Two Chamber employees join pioneering ‘Young SDG Innovators’ Programme
Two of Staffordshire Chambers’ employees have joined the Young SDG Innovators Programme that helps young talent to collaborate and accelerate business innovation towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Our young innovators, Project Administrator, Rosie Morris and External Affairs & Comms Advisor, Rhouda Elalfy are working alongside industry leaders to help enhance knowledge and understanding in the organisation, which in turn, we can share with the Staffordshire business community. The first camp took place virtually on the 9th and 10th of February and allowed all innovators from companies across the nation to connect and collaborate on ideas and projects which relate to their company and industry, as well as build new relationships through networking opportunities.
The aim of the project is to connect young minds in leading industries and companies to incorporate ways of sustainable thinking into their workplace.
The Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”
By taking part in the Innovators Programme, Rosie and Rhouda will focus on SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities, which will help transform the work of the Chamber in our business community. The project aims to transform the region to become a greener, healthier and more sustainable area to live and work in.
Sara Williams, CEO of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, said: “Since COP26 took place last year, there has been increasing pressure from policies on transparency, accountability and environmental responsibility. Any company that wants to ensure that its performance remains stable and continuous must step up and make sure that they will be relevant in the future.
“One trend that we have seen become more visible over the last couple of years is the interest and passion that the younger generation have towards sustainability being at the centre of the organisations that they shop from, work for and support. Having two of our own young employees at the Chambers take part in the programme to help us play our part in shaping a sustainable future in Staffordshire is truly inspiring.”
Rosie Morris, Project Administrator, said: “Being part of this global project is incredibly eye-opening. Our first camp introduced us to so many young people working in different organisations across the country, all of which have the same goal of making an impact in our place of work to secure a better future for the next generations. We are so excited to develop our project further and we look forward to the next few camps continuing to share ideas and learn from each other.”
To find out more about the Young SDG Innovators Programme visit https://bit.ly/34yeylK or if you would like to discuss sustainability within your business get in touch with Staffordshire Chambers on 01782 202222.
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Policy Spotlight with Rhouda: The cost of living crisis and what the Spring Statement means for Business
Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that ‘the cost of living is the single biggest thing we are having to fix, and we will fix it,’ – and yet business leaders and organisations such as the Institute for Fiscal Studies have stated that the government has not gone far enough in their Spring Statement to protect those hit hardest by rising costs.
As energy, fuel and food prices continue to surge whilst inflation remains on an upward trajectory, businesses and communities across the country have voiced their concerns on the current financial pressures that they are having to face whilst being offered little support.
In his Spring Statement delivered last week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a cut in fuel duty by 5p a litre until March 2023, a reduction in the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 19p as well as changing the point at which people start paying National Insurance, now increasing to £12,570 in July 2022.
Businesses have welcomed the announcement made by the Chancellor to raise the National Insurance contribution threshold as well as increasing the Employment Allowance. However, as many businesses continue to recover from two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, having to overcome further challenges such as increasing energy costs, skill and labour shortages and supply chain disruptions without more government support is likely to hinder their recovery and ultimately affect the economic development of the country.
Sara Williams, CEO of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, said: “Whilst we welcome the Chancellors cut in fuel duty, this will only offer a short-term reprieve for businesses and households. Businesses are facing an insurmountable amount of pressure from the surging costs coming from all directions; and small businesses in particular, are exposed to the rising costs as they lack protection, financial support which has been offered to households and the negotiating power of larger businesses.
“It is disappointing that the Chancellor has missed the opportunity in his Spring Statement to rebuild and renew the economy by tackling the escalating cost of doing business crisis. We now urge the government to take further action in order to help firms protect employee jobs and make investments.”
Chambers across the network will continue to call for government provision of further meaningful action to support businesses which will enable regions across the country to Level Up and Build Back Better. Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce will maintain its collaborations and close work with business leaders in our local area to understand the challenges being faced so that we can lobby for better business working conditions in order to support the region’s economic productivity.
Chamber members are encouraged to attend our business forums which enable businesses from similar sectors to meet and discuss issues relevant to their sector, you can find out more about attending our forums here: https://staffordshirechambers.co.uk/chambers-forums/.
If you want to talk to us about any business issues, you can call our switchboard on 01782 202222.
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Policy Spotlight with Rhouda: Staffordshire Chamber Patrons visit the House of Commons
Last week we were delighted to invite twelve of our Patrons to the House of Commons for an event hosted by Jack Brereton, MP for Stoke-on-Trent South. Business leaders from across the region had the opportunity to ask questions or raise issues affecting their sector to the Minister of Small Business, Paul Scully and to the Minister of State for Transport, Andrew Stephenson. We were also joined by five local MPs, including Aaron Bell, Theo Clarke, Jo Gideon, Karen Bradley and Jack Brereton.
