Member Article

North East knowledge exported to Europe

The North East’s business expertise is being exported to Europe as a new partnership helps promote corporate responsibility among small companies. The North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC) has joined forces with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Maribor, Slovenia, to work on a Europe-wide initiative helping businesses to be more environmentally and socially responsible.

The European programme, entitled ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for SMEs’, has been developed by the CCI in Maribor to help small businesses ‘give something back’ to their local communities. The BIC’s special projects team recently visited Maribor, the second largest city in Slovenia, to assist SMEs in the development of sustainable CSR strategies.

Willie Herdman, BIC special projects manager, said: “Over the past few years, the impact of social and environmental pressures has brought CSR to the forefront of strategic planning in large corporations. “However, increasing competition and a ‘winner takes all’ culture amongst many business leaders in the European SME sector, has caused a negative effect on social integration and environmental concerns. “By sharing best practice and developing key links between large organisations and SMEs, this project will not only help to improve the reputation of hundreds of companies but also benefit the European economy as a whole. “In recent times, Slovenia has entered a welcome period of economic and political stability and now is the perfect time for businesses in the country to flourish.”

Mojca Tominšek, project manager of the Regional Chamber of Maribor, said: “The North East of England is well-known across Europe for its cultural diversity and welcoming people and communities, and we are delighted to welcome on board the North East BIC. “By sharing best practice and expertise, I am confident that this project will play a key role in changing attitudes to CSR.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .