Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Business in the Community is the King’s Responsible Business Network, the UK’s largest and most influential responsible business network dedicated to building a fairer and greener world together. Discover more about Business in the Community (BITC) by selecting your choice of frequently asked questions. Search by keyword or category or reach out to our team for more information.
How can we help you?
Explore our FAQs by category
Business in the Community (BITC) is the King’s Responsible Business Network, the UK’s largest and most influential responsible business network dedicated to building a fairer and greener world together. We inspire, engage, and challenge leaders to take practical action to mobilise their collective strength as a force for good in society.
Business in the Community (BITC) defines a responsible business as a healthy business. It is one that puts creating healthy communities and a healthy environment at the centre of its strategy to achieve long-term value.
Our Responsible Business Map, based on the Global Goals, guides our members on a journey of continuous improvement, working across the whole responsible business agenda.
We convene the network of leaders committed to changing their business and leveraging the power of working together to deliver positive economic, social and environmental change.
Any company or organisation, regardless of size or location, can become a member of BITC. You don’t need to have prior experience in responsible business practices. All that’s required is a commitment to managing your business in a responsible and sustainable way.
We encourage you to reach out to our membership team to discuss your specific needs and questions. They can provide you with detailed information about the benefits of membership, answer any queries you may have, and help you decide if membership is the right fit for you. Fill out the form on this page and we’ll be in contact.
Find out if your organisation is a Business in the Community member by viewing the published list of members.
The cost of membership depends on the size and turnover of your organisation and the level of service you require. Take advantage of our free, no-obligation consultation that will help you define the most appropriate level of membership for your organisation.
Business in the Community (BITC) defines a responsible business as a healthy business. It is one that puts creating healthy communities and a healthy environment at the centre of its strategy to achieve long-term value.
Our Responsible Business Map, based on the Global Goals, guides our members on a journey of continuous improvement, working across the whole responsible business agenda.
We can provide a six-module training programme for professionals designing and delivering responsible business strategies and corporate responsibility programmes. Accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).
Learn more about Responsible Business Training at Business in the Community.
Our team of issue experts create advisory solutions, tools, and reports to meet your needs and help you embed the best of responsible business practice across your whole organisation
We offer short-term, targeted interventions, training or longer-term strategic change programmes as add-ons to your membership.
Learn more about our responsible business advisory services.
The Business in the Community inclusive recruitment Opening doors campaign identifies five keys to unlocking employment to ensure that jobs are accessible to all.
BITC is asking businesses to participate in the campaign by identifying at least three specific actions to take forward over the next three years and share the progress with BITC.
The actions should be selected from the list that underpins the five principles, developed in consultation with a broad range of charities that support the disadvantaged groups targeted by this campaign.
There is no cost to becoming an Opening Doors Employer, and the campaign is open to all employers – Business in the Community members and non-members.
The process is similar to expressing interest in the Opening Doors campaign. Navigate to the form on the link below. Complete and submit, and a team member will contact you to discuss next steps.
Express your interest and commitment at
Opening Doors for Refugees
BITC members benefit from a range of support to help them achieve the campaign asks,
including the following:
- Advisory services – topics include inclusion, partnerships & social impact
- Employment programmes
● Job Coaching – (national)
● STEP programme supporting Refugees (Yorkshire & Humber, Bristol and
Coventry) Y&H – Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford - Content – Inclusive Employment toolkit, case studies and best practice guides
- Events – webinars, peer learning forums, leadership roundtables
- Regions & nations – connecting to partners & responding to local need
Don’t hesitate to contact your BITC Relationship Manager for more details.
For more information, please email the Opening Doors campaign team
Once you have submitted your expression of interest, a member of
the team at BITC will share the campaign sign-up form. You will be asked to tell us:
- which actions you will be taking forward (minimum of three from across the five keys )
- an estimate of the number of roles that will be impacted by each action
- the anticipated date of completion.
