by Matthew Harding of BBX UK Its often said that charity starts at home and with the nation looking atuncertain times there could be a reluctance for business owners andfinance directors to part with their hard-earned cash and pull back onCSR programs or charitable donations.You may already be aware that BBX is an ORB member and operates aglobal business exchange where businesses use BBX Money as a financial mechanism to use each other's spare capacity in an efficient marketplace. This process has been refined over the last 26 years. I am now pleased to announce our next development: the launch of ourcharitable arm, BBX ANGELS, to bring together businesses with sparecapacity and charities requiring extra revenue.Via the exchange, spare capacity is turned into BBX Money and donatedto our basket of charities -and 100% of the donation goes to the charity!Here ...

Enhancing your workplace with even just a few plants can have a huge positive impact on your staff. Just one plant can reduce negative mood states, staff headaches, reduce stress, anxiety and depression as well as anger - all making a more productive workforce. Plants are good for us and we have a long-standing relationship with plants, a natural symbiosis you might say. Thomas Palfreyman, MD of Urban Planters and  Chairman of eFIG Ltd, (the association of Interior Landscapers), says,   Interior planting is the perfect natural design and workspace enhancement.  Literally, the responsible way to ‘green’ your business!   And it makes sense when you look closer.  Nearly all of us hanker after green spaces probably because we have a natural affinity with nature; our ancestors lived and worked outside and plants were a staple source for many of their needs.    In the 21st century our ...

We're aidie London, a multi award-winning British baby brand and proud ORB members! Award updates Since this article was originally published in July 2019, aidee London has achieved even more success and has been named one of the top 100 businesses in the UK, as a SmallBiz100 company. We'll be part of the national 100-day campaign, culminating in a visit to the House of Lords before Small Business Saturday this December. aidie london has already featured in Forbes as a result of the campaign, with more to come in the following weeks. Our assigned day is 12th October, during which we'll be running promotions and giveaways. This news follows on from two award wins in August, during which we were named 'Most Trusted Baby Clothing & Products Company of the Year 2019' at the SME Business Elite Awards & a prestigious Junior ...

There appears to be an increasing trend amongst business owners currently where ethical and responsible practice is just as important as the bottom line. Protecting the environment and decreasing gender pay gaps are just a couple of issues presently playing a part in a company’s decision making process. As consumers are seemingly placing more importance on how a product is made and less importance on the price tag, businesses are actively incorporating their moral principles into their branding. Take Tony’s Chocolonely for example, the Dutch confectionery company focuses its branding completely on their ethics to produce fair trade, 100% slave free chocolate and actively invites the consumer to participate in this positive change. There is hardly any emphasis amongst their branding on how the chocolate actually tastes and the front page of their website is wholly driven towards their ethos, not the multiple flavours of chocolate they actually sell. Another example comes from Waitrose ...

Paul Palmarozza: If I can... Community Interest Company Part 1: How We Think the following We are going to look at the subject of values-based business from a practical perspective. Our recently launched E-Learning app, Ethical Entrepreneur addresses the application of fine human values in the performance of 9 core management functions leads to the establishment of a sustainable, responsible business. We explore business activities in terms of: 1. How We Think 2. How We Relate to Others 3. How We Act The aim is to show that by working to fine values we can demonstrate clearly that business can be:     Ethical & Effective Principled & ProfitableConscious & Commercial We will cover the material in 3 articles, the first being How We Think in our daily business activities. The Situation Today My observation of business practices over a business career spanning 54 years is that there ...