The End of an Era (And Why That's a Good Thing)

The CIC Regulator’s blog called my Birmingham event “the end of an era.” That’s probably giving me too much credit. But there’s some truth in it.

I’ve spent the last ten years on the road, at conferences, in meeting rooms, on stages, arguing the case for Community Interest Companies. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve explained the asset lock, defended the dividend cap, and made the case that profit and purpose aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s been exhausting, rewarding, and occasionally infuriating.

But the CIC model doesn’t need another decade of me making the same arguments. What it needs is infrastructure. A proper support system. Investment products designed for the way CICs actually work. A regulatory framework that’s been fully tested and refined. A government that treats CICs as a mainstream business structure rather than a quirky alternative.

That work is different from what I’ve been doing. It’s less about public advocacy and more about building the systems that make advocacy unnecessary. It’s about creating the conditions where a community group in Newcastle, a social care provider in Bristol, and an arts centre in Halifax can all access the finance, advice, and support they need without having to fight for it every step of the way.

I’m not disappearing. I’ll still be on the Technical Panel, still advising the Regulator, still working with individual CICs that need help. But the phase of my involvement where I’m the public face of the CIC movement — that’s done. It needs to be done. The movement has grown beyond any one person, and it needs a broader base of leadership to reach its potential.

The CIC Association has thousands of members now. The organisations we represent are doing extraordinary work in every sector and every region. The next phase of the CIC story belongs to them. I’ll be watching — and helping where I can — but from a different position.

The Regulator was right. It is the end of an era. And that’s how it should be.