doing well by doing good. And some are winning Queen’s Awards for Industry as well, showing a healthy correlation between social impact and performance. T e key is to make corporate responsibility core


to your business. It all starts at the top with the board and CEO. T ey must set the tone and drive the necessary culture change, making corporate responsibility and sustainability initiatives strategic, enhancing the positive and mitigating the negative external impacts of the organisation. Evidence shows that this approach drives strong


employee loyalty and emotional engagement as well as innovation.


Get the badge! Not sure where to start? Try the Good Business Charter, backed by both the TUC and the CBI, with its 10 key commitments. GBC has grown 68% in the past 12 months from 700 to well over 1,200 companies - and from just eight to over 20 in Northamptonshire. T is now includes the University of Northampton. GBC launched its first place-based


umbrella scheme in 2022, with the City of York. Northamptonshire’s two unitary councils are looking at applying and joining the University in promoting the UK’s fi rst county-based umbrella scheme. Will you sign up? T ere is progress on other fronts. T e UK’s B Corp accreditation


community is the second largest in the world, after the US, nearly doubling in 2022 with around 1,000 accredited companies spanning 58 industries. Worldwide, 5,000 B Corps are found in 86 countries and 158 industries. In the UK between 2017 and 2020, B Corp companies saw average


turnover grow by 26% compared to the national average of just 5%. Of those seeking investment, 44% found certifi cation helped attract investors. Compelling fi gures.


Localism Charity begins at home. Many companies have done so much in the past two to three years during the pandemic, often quietly, unsung, doing great things to help the community. How can we build on this and extend it, to address the biggest social


problems in the county? Can our businesses learn from this and work more closely with the civic authorities and charity sector for systemic change? T e concept of transformational cross-sector social partnerships


has been introduced in these pages – partnerships where local businesses, civic, charities and the University work more closely together to address the community’s biggest social challenges. Take youth violence. Could we conceive of a concerted and unifi ed


approach to solving youth violence in the county in the next fi ve years? What would it take to overcome short-term vested interests for a true collaborative and long-term approach? T is is a real and current problem, and many local institutions,


agencies and charities are looking to fi nd innovative new approaches to this long-standing and worsening situation. T e number of Northants children involved in crime increased by 20% in the year to March 2022.


ALL THINGS BUSINESS


Between 2012 and 2022, one town in the county has seen violent crime up 240% and weapons crime up 300%. This matters for us all – as parents, as


employers of parents and recruiters of young people and as businesses anchored in the county. It cannot continue. We must work together for systemic change, especially as we face yet more austerity and public sector cuts.


Appeal So here is my Christmas appeal. The emerging cross-sector coalition working on youth violence could do with support from local businesses, to fund front-line engagement and research on the streets, to test and develop youth support systems, to alleviate poverty impacts and generate new opportunities, to project manage new initiatives that are child-centred and outcomes focused, without power, politics (small p) and personalities getting in the way. We need business energy, creativity and skills as well as funds to help drive real transformation. T ere is a better way. Do please get in touch if, in


2023, you’d like to help address youth violence, or a major social problem, or discuss any of the issues above. Meanwhile, Season’s Greetings to all readers!


Contact Adrian Pryce on 07720297402 or at adrian@adrianhpryce.com


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