Expert Calls On Businesses To Strengthen Their Links With Communities

A leading business expert is calling on North East companies to forge stronger links with communities: for their mutual benefit. Dr Jenny Davidson, a senior lecturer in Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at the University of Northumbria, believes corporate responsibility is about far more than occasional voluntary work or charitable donations. She believes that companies who make strategic links with their communities – locally and even globally – not only fulfil a social obligation but become stronger commercially. Dr Davidson, former head of Environment at Heathrow Airport Ltd and Head of Sustainability at Oxford City Council, will share her views and experience at a pioneering Responsible Business Conference, on 30 September, at Muckle LLP, Gallowgate, Newcastle. In the first event of its kind to be held in the region, she will join a five-strong panel of experts looking at ways in which private and public sector companies can expand and target the support they provide to their communities. Each member of the panel will give a presentation on the value of corporate responsibility (CR) and the trends and challenges affecting it, prior to roundtable discussions and a question and answer session. Originally a voluntary, moral obligation to help the wider community, CR has become enshrined in law with the Social Value Act of 2013 and all businesses contracted by the public sector are now required to outline their CR agenda when tendering for work. However, Dr Davidson also believes that by incorporating other people’s objectives into their business strategies, companies can also become more efficient and can even save money. “Companies need to think strategically,” she said. “I would encourage them to explore ways in which they can align their objectives with those of their local communities. “Traditionally, corporate responsibility has been about giving a local charity some time or a donation but increasingly businesses are finding that it’s far more productive to work in partnership with them. “They need to find out what their concerns or needs are and look at ways of addressing them in ways which make commercial – as well as moral – sense.” Dr Davidson will be joined on the conference panel by Sally Young from Newcastle CVS; Andrew White from Newcastle-based SkillsBridge; Michelle Brannen, from Business in the Community and Amanda Tincknell from the Cranfield Trust. The conference begins at 9am on Tuesday, 30 September and is expected to draw to a close at around 12.30pm to be followed by lunch and networking. Places can be booked by contacting Emma Walker on 0191 265 6111 or at [email protected].