Member Article

North East company chooses The Prince's Trust as its charity of the year

A rapidly-growing North East flooring company has pledged to raise money for the UK’s leading charity for young people during 2018.

Connection Retail has chosen The Prince’s Trust as its charity of the year.

The Shildon-based company has an initial pledge to raise a minimum of £5,065 to enable it to become a Prince’s Trust Associate, but plans to exceed that target by a significant figure.

David Stubbs, Connection Retail’s Finance Director, said: “I am an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and have seen for myself the amazing work the charity does helping young people who are unemployed or struggling at school to transform their lives.

“A few members of our team recently attended the Prince’s Trust Regional Awards where they heard incredible and very humbling stories from youngsters and entrepreneurs who have had a rough start in life but used that struggle as ammunition for success.

“As a local employer, we want to get more involved in helping young people in the area and supporting The Prince’s Trust will enable us to do that, with all the money we raise guaranteed to stay in our home region of the North East.”

Connection Retail is now in the process of raising awareness of The Prince’s Trust among its 138 staff, with a view to encouraging as many to get involved as possible. A number of fundraising events throughout 2018 will then be organised.

David added: “We have always taken great pride in the career-focused employment opportunities we offer young people here at Connection Retail, so we are confident that our staff will be fully engaged and that our fundraising efforts this year will be very successful.”

Lucy Hornsby, Head of Business Development at The Prince’s Trust, said: “We are extremely grateful to Connection Retail for their commitment to our work here at The Trust.

“Without such generosity and dedication, we wouldn’t be able to extend our reach across the North East. With the recent opening of The Prince’s Trust Cheryl’s Trust Centre in Newcastle, we hope to support over 5,000 young people in the region over the next three years.”

Connection Retail started life as an online flooring supplier in 2012. It now also has ten physical stores across England, Wales and Scotland, with six more to follow in the next six months. This will take the company’s annual turnover from £24 million to £35 million.

The company, which is based at The Future Business Park in Shildon, sells flooring under three brands – Flooring Superstore, Direct Wood Flooring and Grass Direct.

Last year, Connection Retail helped to raise £10,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. They will continue to support Macmillan alongside their new commitment to the Princes Trust.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Neil Shaefer .