After being shown around the Houses of Parliament, the first session began where we were joined by Minister Paul Scully and Co-Executive Director of the British Chambers of Commerce, Hannah Essex who chaired the session. The Minister explained the work that the government is currently doing around supporting small businesses in regions across the nation, including Staffordshire. This was followed by a Q&A session where our patrons asked questions around the Chancellors Spring Statement, support for the hospitality and retail sector, energy prices and the move to renewable energy sources and levelling up. More discussions took place regarding the support being offered to small businesses in order to help them cope with the current cost of living crisis.
After speaking to our patrons for the first session of the day Minister Paul Scully said: “We want to make sure that we work with you [business leaders] to better shape our policies”.
As many businesses across the nation are facing recruitment difficulties due to the chronic imbalances in the UK labour market, with demand for workers outpacing supply, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, Jo Gideon highlighted the importance of apprenticeships in solving current skills and labour shortages.
To find out more about developing your employees’ skills and to find and apply for funding for paid training contacts, contact Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce’s Skills Hub by calling 0300 600 1066 or visit www.staffordshireskillshub.org.uk.
Jack Brereton MP explained the importance of developing the region’s transport system to allow better access to transport which will support the development and growth of the city. By allowing more people to access opportunities in the region, businesses are more likely to be able to find the right skills for their firms, helping to solve the issues concerning recruitment.
In the final session of the day, we were joined by Minister Andrew Stephenson who began by providing an update on the current work being carried out in the development of phase 2a of HS2. The Minister highlighted that there are currently 2,400 businesses across the nation who are now involved in the project, 84 of which are Staffordshire based. Minister Andrew Stepheson encouraged more businesses to bid for HS2 contract opportunities by visiting https://bit.ly/3wmY37F.
You can also find out more about HS2 and the opportunities for businesses by joining the Staffordshire Chambers HS2 Forum. The next forum takes place on 28th April, and Chamber members can register, here.
Business leaders in attendance stressed the need for connectivity across Staffordshire to enable cities like Stoke-on-Trent to widen their business links. Jack Brereton MP outlined the ongoing bids to reopen train stations within the city such as the work being done by local MPs and local authorities to reopen the Stoke-Leek line.
Sara Williams, CEO of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce said: “Our event at the House of Commons was a great success, with two Ministers, five MPs and two peers of the realm joining us and speaking to our patrons. The sessions ran by the Ministers were so informative and highlighted the need to work together to help the development and growth of the region as well as the nation.
“Stoke-on-Trent has been successful in securing investment from the government recently especially as the government have prioritised it as a region for levelling up. It is now important that local MPs and local authorities are able to work together to ensure that there are better local opportunities for workers in order to help support and grow local businesses in the area.”
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BBC Radio Stoke Journalist, Bongi Msimanga delivers impassioned message on International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
BBC Radio Stoke Community Journalist, Bongi Msimanga, has recorded an impassioned message for the Chamber on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The video forms part of our monthly SDG spotlight, with a focus on SDG 5, Gender Equality and SDG 10, Reduce Inequality throughout March.
In the video, which can be streamed now on the Chambers’ YouTube channel, Bongi said: “One thing I am really passionate about is talking about racism. I’ve got a podcast with my husband called ‘It’s not always black and white’ which is about us being an interracial couple.
“What our podcast does that you don’t see in normal society is it makes it very clear how important it is to talk about race – but also, if there is an uncomfortable subject to talk about, it’s important to have those conversations.”
Watch the video in full below.
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Sara’s Blog: Chambers urging chancellor to rethink Spring Statement
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak will deliver his Spring Statement on 23rd March. Whilst he will be guarded against committing to extra spending, I hope he sees the need to take some action to limit the damage of the increasing cost of doing business on firms and consumers.
Following the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chambers believe the Chancellor must act now to protect the UK from a renewed economic crisis, taking decisive action in his statement to mitigate the spiralling costs of simply doing business.
Businesses are reporting a crippling burden from cost pressures which include rising raw material costs, soaring energy bills and other overheads.
The British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) latest economic forecast projects that the war in Ukraine has increased the risk of a recession in the UK by exacerbating the already acute inflationary squeeze on consumers and businesses and derailing the supply of commodities to key sectors of the economy. Raising taxes at this time would weaken the UK’s growth prospects further, by undermining confidence and diminishing households’ and firms’ finances.
