Update from the Wales Director – January 2012

Happy New Year on behalf of Business in the Community to all our members, partners and stakeholders. Welcome to the first of our Wales members’ newsletters for 2012, bringing you the latest news, views and developments from across BITC and our member companies.

This time of year gives us an opportunity to renew our focus and make responsible business resolutions. Our resolution is to work even closer with our members in Wales to achieve a bigger impact in our communities, particularly those which focus on key areas such as education, employment and enterprise. 

As we enter our 30th anniversary year, our proven track record and experience brings us great clarity on the crucial role of businesses in supporting local communities. Next month on 23 February we are running an Emergency Community Summit to address the social and economic challenges faced by our communities, and in particular, the effects of rising youth unemployment. This event will bring together 500 chief executives and community leaders from right across the UK and will be a call to action for businesses to scale up their support.   

Over the coming weeks we expect a surge of entries to Wales Awards for Excellence the lead up to the closing date on 5 March.  These awards celebrate and reward the companies who are excelling in their integration of responsible business practice.  I would like to extend my thanks to our corporate supporters – Wales & West Utilities, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, Working Links, Renault Cardiff, Principality Building Society, Media Wales and the Welsh Government. This support makes these Awards possible and enables us to share the success of the businesses who are truly leading the way in their approach to responsible and sustainable business and inspire others to follow their example.

Bookings are also now open for the Wales Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner sponsored by Wales & West Utilities and 30th Anniversary Celebration which will be held at SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff on 21 June 2012.

To help business measure and improve responsible business practice, we are encouraging our Welsh members to complete the Responsible Business Check Up.   We have also launched a training programme for SMEs – the Responsible Business Essentials.  Both of these services are to be promoted to SMEs in partnership with South Wales Chamber of Commerce, IOD Wales and ICAEW.  The first of the workshops, ‘Winning new business’ is scheduled for 1 March 2012 and is to be hosted by PwC.

We remain convinced of the need to help with the development of social enterprises and we are happy to report that we have secured some funds from an Interreg Project for North West Wales which looks to encourage private sector support to leaders within social enterprises.  This builds on our existing mentoring programme for social enterprises across Wales.  We are also convening a new Employer Engagement Forum in North West Wales which will assist us to deepen engagement with businesses across this region of Wales. This is just a taste of our busy schedule – which is only made possible by the commitment and support of our members and dedication of our staff.  

The start of 2012 we are all faced with uncertainty over many external influences – in the economy, within Europe and the Eurozone, and over the effects of cuts in government spending.  It’s certainly tough times for many businesses, not to mention within our communities – many of whom face great hardship. However, we must retain an element of optimism as there are always opportunities for us to rise to challenges, explore new ways of doing things and strive to be more efficient, effective and responsible.

We look forward to working together to make 2012 the year of Responsible Business.

Simon Harris
Wales Director – Business in the Community