North East Chamber of Commerce and Go North East launch region-wide CSR initiative

North East businesses that have an interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but feel they lack the necessary skills and resource to implement an effective plan, can now take on board effective tips and lessons learned from real life scenarios and actionable events, thanks to a partnership between the North East Chamber of Commerce and Go North East.

As part of the initiative, the two organisations will release a guide to CSR and launch a roundtable, to identify what the key drivers are which encourage businesses to participate in CSR, what CSR means in relation to their company values and proposition and what steps they can take to help their local community and charities close to their hearts, without negatively impacting their company performance.

Tom Warnock, Chamber partnerships manager said: “We are confident this work with Go North East will encourage more North East businesses to support local initiatives and also see the advantage from their own point of view. Many CSR projects really develop the donor companies’ teams (as well as the beneficiaries), by improving staff skills and building team work.”

Stephen King, commercial director at Go North East, said: “We take our role in the local community very seriously and see the value in investing in initiatives which benefit local people, the regional economy and our team members. We hope through this partnership many other companies considering CSR, can be encouraged to see the value for their business too.”

This CSR awareness campaign also aims to encourage companies to recognise the practical, financial advantages of a well-defined CSR policy, which can make a difference when tendering for work for example.

Tom Warnock added: “There are innumerable CSR opportunities in our region, to suit any companies’ objectives, across a range of sectors and skill sets, including charitable work and collaborative initiatives where partnerships are set up for mutual benefit and environmental work.”

More information and case studies on CSR projects is available on the Chamber website. Any companies interested in attending the round-table should contact tom.warnock@neechamber.co.uk.