Micheal Pyner, chief executive of Shoreditch Trust, a social enterprise responsible for urban renewal in East London, gave the first ‘masterclass’ on Day Two of the Creative Cities: Innovation for Urban Challenges conference.

Giving a forthright and humorous tour of Shoreditch Trust’s many projects, Micheal spelled out the business lessons social enterprises need to learn to survive. “Your social mission can only succeed if your business does. I really don’t understand that ‘money is a bad thing’ mentality”, he said.

Social enterprises need to market and brand themselves professionally if they want to convince funders to back them and partner organisations to take them seriously, Micheal argues. To build up this credibility you should make partnerships with organisations who aren’t necessarily in your own sector but who can champion whatever it is you do, he said. Established social enterprises can also use their influence within the community to act as broker with developers and derive concessions from them to the benefit of the people.

To make money and continue making money social enterprises have to innovate constantly and “find new ways of generating funds and new sources of income”. This means making the most of your assets. For example, in Shoreditch Trust’s community-owned restaurants they also teach children social skills and hire out nearby space for conferencing.

The Trust, which operates in an area of London that is home to many immigrant communities where English is a second language, has a £10 million Community Asset Portfolio under management which it uses to fund socially beneficial projects in the fields of arts and education; citizenship and skills for living; and environmental and urban realm projects.

The Trust is keen to give poorer people the same cultural experiences available to the rich, and so annual festivals involve ballet, classic music concerts and exposure to fine arts.

It built this fund up through a series of astute property deals in partnership with commercial funders, philanthropists and government grants. Buildings were then rented out as office space or transformed into restaurants and community centres. The restaurants, which only use seasonal foods from sustainable sources, also provide training for local people and ex-offenders, some of whom “end up becoming our best employees”, says Micheal.

Shoreditch’s ethnically diverse character provides a challenges but also opportunities. One project that is bringing cultures together successfully involves needlework, embroidery and quilting - crafts that are common to most cultures. The plan is to develop a community ‘haberdasher’ shop where locals can show and sell their handiwork.

The choice of projects came from widespread community consultation from which the Trust’s Board of 14 people – including locals and business experts – drew up a 10-year business plan.