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Community Enterprise Manager, The Ubele Initiative
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About The Role
This is a senior hands-on role accountable to the Wolves Lane Consortium board who hold the 25-year lease for the Centre, and reporting to co-managing steward Ubele Initiative CIC whose investment has made this role possible and is the employing organisation.
This results-oriented role is pivotal to strengthening the Centre’s long-term financial resilience while maintaining its strong community ethos and aligning with the vision and mission. This to be achieved through identifying, developing and securing new income streams and expanding existing to generate gross profit, to contribute to overall running costs, and to generate sufficient yield for Consortium’s reserves and on-going investment.
Income streams to include from business to business, and retail sales; from increasing venue hires and event revenues; expanding value-partnerships with different sectors, and joint ventures; and at all times ensuring robust financial and performance oversight.
The postholder will be required to develop an Income Generation Strategy for approval by the Board and will be responsible for all its commercial elements. You must be community and values-driven, outcome-focused, an inspiring and collaborative leader and manager, and motivated by the Consortium’s vision and mission, and those of its co-stewards OrganicLea CIC and Ubele CIC. At all times you will be an ambassador for the Centre.
CO-LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Working on behalf of the Wolves Lane Consortium, informed fully by and reporting to co-stewards Ubele CIC, and sharing the leadership and management of the Centre with the Facilities & Operations Manager, together you will be relied upon for the Centre’s success in pursuing its strategic and annual plans, and in what it does and how it does it.
The Facilities and Operations role is primarily to ensure the Centre is fit for all of its many different purposes; provides all users and visitors with a safe environment for their operations and activities, and a pleasant, rewarding, inspiring experience that results in return visits, longer dwell time. And in so doing reaches and attracts new audiences and more custom.
The Community Enterprise role is predominantly outward facing - to create, attract and secure new and increased income streams through more sales of its products, services and offer; to co-create with entrepreneurs’ new community-based enterprise models and for joint ventures; to secure more investment from philanthropic and individual donations, and for funded programmes from new and existing partners.
These two distinct and overlapping roles will work collaboratively creating synergies to optimize the Centre’s income generating potential, the revenue and investment it secures, and at the same time increase its reputation, reach, and value as a vibrant community asset and contributor to community wealth building.
Together the two senior roles will deliver a seamless, compliant, and inspiring Centre offer, will co-lead and motivate the Centre team through a people management approach that fosters a culture of ambition, collaboration, care and success. Individually and together you will be accountable to the Consortium Board’s for ensuring all regulatory and customer standards are applied and met consistently, pursuing its vision through the strategy for the Centre’s good health, sustainability, and continuous growth in accordance with the Consortium’s values and ways-of-working.
KEY RELATIONSHIPS
- Wolves Lane Consortium Board – represented by the Consortium’s two co-managing stewards, OrganicLea CIC and Ubele CIC, and to whom this role is accountable
- Ubele CIC – one of the Consortium’s two co-managing stewards, employer and funder of this role, and to whom this role reports
- Wolves Lane Centre Facilities & Operations Manager - close collaboration as co-leaders & co-senior managers of the Centre, jointly responsible to the Board for the Centre’s successful pursuit of its vision and mission
- Direct reports: Hires & Events Manager; Senior Grower (Enterprise)
- Wolves Lane Centre staff team - who you will jointly lead with the Centre’s Facilities & Operations Manager
- Businesses, their associations, and sectors - with whom to do business; Value Stakeholders including existing and new £ funding partners, public sector commissioners; Venue Hirers - commercial, private & community; Local / subregional / regional stakeholders including government
- Community organisations, groups & their members; local residents and other local stakeholders
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Duties And Responsibilities
Enterprise and business development
- Develop and implement a Board approved 2-year enterprise and income generation strategy and action plan aligned with the Centre’s mission and that, Identify and secure new, and increase and expand existing, commercial and retail sales income for produce and plants grown at Wolves Lane Centre, Pasteur Gardens and other growing sites.
