Community Interest Company

The CIC model is aimed at people who wish to carry out some activity that will directly or indirectly benefit the community. The model is not as restrictive or as heavily regulated as a charity.

The members’ liability can be limited by shares or by guarantee.  Management of the business is the responsibility of the board of directors, who may or may not be the same people as the members. 

CICs are relatively quick and easy to form.  The current application process involves the paper filing of one set of documents at Companies House.  

A CIC must satisfy the “community interest test” by showing that a reasonable person might consider that its activities are being carried on for the benefit of the community.  

 

Form a CIC

In these financially difficult times, the role of social enterprises - organisations using the power of business to bring about social and environmental change - is more relevant than ever.

Often stepping in to provide community services that have been curtailed by public spending cuts, they find new ways of generating funds to support the disadvantaged.

Social enterprises operate in a variety of forms:

  • charities
  • trusts
  • companies limited by guarantee or by shares
  • industrial and provident societies
  • unincorporated associations. 


The relative newcomer is the community interest company or "CIC" which was introduced in 2005.

CICs have since become increasingly popular with more than 14,000 currently on the public register*. 

This may be surprising to some given that CICs, unlike charities, enjoy no special tax status.

 

So why do people choose CICs?

The CIC model is aimed at people who wish to carry out some activity that will directly or indirectly benefit the community.  The model is not as restrictive or as heavily regulated as a charity.

A form of limited liability company, many features of a CIC will be familiar.  The members’ liability can be limited by shares or by guarantee.  Management of the business is the responsibility of the board of directors, who may or may not be the same people as the members. 

The majority of CICs formed since 2005 are limited by guarantee, the traditional model for companies with philanthropic aims.  But over the last couple of years we have seen an increasing trend towards CICs limited by shares. This suggests that people are becoming more comfortable with the concept of combining community benefit with a modest return for investors.


Forming a CIC

In contrast with charitable companies, CICs are relatively quick and easy to form.  The current application process involves the paper filing of one set of documents at Companies House.  This is automatically passed to the CIC Regulator and the whole process usually takes 2 to 3 weeks in total. 

Furthermore, a facility for the electronic incorporation of CICs is currently being developed and is expected to be in place from mid-summer 2018.

There is also less restriction on the purposes of a CIC than a charity, the objects of which must be exclusively charitable.  A CIC must satisfy the “community interest test” by showing that a reasonable person might consider that its activities are being carried on for the benefit of the community.  Not all of the activities carried on by a CIC need directly benefit the community but everything a CIC does should somehow contribute towards benefiting the community it is set up to serve.  However, political activities are specifically excluded.


The "asset lock"
 
The articles of association for CICs can be flexible, provided they contain a few key restrictions, the most notable one being the “asset lock”.  This provides that the CIC cannot transfer its assets (including any profits or other surpluses generated by its activities) for less than market value unless transferring them to another CIC or charity or if the transfer is for the benefit of the community it was set up to serve.  The asset lock protects the assets of the CIC and ensures that the assets and profits of the CIC will be devoted to the benefit of the community and not for rewarding shareholders and directors. 

There is an exception for CICs that wish to pay dividends to their shareholders, which is permissible provided such dividends do not exceed the “dividend cap”.  The cap has three elements:

  • a maximum dividend per share (which for shares issued on or after 6 April 2010 is 20 per cent of the paid up value of a share and for shares in issue between 1 July 2005 and 5 April 2010 is five per cent above the Bank of England base lending rate of the paid up value of a share); 
  • a maximum aggregate dividend (which is currently 35 per cent of distributable profits);
  • an ability to carry forward unused dividend capacity from year to year to a limited extent (currently the limit is five years).

There is no possibility of a CIC circumventing these restrictions by converting into an ordinary company.  A CIC can only cease to be such by dissolution.  In this case any assets it owns after settlement of all its debts and liabilities will be transferred to another asset-locked body (which may be named in its articles or otherwise approved by the CIC Regulator), or by converting into a charity, in which case its income and assets will protected from distribution to members by charity law.

A CIC must file a CIC Annual Report with its annual company accounts every year.  It explains how the CIC continues to meet the community interest test and that it is engaging appropriately with stakeholders in carrying out its purposes.  This report appears on the public register.  The CIC Regulator may carry out investigations or take action against a CIC if concerns are raised that it is no longer serving the community it was set up to benefit or is operating in breach of the asset lock.

In conclusion, public recognition of its community purposes is an important factor for a social enterprise.  This encompasses promoting its services to its stakeholders, dealing with its customers and suppliers or fundraising in general.  Registration by the CIC Regulator provides public acknowledgment of the organisation’s community purpose.  This, together with the asset lock and on-going reporting requirements, help give the public confidence in the organisation’s integrity.   And in its ability to deliver on its promises to the community, whilst avoiding the onerous regulatory burden and inflexibility of a charity.


*source Companies House statistics

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