Shropshire firms urged to shout about their social and environmental credentials
Shropshire firms will be urged to put social value and sustainability at the heart of their business plans in a new event led by three specialists in the field.
The innovative workshop will show businesses how to move from regarding their corporate social responsibility and environmental policies as fringe activities to making them core to business strategy and operations.
Marketing consultant Ruth Martin, one of the three specialists leading the event on February 25, said that businesses were beginning to recognise the importance of strengthening and promoting their social value policies as an integral part of their strategy for increased profits and sales.
Ruth will be joined by Johnny Themans of business consultancy Good2Great and communications and sustainability specialist Liza Freudmann of BLA Sustainability for the event in Telford to champion the business advantages of forward-thinking social value and environmental strategies.
The Social Advantage workshop takes place at AFC Telford’s New Bucks Head Stadium in Wellington, Telford from 9.15am to 12noon on February 25.
“Businesses are increasingly moving from testing the waters of corporate social responsibility, and sustainability to the more holistic approaches of social value and the triple bottom line strategy, which ensures their activities are beneficial to people, planet and place.
“Looking after these values will help to improve the lives of everyone within a business’s sphere of influence, help to strengthen local communities, create new jobs and skills and reduce impact on the environment.
“But – just as importantly - it will also naturally lead to increased profits and sales. This is because it will secure future-proofed supply chain relationships, improve tender success and aid recruitment. Staff wellbeing and retention will also improve and your company will have improved brand reputation and market positioning,” she said.
Johnny Themans added that Shropshire had always been at the forefront of innovation and now it was time for the county to lead the way in adopting human friendly strategies which were good for people, place, planet and profit.
“The three of us shared the same frustration, in that there was a lack of understanding around CSR, sustainability and social value, so it made sense for us to come together and share our individual experiences and diverse knowledge collaboratively so that Shropshire businesses can keep their competitive advantage,” he said.
Liza Freudmann said that working with organisations across London, Manchester and Birmingham they had all witnessed firsthand how keeping sustainability and social value at the heart of business was the future for all organisations.
“We don’t want businesses in Shropshire to fall behind”, she said.
Tickets cost £75 with early bird discounts available and discounted rate for groups of four or more members. Booking is essential via Good2Great as there are limited spaces available.
