Introduction
TERN is an early-stage social enterprise providing advice, mentorship, networking, and access to funding for UK refugee entrepreneurs. TERN challenges the misconception that refugees cannot contribute positively to the economy of their host country.
- The TERN model seeks to address three major barriers to refugee entrepreneurship in the UK – dispersion of the refugee population (with no central register, or support organizations), refugees’ lack of local credit (or personal) history, and their limited understanding of a new culture and complex bureaucratic systems.
- To date TERN has launched a pilot program to support 5-10 refugees establishing businesses across the UK – and Oliver Wyman’s work was instrumental in helping the organization to reach this stage. TERN’s plan for 2017 is to support fifty refugees, and to connect with similar organizations operating around Europe.
We provided TERN with the support they needed to accelerate from idea to established start-up in just 10 weeks. Their core proposition of providing finance and support to entrepreneurial refugees in the UK and Germany fits well with our own philosophy and expertiseBen Helps
Scope
When Oliver Wyman was initially approached TERN was in a very early start-up phase. Oliver Wyman worked with TERN across a number of areas, including writing a business plan/building a financial model, designing and launching the pilot program, and networking with social and corporate funders. Our brief was to help establish an organization able to stand on its own two feet – and since the end of our engagement TERN has continued to grow and flourish, receiving a great deal of interest from potential partner organizations.
In increasingly uncertain times, TERN aims to demonstrate the extraordinary potential that lies in refugee entrepreneurship - promoting the value of economic and social integration at a time when focus is centering on cultural division. Oliver Wyman have been crucial in helping us morph TERN from merely an idea into a functioning reality, laying the platform for us to continue pushing forward with placing entrepreneurship at the heart of refugee integration both in the UK, and in EuropeMegan Karlshøj-Pedersen (TERN)
Impact
Oliver Wyman provided TERN with a breadth of skills and experience to launch their pilot program within a tight timeline. Our consultants worked closely with the TERN team to develop a program which aims to match fifty refugees with funding and mentorship in 2017. The support of our well-established brand helped TERN to obtain committed funding from a charity partner for its pilot refugees, as well as a number of important corporate contacts for potential partnerships in the future.
- The Home Office has been supportive of TERN’s work and has shared their approach with a number of important stakeholders to push forward.
- Oliver Wyman continues to support TERN – with both sides having established a strong working relationship with the other.