- Develop and increase the Centre’s venue hires & events offer including markets;
- Co-create and support new community-based enterprise models that can operate within and / or be part of Wolves Lane Consortium eco-system, with a particular focus on increasing representation of those from Black and Racially minoritised communities
- Support the Facilities & Operations manager in the development of financially viable business cases for the cafeteria and the retail offer and that contribute to Centre surpluses
- Grow and diversify earned income streams to improve financial sustainability.
- Monitor market trends and identify opportunities for innovation and growth.
Partnership development
- Attract and build strong customer relationships with wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, concessions etc., and other businesses who will buy produce from Wolves Lane’s growing sites
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with commerce to whom we will sell, community organisations, funders and public sector bodies and identify opportunities for sales and hires.
- Act as an ambassador for the Centre, representing it at networking events and stakeholder meetings including the local Business Improvement District (BID).
- Develop collaborative programmes and initiatives that enhance community impact and income potential and bring new communities onto our site.
Venue Hire and Events
- Develop and implement a Board-approved Hires Policy, ensuring alignment with the Centre’s values as both a community and income-generating asset.
- Working with key colleagues, maximise income from venue hire through proactive marketing and relationship management.
- Oversee the planning and delivery of events that generate revenue and increase footfall
- Ensure effective systems are in place for bookings, contracts, invoicing and customer service. Ensure effective use of the space-rental software, platforms, optimising functionality and user experience.
- Ensure compliance with safeguarding requirements and GDPR.
Customer Experience
- Jointly with the Centre’s Facilities & Operations manager set centre-wide customer and visitor service standards applicable to all areas, facilities and services, ensuring these comply with all regulatory and health & safety requirements, and are consistently applied and visible.
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Financial management and budget oversight
- Jointly with the Centre’s Facilities & Operations manager develop annual budget in collaboration with and for the approval of the Wolves Lane Board
- Working with the finance team, monitor income and expenditure, producing regular financial reports and forecasts for the areas of responsibility.
- Ensure financial controls and reporting processes are robust and transparent.
- Oversee the development of funding applications and business cases to attract income and to generate a significant net contribution
Leadership & People Management
- Jointly with the Centre’s Facilities & Operations manager, to provide leadership to the Centre, motivating, inspiring and involving the Centre based team including its volunteers, and in a manner and style that is participatory whilst retaining accountability
- Manage and coach direct reports in a participatory style, that inspires and motivates for the team members’ and team’s high-performance
Reporting & Governance
- Be accountable the Wolves Lane Consortium Board on performance, risks and opportunities.
- Report to Ubele Initiative CIC, the role’s employer and manager
- Support the Consortium board in its strategic and action planning, within the context of its long-term business planning.
- Ensure compliance with all relevant internal policies and procedures of Ubele and Wolves Lane Consortium; regulatory and legal requirements; industry-sector professional recognised good practice in the areas relevant to this role.
- Other Any other duties commensurate with this role’s status and purpose and as required by management.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential
- Proven and successful experience in enterprise development, income generation, or running a business.
- Strong sales, marketing and customer service skills, with a track record of meeting income targets.
- Demonstrable success in developing partnerships and securing earned income.
- Experience of budget management and financial reporting.
- Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.
- Entrepreneurial mindset balanced with a commitment to community values.
- Senior-level experience of people leadership, people management and decision-making.
- Ability to work independently and take responsibility and accountability for decisions made.
- Experience of working collaboratively with shared responsibilities and accountabilities for decision-making.
- Ability to lead and motivate teams to engage and perform, ideally using participatory approaches.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with a collaborative approach.
- Resilience, creativity and the ability to work in a dynamic, hands-on environment.
- Commitment to the Consortium's and co-managing stewards' vision and mission to reduce economic, environmental, food, land, racial and social injustices through its work and decision-making, and to community wealth-building.
Desirable
- Growing experience of plants, fruit and vegetables.
- Experience of promoting or managing venue hire or events, ideally in a multi-use or community setting.
- Experience of managing retail sales.
- Experience of working with Black and racially minoritised communities, ideally widening opportunities for participation where there has historically been underrepresentation.
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