Social value and corporate responsibility are increasingly influencing how businesses are perceived by customers, investors and employees. Sam Pearl (pictured), Site Director at Cranswick Convenience Foods in Milton Keynes, explains why the right partnerships can help businesses deliver real benefits for both their organisations and the communities they serve.
Businesses have a responsibility to contribute to their local communities
The social value and corporate responsibility of a business can be a significant influence on its perception, growth and success, yet a study last year by the Charities Aid Foundation showed that just 25% of British businesses actively supported charities and non-profits. The same study showed that businesses in the South East were considerably trailing behind the rest of the nation, with just 12% of companies in the region contributing to charitable causes compared to 41% in the North East.
Cranswick Convenience Foods in Milton Keynes is one of the companies bucking the trend in the region. Sam Pearl, Site Director, draws on his experience to offer insight into how he and his team work with charities and non-profits in their local community, underlining the importance of putting effort into the right partnerships that deliver benefits for businesses, their partners and society.
Social value and corporate responsibility are a commercial necessity
As businesses, we have a symbiotic relationship with the areas around us. We are an essential part of local life, economies and communities. And, in turn, we rely on our locality for aspects such as staff, transport routes, essential utilities and customers. These factors are critical to our success and therefore, as part of giving back to that community, it is our responsibility and in our best interests as businesses to play an active role in driving improvements and prosperity where we can in our local areas.
In addition to giving back, partnerships within local communities help to build the reputation of businesses both internally and externally, and being a responsible business provides genuine commercial strengths. Investors and customers need to believe in how their suppliers do business and see that a supplier’s values align with theirs to help drive their own purposes and strategies. Social value also supports staff attraction and retention. In our experience, providing opportunities for staff to contribute to charitable partnerships has a considerable impact on wellbeing and satisfaction, for example.
I would say that businesses’ social value and corporate responsibility have moved from being a nice-to-have to being a commercial necessity, particularly when approached in the right way.
Providing local support that is valued and needed
At Cranswick, we work with a number of different charities and non-profit partners here in MK. Our social value and corporate responsibility work is an integral part of our strategy and our culture. It filters through every level of our company, shaping our culture, business identity and objectives.
We have worked hard to concentrate our efforts in places we know we can make an impact. The biggest challenge we see for businesses looking to improve their social value is knowing where to start and making sure they provide support that is actually valued and needed.
It would have been easy for us to pluck a national charity or cause out of the air and commit to that. But we knew that considering causes that align with our expertise, objectives and the values of our stakeholders would be much more impactful, and that this would then guide us when we looked out into our local community to see where most we can help and make a meaningful difference.
Looking beyond fundraising
As businesses, we are not equipped to tackle many of the issues that local charities are set up to cope and deal with, therefore it is not helpful for us to think we need to provide all the answers and solutions. What we do is listen. We listen to what is required, what will make a difference, and match that to what we are capable of. There is no point in doing activity for activity’s sake or just throwing money at a cause. For us at Cranswick, providing food, cooking, nutritional information and employment opportunities is an obvious area we can play to our strengths and fill a gap that may exist.
Our main charity partnership is with UnityMK, which has a mission to break the cycle of homelessness in MK. UnityMK has the skills and knowledge to achieve its mission. What we offer is help to increase its reach and accelerate realising its ambitions by providing consistent and targeted fundraising in liaison with the charity, volunteer hours, PR and employment opportunities. Not long ago, for example, we were able to offer a role to a man from the charity’s Winter Night Shelter who was looking for employment. We advanced his first week’s wages to help him secure accommodation and our staff independently pooled money together to buy him a bike so he could take to and from work. This was a life-changing opportunity.
We also have a long-term commitment to support children in the area to grow in resilience and self-esteem and this has seen us work with local sports teams to deliver targeted funding and opportunities.
As well as our company-level partnerships, we encourage all our staff to take part in volunteering for any local charity close to their hearts. Last year, our teams provided 800 hours of volunteering to MK charities including the Brownies and RAF Cadets.
We find that a sustained and thought-through focus on social value filters through our entire structure and has fostered a positive culture amongst staff who genuinely care about the area around them, want to help and can feel good in doing so.
Working with local government and professional bodies to increase impact
I would also encourage businesses to look at national bodies in their sectors and local boards they can join to make positive contributions and to receive support. As a member of Milton Keynes Council Employment Service – which provides employment opportunities and support to people with SEND, disabilities, health conditions and complex needs – we receive specialised support as an employer as well as being able to employ exceptional adults who, with reasonable adjustments, make a huge contribution to our site. In fact, not long ago we employed an adult through this service who we were able to support to a point he is flourishing and learning new skills. We welcomed his very proud parents onto our site to see their son’s work environment, meet his colleagues and see his achievements.
The right partnerships and support undoubtedly help businesses commercially and these real-life examples show us the human impact of approaching social value and corporate responsibility in a way that can truly make a positive difference to our local communities. I would urge more companies in the Milton Keynes area to look at their business and expertise and reach out into the local community to see where they too can make a difference.
