North East thought leaders to discuss what 'good business' really means

Over 200 North East businesses will come together on Tuesday 23 May to hear leading voices discuss what doing ‘good business’ really means for the future of our region. The free event, Good to Grow: Realising success and growth through better Business, has been created by North of Tyne Combined Authority in-line with its popular Good Work Pledge.

The speaker line-up includes keynote speaker, writer, film-maker and doer ‘Big’ Ian Donaghy, alongside an inspirational panel of North East business thought-leaders, including Dr Patricia Prado, a senior lecturer in Business Ethics at Northumbria University, Stuart Miller, managing director at Newcastle Strategic Solutions and Darush Dodds, head of corporate affairs at Esh Group.

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 per cent and 75 per cent 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.”

“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.

“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 early 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.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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