Chamber launches toolkit to help businesses create fair culture

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A practical business toolkit on how to create a fair company that rewards employees while ensuring it makes sound financial sense has been launched today (Monday, 22 November 2021).

North East England Chamber of Commerce has developed the Good Work toolkit with support from its members Hodgson Sayers, Northumbrian Water, AES Digital Solutions and Thirteen Housing Group.

Niamh Corcoran, Chamber policy adviser said: “We are promoting ‘Good Work’ to encourage all regional employers to ensure they invest in their workforce, reward people fairly, commit to lifelong training and support the wellbeing of employees.

“At it’s core, the Chamber is about ensuring that the North East economy thrives. If we create a network of good businesses, we will build a stronger, future-proofed economy, underpinning a better, fairer and greener society.”

Six years ago Chamber Partner member Hodgson Sayers was the first company in the construction sector in the North East, and only the second in the UK, to become accredited by the Living Wage Foundation. The motivation for this was to be the best employer it could be and also for business benefits, such as well-paid staff being motivated and more productive. As well as this staff retention also significantly reduces training and recruitment advertising costs and long-serving employees create strong teams.

John Sayers, managing director said: “The economic reasons were important factors, but uppermost in our minds was the fact that embracing the Living Wage was simply the right thing to do. It chimed perfectly with our core values that guide all our transactions – honesty, decency and integrity. We don’t want people coming to work and worrying about money and whether they have enough to get them through the week. The wellbeing of our staff is as important to us as it is to them. We have a responsibility – a duty of care.”

Practical advice in the Good Work toolkit also came from Chamber Partner member Northumbrian Water which rose to the challenge of Covid to establish new working arrangements and introduced a range of new ways to support employees.

The company recognised that for many colleagues working remotely felt less like ‘working from home’ and more like ‘living at work’, so it reinforced the importance of self-care and disconnecting from work. Many employees were parents, so resources and activities were developed including the Parent & Family Zone and Parents’ Network for parents to offer peer to peer support to each other.

An internal platform for this initiative ‘Living Well’ had registered 96% of the Northumbrian Water workforce using the site with both office and field colleagues regularly accessing resources.

Advice in the Good Work toolkit from Thirteen Housing Group included ensuring employees are encouraged to upskill and enjoy their work every day. Joanne Lawther, director of people said: “We know our business could look very different in the future. Through our approach to talent and succession, we can understand how the skills we need might change and how this could affect roles across the business.

“We want our ambition, energy and passion to make a difference and to be the reason why colleagues want to work for Thirteen. We want our colleagues to want to help others thrive just as much as Thirteen does.”

Chamber President Lesley Moody’s business AES Digital Solutions has long-championed flexible working and being a Good Work ambassador. In the toolkit she recommends being supportive of people’s personal circumstances and believes the economic benefits are tenfold from employees as a result.

“In this new normal work environment, we should grasp the opportunity to use the learning and experiences of the last 18 months to help our staff achieve a better work-life balance.”

Download the report here

Thirteen Group

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One of the UN Sustainable Development Goal aims to make cities and homes inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Thirteen has been working to install and maintain renewable heating systems which will benefit customers in the future.

As part of the organisation’s investment plans, customers living at Oval Grange in Hartlepool are benefitting from the installation of airsource heating, providing them with green, cost effective heating which is expected to save customers up to 30% on their annual energy bill.

Thirteen has worked in partnership with Daikin, who have carried out the intense training with the team of engineers and the investment installation team, to enable the mechanical and electrical team to achieve certification from the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) – an internationally recognised quality assurance scheme and requirement of the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme that all heating systems are certified by MCS.

Using this technology means there is no need to lay pipes to supply gas to properties. It’s safe and reliable for the customers, with no carbon monoxide, greenhouse emissions or fear of gas leaks. The air source heat pumps work by extracting the heat from the air outside the house and pumping it through the heat exchanger providing up to 30% renewable heat.

Executive director of assets Paul Jenkins said: “There is a huge skills challenge around net zero. A big part of it will be upskilling our workforce so that they can install and maintain sustainable heating systems in the future. It’s important for us that we begin that training now.

“This is a fantastic achievement for the gas mechanical and electrical team, who have worked incredibly hard to achieve this certification for Thirteen and gain a wealth of knowledge and skills.

“We’re continuing to look at how we can provide more efficient ways of keeping our customer’s heating bills as low as possible, as we continue to move towards our goals of becoming carbon neutral.”  

Stronger North East – Connected

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As part of our connected North East commitment we campaign for investment in the region’s infrastructure ensuring that the region is connected both physically and digitally.  

