Avoiding ‘mission drift’ - lessons for the Big Society Bank?

The future of the social investment market in the UK is yet to be shaped. 2011 will be a pivotal year for building this market because of the arrival of the Big Society Bank – the new ‘central bank’ for providing wholesale financing to social finance intermediaries such as CAF Venturesome, Bridges Ventures, Social Finance Ltd, Triodos Bank, Charity Bank, Big Issue Invest, credit unions and microcredit lenders. No country has ever attempted to do this. That is why the UK must get this new institution right.