NORTH of Tyne Combined Authority has worked with Newcastle-based BeaconHouse Events to launch ‘Good to Grow: Realising success and growth through better Business’, an event to empower businesses to grow through doing good.
The event, which will be held on Tuesday 23 May at INNSiDE by Meliá Newcastle, will bring together North of Tyne and wider North East businesses community to discuss how growth can be fueled by doing good and share best practice, linked to the Good Work Pledge project which already has almost 100 businesses signed up to be part of the scheme.
Caroline Preston, who leads the Good Work Pledge project for the Authority, said: “The work place has changed and sustainable growth now needs to be a top agenda item. This event is a way for businesses to discuss how we can pull together as a community and encourage good practice as a means to grow, retain staff and attract the next generation of talent to our North East businesses.
“The North East currently has the highest rate of child poverty in the UK at 38% and 75% of families that fall within that figure have at least one person working. We need to act now as a business community to make work better for everyone. We have an amazing spirit here in the North East and many businesses are working hard to make sure their employees are happy, healthy, and well rewarded but we need to do more. Poor employment can have a really detrimental effect on our communities, these jobs are low paid, often unreliable and offer zero or minimal additional benefits. Worse still these low paid jobs are often done by the very people who keep us supplied with food, who look after our loved ones and keep us moving.
“While there are many factors that affect this, businesses do have a part to play when to comes to offering opportunities to progress, flexible working so families can juggle childcare or other responsibilities, promoting health and wellbeing and proving security for their people wherever possible.
“A lot of our sectors are still suffering from a skills shortage, and this is a proactive and actionable way of addressing this as a region. Research shows that when businesses invest in their people, employees are more loyal and perform better in their roles, giving you space and resource to grow your business in a sustainable way.
“It’s customers too that are looking for something more these days, as are the next generation that are entering the workforce. They actively want to support companies who are supporting the people who live and work in the region and businesses can no longer ignore this. There are already businesses doing amazing things here in the North East and this event will be a catalyst for new conversations and connections to help everyone learn from each other in a really practical and inspirational way. We’ve always come together as a region in the past, and it is time to do it again, let’s aim higher, harness the skills in our network and get this moving.”
The Good Work Pledge scheme was launched in 2021 to make poor employment a thing of the past, and Good Work the norm. As part of the scheme businesses are awarded a level of the pledge, helping to build a ‘community of good work’, where members will have access to learning, networking opportunities and support in the pursuit of good work and sustainability. The pledge includes five pillars of best practice; promoting health and well-being, developing a balanced workforce, valuing and rewarding your workforce, effective communication and representation and demonstrating a social responsibility.
Caroline continued: “We wanted this event to inspire and motivate people to make change within their organisations, and we chose to work with BeaconHouse Events to really make sure that the event had the right balance and impact that it deserved. The team have been a hugely helpful when it comes to logistics, planning, venue and speaker organisation and have brought their years of expertise to the fore with advice and guidance in making this event really flow.
Guests will be joined by speaker, writer, film-maker and doer Big Ian Donaghy. Ian works tirelessly to raise dementia awareness and combat loneliness, always focusing on the individual drawing on his experience of 20 years teaching young people with learning difficulties, and nearly 10 years in the world of care. Ian will be discussing his book ‘A Pocketful of Kindness’ which discusses the power of kindness and the idea that nobody ever changed anything by doing nothing. Alongside Ian the event will include an address from North of Tyne Combined Authority as well as speakers from regional businesses on the impact they have achieved and how they have approached good work practices.
Tickets to the event are free, register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/good-to-grow-tickets-559593488187
For more information on BeaconHouse Events visit www.beaconhouse-events.co.uk