5,106 New CICs in a Pandemic Year — Yes, I'm Surprised Too

I spent most of 2020 expecting the worst. A global pandemic, economic shutdown, mass unemployment — this was not a recipe for enterprise formation. I assumed CIC registrations would slump, that the energy that had been building through the 2010s would dissipate in the face of a crisis that was shutting down everything.

I was wrong. Spectacularly wrong.

The CIC register approved 5,106 new organisations in 2020. That’s a 59% increase on 2019. More than five thousand new CICs, formed in the middle of a pandemic, while the economy was contracting and the future was uncertain.

I’ve been studying these numbers for fifteen years, and I’ve never seen anything like it. The previous record was 3,215 in 2019. We blew past that by nearly 60%. The cumulative total reached nearly 19,000. Twenty percent growth in a single year. In a pandemic.

What happened is simple: when the crisis hit, communities organised. Food banks, mutual aid groups, mental health support services, remote care provision — the pandemic created needs that existing organisations couldn’t meet, and people turned to the CIC model to fill the gap. The structure offered exactly what was needed: the ability to operate as a proper business with proper governance, while keeping the social purpose front and centre.

The CIC Regulator’s office deserves credit for how they handled it. COVID guidance was issued in March, filing deadlines were extended, Companies House suspended strike-off actions. The message was clear: we’re not going to add regulatory pressure to a crisis. That flexibility was crucial.

The £200 million Coronavirus Community Support Fund and the £100 million Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund provided some financial backing. But the real story isn’t government support — it’s the thousands of people who saw a need in their community and used the CIC model to meet it.

Five thousand one hundred and six new CICs in a pandemic year. If that doesn’t tell you that the CIC model has found its moment, nothing will.