Recently Amy Stanbridge, General Counsel and Company Secretary, has not only joined our newly formed executive committee but she has also joined Business in the Community’s (BITC) Yorkshire and Humber Board. BITC is a business-led membership organisation. Business in the Community is a business led membership organisation and their purpose is to promote responsible business and to engage their network of members to inspire, engage and challenge them other organisations toward adopting more responsible business practices 

 

Henry Boot has been involved with the BITC for a number of years and so when the BITC Yorkshire and Humber board were looking for new members Amy decided to join. When speaking to Amy about why she joined the board she said 'We are also looking to increase our engagement, visibility and strategic approach to responsible business and ESG.  So it seemed a really good time to get involved and represent ourselves properly on our local board.'

 

The BITC will be looking to bring out new initiatives and to promote key strands of responsible business. For Henry Boot, this means that we can get involved in shaping those initiatives but also look to promote them through our membership. Amy is confident that Henry Boot has a good network of responsible businesses that we know will want to get involved with these kinds of activities.

 

The BITC is holding a virtual event on 4th March that will be looking at ways that businesses can make sure that nobody gets left behind. One of the key issues that the BITC Yorkshire & Humber Board is looking at is UK unemployment and skills gaps within our regions. This has been quite significantly impacted by COVID-19 which has had an impact on unemployment and inequality in society. There is a risk that some people will be left behind whether that’s young people, low paid workers, older workers or women. We need to think about ways in which as businesses we can look to bridge that gap. The event taking place on the 4th March is thinking ways about ways we can expand horizons, look at career options, helping people to develop essential skills through initiatives such as apprenticeships and work experiences. Also, to create a level playing field by removing recruitment barriers. This is a really critical and relevant issue for businesses to be thinking about now. 

 

If you would like to get involved and join the event, please click here.