Shropshire firms urged to shout about their social and environmental credentials

 The innovative workshop will show businesses how to move from regarding their corporate social responsibility and environmental policies as fringe activities to making them core to business strategy and operations.

Marketing consultant Ruth Martin said businesses were beginning to recognise the importance of strengthening and promoting their social value policies as an integral part of their strategy for increased profits and sales.

Ruth will be joined by Johnny Themans of business consultancy Good2Great and communications and sustainability specialist Liza Freudmann of BLA Sustainability for the event in Telford to champion the business advantages of forward-thinking social value and environmental strategies. 

The Social Advantage workshop takes place at AFC Telford’s New Bucks Head Stadium in Wellington, Telford from 9.15am to 12noon on February 25.

“Businesses are increasingly moving from testing the waters of corporate social responsibility, and sustainability to the more holistic approaches of social value and the triple bottom line strategy, which ensures their activities are beneficial to people, planet and place," Ruth said. 

“Looking after these values will help to improve the lives of everyone within a business’s sphere of influence, help to strengthen local communities, create new jobs and skills and reduce impact on the environment."

“But – just as importantly - it will also naturally lead to increased profits and sales. This is because it will secure future-proofed supply chain relationships, improve tender success and aid recruitment. Staff wellbeing and retention will also improve and your company will have improved brand reputation and market positioning,” she added.

Johnny said  Shropshire had always been at the forefront of innovation and now it was time for the county to lead the way in adopting human friendly strategies which were good for people, place, planet and profit.

He added: “The three of us shared the same frustration, in that there was a lack of understanding around CSR, sustainability and social value, so it made sense for us to come together and share our individual experiences and diverse knowledge collaboratively so that Shropshire businesses can keep their competitive advantage."

Liza said: “We don’t want businesses in Shropshire to fall behind."

Full details of the workshop are available at https://go.good-2-great.co.uk/socialadvantageworkshop

Tickets cost £75 with early bird discounts available and discounted rate for groups of four or more members. Booking is essential as there are limited spaces available.