TALKING POINT
CHRIS JAY Founder and managing director, Bascule
‘This is very much about education and cultural change’
Bascule provides disability- awareness training, covering aspects such as communication techniques, appropriate language and how to create an inclusive workplace. This may sound self-serving, but I think training is important. I was born with cerebral palsy and I’m a wheelchair user. I would much rather shop online, particularly when “accessible” changing rooms and toilets in stores are still being used as stockrooms, for instance. And I still hear the odd horror story, such as that of a woman with multiple sclerosis who was refused service in a pub. She was told: “Sorry, we don’t do disableds.” While we have to do
more for disabled customers, we must also consider our colleagues. The disability- disclosure rate among employees of large companies is signifi cantly lower than 20 per cent – the estimated proportion of the population with some form of disability. There is a fear that something negative will happen to any individual who reveals their disability at work. The answer to all this is very much about education and cultural change.
bascule.com
Chris Jay is a member of IoD Advance
CAROLINE HILL Head of sustainability, Landsec
One of Europe’s largest real-estate companies, Landsec has a £13.8 billion portfolio that spans 2.2 million sq m of commercial and residential property. We’ve taken a number of steps to ensure that our retail spaces are as welcoming as they can be to guests with autism. We provide sensory toy bags at a number of sites, for instance, and this year we’ll be making these available at all our destinations, for which we’re also developing autism-friendly guides. We’re looking at other ways to make shopping a more inclusive activity as well. Our
‘We’re always happy to share our ideas with other firms’
concierge staff at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth are British Sign Language users, for example, while at the White Rose in Leeds we have partnered the Changing Places scheme to offer toilet facilities for people with profound and multiple disabilities. Each toilet provides enough space for two carers and is fi tted with specialist equipment such as a hoist and a changing bench. We’re always happy to share our ideas with other fi rms to spread best practice. We have also found that creating our own internal disability forum has been very helpful in challenging the business to do better.
landsec.com
MIKE ADAMS CEO, Purple
‘There are ways to improve accessibility at virtually no cost’
I think Purple Tuesday has captured the imagination of businesses because it’s a safe and effective way to help them improve the experience they offer disabled customers and so open up this huge market. When businesses consider disability, they often think: “Ramps and lifts will cost a lot of money.” But disability is not simply about wheelchair users. The reality is that 80 per cent of the 13.9 million disabled people in the UK have a hidden impairment. They will walk into a shop or restaurant without anyone knowing that they have additional needs. There are ways to improve accessibility at virtually no cost. For instance, what we did on Purple Tuesday last year was use the phrase: “Hello, can I help you?” We suggested that all front-line staff say it, so they didn’t have to guess whether a customer had any extra requirements. A lot of retailers also taught their staff how to say hello and goodbye in British Sign Language. I am looking forward to seeing some more good ideas this year – and I’m hoping that more organisations will improve the accessibility of their websites.
wearepurple.org.uk
Mike Adams is a member of IoD London
JUDITH EVERETT Chief operating officer, The Crown Estate
The Crown Estate’s ambition is to create brilliant places that are welcoming and accessible to all. A fi fth of people in the UK have a disability, so we know that, unless our places are where everyone is able to shop, work or spend time, we aren’t serving the whole community. Accessibility also makes commercial sense: the purple pound is estimated to be worth nearly £250 billion a year. This is why we’ve spent the past two years learning about accessibility and working to improve the experience we offer people with disabilities.
‘What might seem like a small act can have a massive impact’
It’s important to remember that this issue is all about people and that every one of us can play a role. Our customers have shared some brilliant stories with us about the welcome and thoughtful support they received when visiting our places. Those stories always remind me that what might seem like a small act can have a massive impact. Yet we know that there’s still so much more for us to do. My advice for other businesses starting to make accessibility improvements is: be prepared to listen and commit to taking action, as the opportunity to make a real difference is huge.
thecrownestate.co.uk
director.co.uk 15
COMPILED BY RYAN HERMAN
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