With a week to go, the BCC is calling on the government to use the Spring Statement to enact the their Five Point Plan to Tackle the Cost of Doing Business Crisis:
- Delay the impending National Insurance rise by one year.
- Temporary energy price cap for small businesses.
- Additional financial support, through the expansion of the energy bills rebate scheme for households to include small firms and energy intensive businesses; a new support fund, administered by Ofgem to support the smallest firms with their soaring energy bills; and a six-month extension to the Recovery Loan Scheme, leaving it in place until the end of 2022.
- A moratorium, for the life of this Parliament, on all policy measures that increase business costs, but excluding only evidence-based changes to the National Living Wage.
- A commitment from the government’s Supply Chain Advisory Group and Industry Taskforce to continue to work with industry to deliver urgent practical solutions to ease the supply chain disruption and labour shortages that continue to drive the upward pressure on prices.
The BCC is also calling on energy firms to work more closely with government, business, and other key stakeholders to provide more substantial support to help businesses and households to navigate this difficult period.
Implementing this five-point plan would help shield firms from the worst of the costs’ crisis – giving them headroom to keep a lid on prices, protect jobs and make investment that is so vital to sustaining our economic prospects.
If you want to talk to us about any business issues, including funding, you can call our switchboard on 01782 202222 or call the Stoke and Staffs Growth Hub Helpline on 0300 111 8002 or email: info@staffordshirechambers.co.uk
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Global Recycling Day: Dougie Mac
Spending hours ‘thrifting’ in a charity shop to find a one-off item that no one else has, has so many shoppers captivated, and it seems for the younger generation it’s really on the rise. Research shows they’re turning their backs on the damaging fast fashion market as they prioritise making climate-conscious decisions.
With 20 shops across North Staffordshire and more planned for the future, Dougie Mac’s quest is to be even more sustainable while maintaining donor confidence. The hospice always strives to get the best price for the pre-loved items its loyal supporters donate, whether it be on the shop floor, on its online shop or via online marketplaces, like eBay. Last year donations to Dougie Mac shops generated more than £260,000 in Gift Aid alone – reinforcing the aim to maximise income and have as little waste as possible from each and every pre-loved item.
All items donated to Dougie Mac’s charity shops are sorted by hand, with staff and volunteers working behind the scenes to sort, check and price every item. With thousands of items donated to its shops every week, and a focus on selling great quality items at affordable prices, there are inevitably some items which can’t be re- sold. What you might not realise though is that Dougie Mac has a huge recycling operation, working with various partners, to recycle items including clothing, cardboard, sewing machines, CDs and DVDs, books, vinyl records and bikes, ensuring nothing goes to waste and generating maximum income for the hospice.
Head of Retail, Liz Clarke said, “We have a very strong focus on ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ and our aim is to get to 5% waste by 2023. This year alone we’ve stopped over 1,530,000 items from going into landfill by selling them in our shops or online, and we’ve recycled over 400,000 kilos of recyclable products, once again preventing these items from going into landfill and ensuring Dougie Mac is climate conscious and sustainable.”
Thanks to the local community, each year Dougie Mac retail contributes more than £3million of income to sustain the hospice’s specialist care services. Following the amalgamation of The Donna Louise Children’s Hospice into Dougie Mac last year, this care now extends to children and young adults, as well as adults, facing life-limiting conditions across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire.
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Global Recycling Day: Emmaus Furniture Mine
Emmaus Furniture Mine is the largest furniture and household charity shop in North Staffordshire with over 17,000sqft shop and warehouse over two floors, located at Cannon Place, Hanley.
As the business is largely focused on the recycling and reuse of furniture and household items from across North Staffs & beyond, we prevent over 400 tonnes of items from going to landfill every year. And through this work, we support around 1,000 households who cannot afford to purchase furniture every year too delivering around 3,000 items of furniture & appliances at almost no cost to each household.
To find out more about Emmaus Furniture Mine please follow the link below
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Global Recycling Day: Alice Charity
Guest blog by Stephanie Bradbury of the Alice Charity
“Here at Alice, we contribute to recycling through our Pass it On and Bump and Beyond projects. Through these initiatives, we supply good quality, preloved furniture, white goods and baby items to families in need.
Sadly, many of the families that we support do not have even the most basic essential items and through recycling, we can ensure that they have what they need. Our families benefit enormously through these projects. Without a cooker it is impossible to provide children with healthy food, without a decent bed it is impossible to have a restful sleep and that can have an impact on learning and mental health, without a fridge or freezer the cost of keeping food fresh is higher and can lead to it being wasted. If you cannot provide essential items for your baby, it can be very stressful.