We ask for this information so we can provide support to help you take action and track
progress towards our goal of two million roles influenced by the campaign.
The BITC Who Cares? report calls for employers and policymakers to prioritise balancing work and caregiving responsibilities. This can lead to a more equitable workplace and society where caring for loved ones is possible.
This annual list celebrates employers who have prioritised gender equality in the workplace. Each entry undergoes a stringent evaluation process.
A note on terminology:
BITC uses the term woman to include all people who self-identify as women and engage with their current or prospective employers as such. When we use the term gender equality, we mean equality for all genders and those who do not identify as a gender, for example, non-gender conforming, gender fluid or non-binary individuals.
At Business in the Community (BITC), we encourage all employers to talk openly about the gender pay gap, the average gap between men’s and women’s earnings in the UK. (Not equal pay).
This information is legally required for organisations of 250 employees or more and must be made available publicly. Organisations of 250 employees or more must disclose it’s Gender Pay Gap, key drivers, and the steps being taken to close it.
Our Gender Pay Gap Reporting Dashboard has been designed to support you in meeting this transparency.
The purpose of Business in the Community’s (BITC) Wellbeing Leadership Team is to build a movement committed to positioning health and wellbeing as strategic boardroom issues focusing on mental health.
Business in the Community defines “wellbeing” as the mutually supportive relationship between an individual’s mental, physical, social and financial health and personal wellbeing.
BITC defines a just transition as being “a fair and inclusive journey to a net-zero, resilient future where people and nature thrive.” Businesses must design this future with diverse stakeholders; create economic opportunities and equip people to access them and actively regenerate communities and nature.
Originating in the international labour movement, the term ‘just transition’ is increasingly being used by environmental and social justice movements and across governments. Just transition principles have been adopted in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the landmark Paris Agreement. Taking action to ensure that the transition to net zero is fair and just is essential to build the social and political capital that is needed to achieve net zero.
Climate action refers to activities by businesses, governments, communities, and individuals that reduce greenhouse gasses to limit climate change (known as mitigation), as well as activities that reduce the negative impacts of climate change by improving resilience (known as adaptation).
Net zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) that’s produced and the amount that’s removed from the atmosphere. It can be achieved through a combination of emission reduction and emission removal.
There are a number of examples of how BITC members have taken climate action available in the case study section of our website. There are also a number of impact stories available in our guides, factsheets, and reports, including in the Climate Action Routemaps.
The Seven Steps for Just Transition shows how businesses can deliver a just and fair transition to a resilient, net-zero future. The steps will help organisations ensure their business model is climate-proof and contribute to a future where people and nature can thrive. Taking these steps will also support in creating value and enhance the prosperity of employees, customers, suppliers and communities. Our Climate Action Routemaps further support business to action the steps of Building Green Skills, Involving Diverse Stakeholders with Climate Action, and Embracing Circular Economy Practices.
Get in touch with a member of our team to see which of our opportunities would be most suitable.
Business in the Community believes engaging in nature stewardship and adopting a circular economy approach are critical elements of a fair and inclusive transition.
You can download BITC’s report, “The Right Climate For Business: Leading a Just Transition,” to gain insights and recommendations on how to build a sustainable and resilient future that benefits both people and nature. The report focuses on achieving net-zero emissions.
The manifesto sets out our vision for 2030 – a key milestone for a just transition. Targeting businesses and policymakers, it identifies priority actions for businesses across our Seven Steps for Climate Action and five key areas where policy support is critical.
Find out more and download the Manifesto – Our Route to a Net Zero Climate Resilient Future
A Joint Statement of Demand (JSD) approach recognises that collective purchasing power can drive innovation and investment, accelerating a shift to a sustainable future—a future that BITC sees as a net zero, nature-positive economy where people and nature thrive.
