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Businesses with a social mission

United Kingdom

Protecting the mission as a business grows

Company framework · regulator's 2025 guidance

Community Interest Companies (CICs)

What the evidence shows

The regulator's guidance documents duties concerning purpose and accountability. It supports examination of the legal framework, but does not demonstrate social impact or job creation from adopting it. [1]

CICs are companies serving a community benefit. They combine a community interest test, an asset lock restricting how assets can be used, and a specific annual report. The mission must remain open to scrutiny when management changes. [1]

  1. Define the community and purpose

  2. Earn revenue and protect the use of assets

  3. Publish accounts and the community interest report

Costs and delivery

Accounting, compliance and annual reporting require resources. The company form does not guarantee funding or economic viability. This profile identifies no comparable cost per beneficiary or outcome. [1]

Limits of the comparison

The asset lock does not certify impact or prevent poor management. Pay, beneficiaries and results still need scrutiny. Political parties and political campaigning organisations are excluded; this case does not propose a legal form for OpenGov3.

OpenGov3's interpretation

What it can teach Brazil

How can a social mission remain verifiable through changes in management and funding?

What to monitor when adapting it

  • Beneficiaries and demonstrated outcomes
  • Use of assets and surpluses
  • Pay and conflicts of interest
  • Revenue, costs and continuity of purpose

These are criteria for analysis, not commitments already made or estimated outcomes for Brazil. A well-documented practice is not, by itself, causal proof of an entire country's success.

Sources consulted

Consulted on 10/29/2026. Each result retains its observed period; institutional descriptions and impact evaluations have different scopes.

  1. CIC Regulator — Community Interest Companies Guidance (2025) (opens in a new tab)

    Guidance dated 4 April 2025: community interest, assets, annual reporting, pay and exclusions.