It all began over a bottle of claret in a City wine bar in the early 2000s. Roger Warren Evans, a social entrepreneur and barrister, was lamenting with his solicitor friend Stephen Lloyd the low profile of the not-for-profit sector.
As the evening wore on, the two lawyers developed the idea of creating an organisation that served the public interest but was not subject to the strict governance controls of a charity. Out of their conversation emerged what became known as community interest companies (CICs). There are now more than 37,000 registered in the UK.
