co-operative and community enterprises to start, grow and contribute to a sustainable and inclusive economy. I provide a range of services from project management, business planning to strategy and data analysis. Underpinning my work is the aim of helping social ventures use the right type of finance, governance, technology and business intelligence to meet their common purpose. Some of the organisations I'm working or have worked with include: - Power to Change- Doughnut Economics Action Lab- Stir to Action- Co-operatives UK- Wales Co-operative Centre- Architectural Heritage Fund- New Economics Foundation- Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals, Australia

With support from Co-operatives UK, I co-founded AirRegister - a digital tool for co-operative and community benefit societies in the UK to manage their community shares register, developed on the Airtable platform. I oversee the current freely-available AirRegister template and provide implementation services to organisations looking to utilise the tool for their share register.

Providing business development and capacity strengthening support with a focus on digital to a range of community businesses, social enterprises and mission-led ventures as part of Power to Change's Powering Up programme.

Effectively managed all of the different and interdependent tasks related to the transition of The Catalyst to an independent organisation following a successful five-year incubation period by CAST.

Manchester, United Kingdom

I led on the management and development of Co-operatives UK’s externally funded programmes, with a focus on community shares. In particular, I established and oversaw the work of the Community Shares Unit (CSU) and Community Shares Booster Programme schemes, supported by Power to Change. Beyond my work on community shares, I have worked actively on other Co-operatives UK projects focusing on community enterprise; including two rounds of the Community Economic Development programme, funded by Department of Communities and Local Government, and the longstanding co-operative development scheme funded by Co-operative Bank - The Hive.I was also closely involved in the organisation's work regarding Co-operative innovation, in which I developed and delivered projects that sought to support co-operative models in new sectors and regions.

Manchester, United Kingdom

I led the Community Shares Unit (CSU) – a scheme to develop the use of equity investment in co-operative and community benefit societies to finance social ventures. In just over two years, the Unit has supported a community shares market in which 150 enterprises have raised £50m from 50,000 new investors. Working with a small team, I supported the development of the Community Shares Standard Mark - a new good practice scheme for share offers which launched in 2015, underpinned by the production of a comprehensive guidance document - the Community Shares Handbook, as well as a training and licensing programme for community shares practitioners to award the Standard Mark.I also led on the design and delivery of the wider support infrastructure for the CSU, including key digital resources centred on communityshares.org.uk and microgenis.org.uk. This comprises a funding platform, an online market database and key learning resources such as case study films and an introductory animation.

Manchester, United Kingdom

I worked on a number of projects as an associate for Mickledore Consulting in which I specialised in economic analysis and policy development. Notable projects included leading on a cost-benefit analysis of development options for a new biomedical campus for the Liverpool City Region as part of a successful European funding bid. Beyond my projects with Mickledore Consulting, I was commissioned by the Sustainable Urban Regional Futures (SURF) Institute at Salford University to produce case studies of five global cities to explore the relationship between knowledge and sustainable economic development at the city region level. This involved expansive literature reviews, interviews and policy analysis to produce succinct summary documents.

Manchester, United Kingdom

I managed a number of economic development projects with a specific lead for the organisation’s evaluation and appraisal function. This largely comprised evaluations of North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) funding for enterprise and innovation schemes. Notable commissions which I managed included an evaluation of the Higher Education Innovation Fund Round 2 in the North West. I also provided support to applicant organisations seeking to access funding as well as economic appraisal services to funding bodies such as the NWDA. For example, I demonstrated the economic impact of retrofitting to secure almost £10m of ERDF funding for energy efficiency and renewables deployment in social housing stock on behalf of the Merseyside local authorities.

Manchester, United Kingdom

The position involved writing copy for online news feeds for a number of clients spanning the pharmaceutical, engineering and finance sectors. I also monitored a variety of political and news broadcast content on both television and radio in order to produce unique articles based on public comment.

Brussels, Belgium

Providing parliamentary and administrative support for the effective day-to-day operation of the parliamentary office. My duties included undertaking policy research on committees, producing briefings, undertaking constituency casework as well as other administrative duties such as diary management.

Msc, Innovation Management And Entrepreneurship, Distinction

Ba, Economics And Politics, First Class Honours