impact report 2018 bolder vision, broader impact welcome to our impact report 2 Dear colleague Our purpose holds to create new expectations of what good business At HCT Group, social impact is the means. I have talked and written at length beginning and the end of what we do; about moving on from the ‘Robin Hood’ the reason we exist. We believe that model of social enterprise, whose understanding our impact, measuring impact rests on profit reinvestment it rigorously and then sharing what we alone. We have talked of an idea of have found is an indivisible part of the ‘total impact’ – our long-held ambition impact itself. This report, through our to re-imagine the services where we data, our research and our stories, aims earn our revenues, using these as to show the difference we have been engines of social change in and of making in our communities over the themselves – public services delivered past 12 months. for public benefit. HCT Group is often held up as an For the first time, we have made example of social entrepreneurship – sufficient progress in this endeavour we are applauded for our growth to to share our achievements in our scale, our impact and our innovation. impact report. We will talk in this report I welcome the recognition that this of our work using a Social Impact Bond gives to our teams up and down the to free children and young people country, each working ceaselessly to with special educational needs and make a difference to people’s lives. disabilities (SEN) from a lifetime If we can also inspire others to create dependent on specialist transport. change – or use any of the influence We will talk about our pioneering project we might have gained in support of that trains ex-offenders as London the broader community transport or red bus drivers. We will talk about a social enterprise movements – then we merger strategy with other community are always willing to stand at the front. transport operators that makes both we must ask And yet, speaking personally, I cannot business sense and preserves these ourselves, always, shake a sense of the most urgent disquiet. organisations’ crucial social impact. what more is it in our We live in a world where loneliness and Though we may only be in the foothills power to do? social isolation blights the lives of older of where we need to be, by focussing and disabled people, where people relentlessly on increasing our social in our communities are left behind in impact in each and every dimension poverty and unemployment, where of our work, I believe we are moving in ex-offenders are more likely to re-offend the right direction. than to get a job and lead happy and productive lives. The list goes on, with vulnerable and marginalised people Best wishes unable to lead the lives they want. Dai Powell OBE Even though each service we provide Chief Executive makes a real and vital difference to HCT Group people’s lives, it is not enough, not nearly enough. We are in the merest foothills of where we need to be. We must ask ourselves, always, what more is it in our power to do? This, I think, is the very heart of social entrepreneurship. measuring impact As a social enterprise, HCT Group 3 exists to make a difference in our communities through transport and training. We deliver a wide range of transport contracts, reinvesting profits into community services in line with our mission. We also provide contracted services for work that is, in and of itself, socially beneficial. We believe that it is not enough to simply assert that we have made a difference. We have a clear responsibility to prove that this is true. We do this each year by measuring and reporting our social impact – the positive change made to people’s lives as a result of what we do. creating change contents To understand the difference we make, we conduct detailed research with our Welcome to our impact report 2 service users – seeking to understand the outcomes of our work – what might Measuring impact 3 have changed in their lives as a result Our year in business 5 of our services. Our social mission 9 To measure these outcomes in a rigorous manner, our research applies the Big What we do 12 Society Capital (BSC) outcomes matrix – Access to local facilities 15 a model of how to look with clarity at complex social impacts in a way that Physical and mental health 21 establishes some shared approaches for their measurement. Family, friends and relationships 25 Citizenship and community 29 continuous improvement Employment, training and education 33 Good practice in social impact A focus on total impact 39 measurement is constantly evolving. As a consequence, we continuously Broadening impact 42 review our approach to ensure an ever Income and financial inclusion 45 better window onto the change we have made. Each year, we revise our methods Conservation of the natural environment 49 in three ways: Promoting safety 51 ppexploring what new practice in impact reporting we can usefully implement Staying accountable 53 ppongoing work to improve our data Our social impact scorecard 54 accuracy across all regions and services ppapplying what we have learned to improve our research questions. 4 our year in business At HCT Group, we understand our business in 2 017/18 5 that all of our social impact is made HCT Group has seen dynamic growth possible by being a vibrant, successful in 2 017/18, with turnover increasing business – the ‘enterprise’ part of social from £49.57m in 2 016 /17 to £62.90m, enterprise. Whilst the rest of this report 3 0 .1 m growth of 26.9% – expansion by over explores the delivery of our social a quarter in the past year. This growth mission, this section sets out the has been driven by the full-year impact commercial performance that enables it – of new Transport for London (TfL) our year in business. HCT Group provided red bus routes – Routes W 11 , W16 and 30.1 million passenger trips 397, the full-year impact of our SEN in 2 017/18 about our business transport contract for the London Borough of Wandsworth, the start HCT Group is in the transport business. of our SEN transport contract in the We compete successfully in the market London Borough of Hammersmith, for transport contracts, often against the part-year impact of our merger with the global giants of the bus industry. Manchester Community Transport We operate a fleet of 732 vehicles from 26.9 % (MCT) and growth in our operations in 13 depots with 1514 staff and safely deliver both Yorkshire and Bristol. HCT Group over 30 million passenger journeys on our turnover grew by 26.9% in 2 017/18 buses every year. Our track record spans: increasing profit red bus services We deliver 13 London red bus routes HCT Group has also seen a significant under contract to TfL. growth in profit, recording a trading surplus of £705k 1 in 2 017/18 as mainstream bus services compared to £457k in 2 016 /17 – We deliver the bus services in Jersey 54.3% a 54.3% increase in our profit. and Guernsey and contract bus services HCT Group in Bristol, Leeds and Manchester. In a highly positive development, profit grew by54 .3% our growth in profit is close to double school/college transport in 2 017/18 the rate of our increase in turnover. We deliver both mainstream and This is due to increasing the effectiveness special educational needs (SEN) school of our operations and the emerging transport up and down the country. 1211 benefits of our growth – increasing economies of scale. 2 016 /17 We also deliver contracts for services closely aligned to our social mission: 1514 adult social care transport 2 017/18 We have a strong track record in number of HCT Group delivering adult social care transport employees grew by 25.0% of all types. in 2 017/18 Dial-a-Ride We deliver a range of contracts 625 providing demand-responsive transport for local authorities. 2 016 /17 travel training 732 We provide training to enable young 2 017/18 people with SEN to travel independently HCT Group fleet grew by on public transport. 1 17.6% in 2 017/18 innovation and novel solutions As our published accounts show, our We provide a huge range of novel and merger with Manchester Community Transport brought an additional, largely bespoke transport solutions to meet the technical, P&L benefit. However this needs of specific commissioners. has been cancelled out by exceptional items and turnaround costs associated with the merger. 6 set for the future new horizons HCT Group’s main business is in the In June 2018, HCT Group successfully delivery of longer-term transport completed a new landmark fundraising contracts won by competitive tender. round, raising a £17.8m investment to This has the advantage of giving good finance the next phase of our growth. visibility of the year ahead. We have The deal not only provides the working again posted a very strong business capital needed to enable growth, but development performance in 2 017/18 also supports a bolder set of options. that indicates significant, profitable Building on our extensive track record growth in 2018/19. of mergers with community transport In a genuinely exciting development, operators, HCT Group is currently we have been named as the operator of actively pursuing acquisitions of the m1 route on Bristol’s new Metrobus commercial bus operators – buying network, operating the service as a bus companies with a view to turning subcontractor to First West of England them into social enterprises.