To find out more about the Alice Charity please follow the link below
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Global Recycling Day: F Ball & Co
Cheddleton-based manufacturer of subfloor flooring preparation products and flooring adhesives, F. Ball and Co. Ltd., has continuously evaluated its production processes and the lifecycle of its products to take a number of steps to reduce its environmental impact in recent years.
Recycling rigor
One of F. Ball’s main efforts in their quest for greener working practices is the introduction of their own bucket and bottle recycling scheme, which provides branded receptacles at selected distributor partners, where flooring contractors can dispose of any of the company’s buckets and bottles packaging, for free.
What began as a trial three years ago has been well received by the industry, with binloads of empty containers that would have otherwise been destined for landfill being taken away for reprocessing instead. Earlier this year, the company doubled the number of drop off points at wholesalers and distributors across the UK. Subject to the continued success of the programme, plans are in place for it to be further rolled out to achieve even more widespread geographical coverage.
Better bottles
F. Ball’s bucket and bottle recycling scheme followed its first major sustainability drive: the replacement of its previous bottle packaging with 100% recyclable versions. The new bottles are themselves made from 30% recycled high-density polyethylene (rHDPE), and the material being able to be recycled up to ten times.
As a result of the switch, F. Ball and its customers have prevented over 100 tonnes of virgin plastic material – newly created plastic resin without using any recycled materials – from entering the waste stream each year.
Manufacturing measures
Behind the scenes, changes to address the business’s carbon footprint at F. Ball’s Staffordshire headquarters have been introduced with the aim of consuming less energy and increasing the proportion of the energy that comes from renewables.
For example, over 1,000 solar panels with a 250 kW peak (kWp) output generate around one fifth of the site’s electricity supply. The factory benefits from state-of-the-art equipment, including high-efficiency motors and boilers to minimise energy required to manufacture F. Ball products, as well as significantly lessen the energy needed for heating.
Further, LED lighting has been introduced throughout the premises and as a result, has prevented 74 tonnes of carbon entering the atmosphere annually – around the equivalent average annual emissions of 16 vans driven on the road.
Jenny Barnett, Safety Health Environmental and Quality (SHEQ) Manager at F. Ball and Co. Ltd., said of the company’s sustainability strategy: “People are increasingly looking to buy from businesses who take their environmental responsibilities seriously. F. Ball will continue to invest and develop so that customers have every confidence that they are making the greenest choice.”
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Global Recycling Day: Ornua Foods
Ornua Foods UK is making a further significant step forward in its sustainability journey with the transfer of its Pilgrims Choice grated cheese into more environmentally friendly and fully recyclable packaging. The move, by the No2 UK cheddar brand, will deliver a 48% carbon footprint reduction and a 15% material saving compared to the old pack format. The innovative new Pilgrims Choice 180g Extra Mature and 150g Medium grated cheese packs will appear in retailers across the UK from February.
Working in partnership with Wipak UK Ltd., a leading supplier of high barrier films for food products, Ornua has developed a mono-structure grated cheese pack specifically for the Pilgrims Choice brand. The new pack significantly reduces the packaging’s carbon footprint and amount of plastic used. The new pack can also be fully recycled via return-to-store schemes* and is certified by the On-Pack Recycling Label (OPRL) scheme.
The mono-structure grated cheese pack retains the same look, feel and functionality of the old pack, whilst meeting the same high demanding requirements of the supply chain, maintaining packing line speeds and extended shelf life through the inclusion of EVOH as a gas barrier.
Kerry Alexander, Brand Director for Ornua Foods UK said: “Following on from the launch of our ‘Less Plastic, More Fantastic’ Pilgrims Choice Megablock, a first-of-its-kind block cheese pack which delivered a 40% reduction in plastic, we wanted to make a similar step change when it came to our grated cheese packaging. The new Pilgrims Choice grated packs deliver significant environmental benefits without compromising on form and functionality.
“At Pilgrims Choice we believe that even the smallest developments can make a big difference and our new, more sustainable, grated cheese packs are another essential step forward in supporting consumers to make positive environmental changes.”
Commenting further Kerry Wesley, Sales Executive at Wipak UK., said: “Part of our ‘GreenChoice by Wipak’ range of sustainable packaging solutions, the mono-structure pack for Pilgrims Choice has a 48% carbon footprint reduction and a 15% material saving compared to the old pack format. As such, it represents REAL sustainability in the fight against unnecessary plastic.
“It’s not always easy to make the right decisions where sustainability is concerned. That’s why Wipak UK is designing packaging solutions with customers like Ornua Foods, which help consumers make the right choice. Now, consumers of the UK’s number two branded cheddar, Pilgrims Choice, can return empty packs to store, confident that they will enter the recycling stream.”
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