His social enterprise links families with carers
Personal experience drove Phil Conway to set up Cool2Care, which supports families with disabled children. Conway, who had struggled to find the right care for his disabled son, launched the social enterprise in 2007 with investment from venture philanthropists CAN. After spending 20 years at IBM, the move came as "a dramatic change" of pace, he says. "Delivering in the social sector is tough. It's hard work."
When Conway searched for a carer for his son, he says it was hard to find someone with the right skills. He says Cool2Care is a "beefed-up specialist recruitment agency", matching families with carers and providing them with training.
"We offer control and flexibility, and a level of personalisation over the way the service is delivered." And it's cheaper. The company takes a one-off fee, but the whole salary goes to the carer – "rather than half going to a middle man".
As councils cut costs and the government experiments with increased choice, Conway says Cool2Care can be a "Big Society" trailblazer. "Like any business you try to spot the direction of travel of the opportunity, and go with it."
Cool2Care is 70 per cent government-funded, which Conway hopes to reduce. But although he's keen to show a profit, he won't give up access to donations. "The real power of social enterprise is to do what neither charity nor private enterprise can do, and that's to blend income models," he says.
"Our donation line enables us to alleviate risk. If you have a bad trading year you can turn up the fundraising a little and still come out with a surplus."