We know that transport plays a key role in the North East connecting people to towns and city centres, education and job opportunities making the North region an attractive place in which to both invest and live.  

Our campaigning has achieved results such as our support for successful Metro fleet renewal bid, the redevelopment of Darlington station and Heathrow’s new runway, an important hub for our region. 

The pandemic has also highlighted the importance of digital connectivity. Everyone in our region must be able to rely on quality digital connectivity, with businesses supported to invest in new technology and upskilling staff which will help to increase productivity. 

During the pandemic we have been campaigning for support for our region’s airports to retain our international links so vital for investment and tourism. 

We have also been calling for investment to build on the region’s green infrastructure, including in sustainable transport and the energy sector. 

Case study – CityFibre 

Fast and reliable digital connectivity has become increasingly important to releasing the potential of our region. 

Chamber member CityFibre, the UK’s third national digital infrastructure platform, is installing reliable, full fibre networks across the North East, enabling homes to connect up to 45 times faster than average broadband speeds.  

With a current investment of over £250m building networks across Newcastle, North Tyneside and Middlesbrough and with Sunderland starting later this Summer, hundreds of thousands of people will soon have some of the best connectivity in the world. 

CityFibre has also recently formed a partnership with another Chamber member Thirteen Group, to connect 32,000 of its tenants to the Gigabit fibre network. 

Helen Ivison, Thirteen’s Asset Infrastructure Manager added: “We’re all using technology much more these days in our daily lives, at home, work and school. We also recognise how an improved digital experience can benefit the customer journey and that’s why at Thirteen, we’ve created MyThirteen, which provides customers with a convenient way to find and manage their home online all in one place.  

“We have no doubt that this exciting project will make a real difference to our customers now and those we attract in the future, and we look forward to continuing this partnership as CityFibre’s build enters the surrounding towns and cities.” 

Jason Legget, Regional Partnership Director for North East & Scotland for CityFibre said: “The demand for fast, reliable broadband is growing exponentially with many employees still working from home and more and more connected devices in our daily lives. Our current work is focussed on Newcastle, North Tyneside, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, then next year move on to Hartlepool, Redcar & Cleveland, Stockton, Gateshead and South Tyneside.”  

CityFibre works with local contractors IQA Elecnor based in Hebben and MAP Group in Stockton to construct the network. The full fibre network runs from dedicated fibre exchanges across the region using overhead telephone poles and underground ducts to link from its fibre network to individual premises. The project itself has created over 300 jobs both directly and in the supply chain. 

And the connectivity benefits will have a huge potential impact on the regional economy and business growth. Research by Regeneris commissioned by CityFibre for Newcastle shows over the next 15 years access to full fibre could unlock £22m in business productivity and innovation.  In addition, a further £22m could be driven from new start-ups and Smart City initiatives such as intelligent transport systems could add as much as £77m. 

Chamber call for social housing improvements to help reduce carbon footprint

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North East England Chamber of Commerce is urging Government to use social housing modernisation as an opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and also as a training opportunity for people. 

In a letter to Government, Chamber chief executive James Ramsbotham said: “Retrofitting is a key opportunity for the North East.  We urge Government to work with councils and housing associations in order to reach their targets on decarbonising housing. There is also an urgent need for more public education in order to increase confidence in low carbon alternatives to gas boilers.” 

Chamber member Thirteen Housing Group’s Executive Director of Business Growth, Chris Smith, said: “We fully support the Chamber’s approach.  As one of the largest housing associations in the North East, we are acutely aware of the enormity of the task in hand and the gaps in the current market that need to be addressed to enable us to achieve our decarbonisation targets.  

“Winning our customers’ hearts and minds is critical, so they are better equipped to understand new technologies and embrace changes that will ultimately see a shift change to help deliver this future vision.” 

Retrofitting and the decarbonisation of housing is a key part of the Government’s net-zero strategy. The UK has a target to decarbonise 25 million homes by 2050, which works out at 833 thousand homes a year.  

James Ramsbotham said: “The drive towards Net Zero presents an opportunity for jobs and reskilling as part of the North East’s recovery from Covid. However, we need the Government to help to educate people on retrofitting in order to increase public awareness and confidence in new heating technology. Government backed incentives around retrofitting and energy costs would also help to increase initial public demand. Without this education piece and people agreeing to have gas boilers replaced it will be impossible for the Government to reach its 2050 target.  

In the letter the Chamber writes that scrapping the green homes grant and constant changes in schemes will reduce public confidence and will disincentivise the wider supply chain. Making it easier for installers to qualify to take part in Government schemes will also be helpful in ensuring that people from industries like plumbing are able to easily retrain without a lengthy process.