Tim Campbell’s social enterprise, the Bright Ideas Trust, looks like it has been launched in the right space at the right time.
Created to invest in young start-ups, any return on investment goes to the trust to be ploughed into harnessing entrepreneurial talent – and not into an investor’s back pocket, as is the way with most other venture capitalists.
After seed-funding the venture, no doubt helped by the six-figure salary he landed by winning the first series of The Apprentice, he’s now on a mission to enlist backing and business know-how from the cream of the UK’s business-to-business service providers – and this is where his timing couldn’t have been better.
The trust’s profile is skyrocketing thanks to major corporations’ drive to flex their corporate social responsibility (CSR) muscles, and show their brands stand for more than just bottom-line profits for shareholders. Despite apparent economic meltdown elsewhere, ethical investments are over-performing, and consumers are demanding to know what businesses are really up to.
Registering the venture as a charity has helped Campbell leverage this CSR crusade, as well as affording certain advantages, such as the ability to accept donations. “We seek partnerships from companies that have voluntary aid schemes, where they give employees a number of days off to go and do charitable work,” Campbell enthuses. “So, they can put their specific skills to good use by helping a start-up. Imagine the power of an accountant from Ernst & Young sitting down with someone and saying: ‘Let me do your cashflow and teach you how to do it’.” A number of major organisations have already pledged their support, including Ernst & Young and HBOS, and Campbell is after more.
Such advice forms just one layer of the trust’s three-tiered support structure, which also offers finance capital of up to £25,000 and a dedicated entrepreneurial mentor. And, while legally a charity, it’s very much run as a business. Campbell does not approve of the tern 'not for profit' being applied. “We like profit!” he laughs, “but it's all reinvested. We make investment into young, start-up companies, but then take equity out of those, and use that success to stream revenue back into the organisation.”
The trust was originally created to help him meet the needs of the young people who started turning to him for guidance following his triumph on The Apprentice. They told a familiar tale of banks being too risk averse, and not knowing where to turn for useful business advice. He’s thankful he could use his popularity to help secure a high-profile launch with Tory Party leader David Cameron.
His unmistakable passion for the cause has since earned him a place as one of the government’s social enterprise ambassadors, and helped secure trustees who share his vision, such as Big Issue co-founder Nigel Kershaw, and Iqbal Wahhab, founder of Roast restaurant and the Cinnamon Club. Meanwhile, Sir Alan Sugar has been an invaluable mentor. “Working for him was almost like my own mini MBA!” says Campbell.