Business in the Community (BITC) is leading an exciting initiative as part of the Interreg North Sea Region ProCirc Project, creating Joint Statements of Demand (JSDs) for office furniture, electric vehicle chargers (ESVs) and professional clothing. A JSD is a shared set of asks that procurers commit to include in future tenders.
Learn more about the JSDs BITC is co-ordinating, Circular Professional Clothing, Electric Vehicle Chargers and Office Furniture.
In a circular economy, products, services, and infrastructure are designed to maximise value and minimise waste. This reduces demand for precious primary resources, lowers carbon emissions, and regenerates our natural environment. There are direct business benefits too. These include better supply chain management, reducing business risk relating to environmental damage and, finding new commercial opportunities.
See our current locations here.
Each BITC Place location has a Pride of Place Board. Through joining a Pride of Place Board, you will contribute to the strategic direction of the place, collaborating with other leaders and leveraging expertise and resource from within your organisation.
BITC defines place-making as long-term and transformational change in a particular geographic location. For us, it is underpinned by some core principles:
- Collaboration – bringing together business, public and VCSE sectors
- Business leadership – senior business leaders working together on a shared agenda
- Community-needs-led: based on the priorities and needs of the Place, as defined by the people in the place.
Every business needs to increase its pace and scale of impact. BITC has identified six catalysts of responsible business to help you do this.
The Global Goals provide a shared blueprint to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth. All while tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests.
Led by our Responsible Business Leadership Team, Business in the Community (BITC) is working to dramatically increase the pace and scale of responsible business, to meet the United Nations’ Global Goals, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Race At Work Charter asks businesses to make a public commitment to improving equality of opportunity in the workplace. In 2017 The government-sponsored Race in the Workplace: The McGregor-Smith Review found that Black, Asian, Mixed Race, and other ethnically diverse people staff still encounter significant disparities in employment and progression and that greater progress and positive outcomes are needed to ensure all organisations benefit from the wealth of diverse talent on offer.
No, the signing of the Race at Work Charter is open to all organisations irrespective of membership or size.
Signing the Race at Work Charter is free of charge.
BITC will gladly work with each visit delegate and their organisation to coordinate offers of support via our Place team or by connecting them with projects and organisations directly.
BITC is committed to following up with each delegate immediately after the visit to discuss their experience and any immediate actions as well as long-term commitments business leaders and their organisations are prepared to take as a result of what they saw and heard on the day. The Report Back event held in December, is an opportunity for the visit delegates to reconvene and report back on actions to The King’s Seeing is Believing Council.
Each visit starts with a briefing and ends with a debrief. During the day delegates visit various projects, often within voluntary and public sectors, and meet community leaders, local residents and individuals of all ages with lives experiences and other key stakeholders who openly share their experiences and hopes. Often, these conversations are very moving and inspire participants to think differently and take action.
The King’s Seeing is Believing visits are an immersive experience for C-Suite business leaders.
The King’s Seeing is Believing visit programme, first established in 1990 by His Majesty King Charles III, is one of the most well established and widely respected, experiential leadership programmes in the UK and its influence and reach over the last thirty years has engaged over 25,000 business leaders. Over the years, the programme has been a catalyst for campaigns in inner cities and rural communities, addressing issues such as homelessness, social mobility, education and skills. The programme has also helped focus investment and long-term support into places at risk of being left behind, such as Preston, Halifax and more recently Burnley, Wisbech, Blackpool, Coventry and Newport.
We have extended the deadline this year, giving you even more time to apply. Applications are now open and will close on 7 February 2025.
- Have your current policies reviewed by a specialist adviser and expert advice on how to enhance your approach.
- Amplify your public profile and demonstrate your commitment to gender equity.
- A chance to be featured on The Times and Sunday Times websites.
- Your participation can positively impact your staff recruitment and retention policies and practises and attract a diverse pool of top talent.
The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality is the UK’s most highly profiled and well-established listing of employers taking action to create workplaces where everyone, regardless of gender, can thrive.