An Oldham organisation has been named in the top 100 social enterprises in Britain for the third year in a row.

Upturn offers organisations encouragement, opportunities and even access to funding to meet the needs of those living in the greatest poverty.

Now, it has been listed in the NatWest SE100 2024 once again, which managing director Anwar Ali OBE says is a sign that a new age of compassionate capitalism is being born in Oldham.

Mr Ali said: “What is unique about our area is that it balances a fiercely entrepreneurial spirit with a tremendous sense of community pride and care for others. 

“As in many areas this has sometimes been stifled by everything from lack of resource to low confidence, but I believe our work is changing all of that and acting as an inspiration to other social enterprise networks across the country.”

Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox by signing up to The Oldham Times’ morning and evening newsletters as well as our breaking news alerts 

Upturn’s day-to-day work sees it bolstering small businesses and aiding individuals to find work, by offering advice for CV and job-hunting.

Upturn look to place young people who have made a difficult start to life into appropriate employment, with their partners in these projects including McDonald’s and BBC Children in Need.

Mr Ali said: “We have a compassion that never sits still and one of our main developments this year has been to take the social enterprise message out to communities via our new campervan, Hope on Wheels.”

Muzahid Khan DL, social enterprise and innovation manager at Upturn added: “I believe our success is down to having a team that embodies all that is positive about social enterprise. Namely, a business gumption that wants to expand our influence plus a fierce commitment to our communities.

“What’s really encouraging is that I am seeing that same philosophy rising up all over Oldham.”