We believe every business can be a force for good, and we want to help small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) to do that. Through workshops, expert mentoring and online resources we've supported over 1,000 London businesses to do well by doing good through developing responsible business programmes.
Our members have been looking after the wellbeing of their people, improving diversity, reducing their environmental impact and supporting their communities - and they've put all that into responsible business strategies that have changed their businesses for the better!
Initially this was due to Covid restrictions, but we soon realised our members were finding the flexibility of these online opportunities more accessible. People could join in from home, the office, or wherever they were – and if something came up meaning they couldn’t make it, we had a recording we could share with them afterwards.
What began as a stop-gap project to allow us to meet the expectations of our members soon developed into the chance to improve our members’ experience. As most businesses continue with hybrid working, moving our programme online means all our members can access the programme without having to be in a specific location.
We’re currently creating our first ever members’ learning platform, which will allow both our members and us as a team to see progress through our programmes and courses, and offer knowledge checks. Members will be able to book in their account management sessions, request a quick catch up with their membership manager and ask for support from a responsible business professional around a particular question or challenge.
We’ll be sharing a new suite of pre-recorded content and materials which members can access at their own pace and timeframe, making membership as flexible as possible. Of course, we’ll still be running live workshops and events - and hope to be able to offer some in person social sessions.
We’re really proud of our move to online learning in 2021 and are even more excited to see this improve in 2022!
Climate action for SMEs
This year, COP26 brought much needed publicity to the need for action to limit the climate crisis. Large businesses and local authorities have set net zero targets and expect their supply chains and networks to do the same. But for SMEs without the in-house expertise and resources, it's raised questions - how do we do this and where do we start?
The City of London Corporation realised this. As part of its Climate Action Strategy, which includes a target for the Square Mile to reach net zero by 2040, we were commissioned in April 2021 to develop a course to help SMEs based, or with substantial operations, in the City reach net zero.
We got to work quickly, recruiting Laura McCullough, our membership manager for the course. Together with a working group of sustainability experts, we developed Climate for SMEs: 4 Steps to Action. The course gives SMEs practical guidance on their net zero journey, from the basic foundations of climate action and net zero all the way through to measuring their carbon footprint and and setting a net zero action plan. It follows a four-module structure:
- Jargon busting and demystification
- Building the business case
- Measuring your carbon footprint
- Net zero action plan and next steps
Alongside the course, we've also published an open access climate action toolkit full of resources to help SMEs all over the UK to reach net zero.
We ran a pilot of modules one and three of the course between July and October to make sure that we'd got Climate for SMEs: 4 Steps to Action right. The pilot included live online workshops, surgery sessions and access to a membership manager and the climate action toolkit. We received a huge amount of positive feedback (see some lovely quotes below!) and some constructive feedback to help us tweak and improve the course for its full launch in January 2022.
"The toolkit was fantastic, it's taken so much pain out of the process"
"Before it was like, oh my god, we're going to have to bring consultants in to do this, but now we can do it ourselves!"
We want to thank the Heart of the City ambassadors that helped us create our climate action course - by being in the working group helping construct the course, supporting us in writing our climate action toolkit and speaking at our workshops:
We also want to thank the SMEs that took part in our pilot and gave us useful feedback to improve the course for its launch next year:
Hat Trick Productions were introduced to the Foundations for Responsible Business programme by Camden Giving. Here they share their motivation for understanding and supporting the community in and around their office space, and their plans to expand their community work.
"When I was confronted with the problems that Camden Giving were showing me that were affecting local communities in the borough, it was something that we couldn't ignore. Supporting them became an imperative for us." Jimmy Mulville, Managing Director, Hat Trick Productions
11 years ago, Hat Trick Productions moved to Camden, looking over to Primose Hill from one side and across the canal to Camden Lock from the other. Though they've been based there for the past decade, when lockdown hit, they started thinking about their communities at home and at work, and realised how much of a bubble they'd been living in. They were a business in Camden, but not part of Camden at all and really didn't know what was going on there.
They began to think about how they could become more connected with Camden at a time when there was so much disconnect. They reached out to Camden Giving, a place-based giving charity supporting people in the borough. Camden Giving's mission is to end poverty and inequality in Camden, and they do this by empowering the local community to decide how to spend the money they raise.
It quickly became clear that working with Camden Giving was something that Hat Trick couldn't not do.
So, they looked at the skills they had and what they could immediately offer to support Camden Giving's mission. One of their animators created a new video for the charity to capture what they do.
"It's a magical moment for us to work with a business who have really got under the skin of what we do" Grace Coffey, Head of Partnerships, Camden Giving
Hat Trick's Managing Director Jimmy Mulville explained that when he was growing up in Liverpool, local business employed local people. Hat Trick's plan is to explore with Camden Giving how they can support young people interested in a career in media and talking to them about how they can get on this path and grab opportunities.
What Hat Trick love about their connection with Camden Giving is that it's very personal: they're having an impact on the street their business sits on. This partnership also made their lockdown much easier to bear. They feel they've got so much more out of the relationship than they've given and they're looking forward to continuing to support the community in the future.
For Jimmy and the team at Hat Trick, running a business and being successful isn't just about making money year in and year out, it's about how productive you are in your local society. It's that feeling of connectivity internally in their business, and on their doorstep too.
We've hosted 35 online workshops, masterclasses and surgeries on all things responsible business,
And one in-person event at Mansion House on climate action for SMEs,
For 79 members.
100% of our 2021 survey respondents now feel better able to develop their company's responsible business programme,
All our survey respondents said carbon reduction and net zero would be a key responsible business priority for 2022,
92% said they'd be prioritising equality, diversity and inclusivity,
And 77% said employee wellbeing would be their responsible business focus.
62% of our respondents said improved employee skills had been a top benefit of being a responsible business,
54% said being able to better support employee wellbeing had been a business benefit,
54% said networking with likeminded peers has helped them,
And 54% said improved brand reputation has been one of their biggest benefits of doing responsible business.
We have a brilliant network of ambassadors from some of the UK's biggest companies. They're experts in their responsible business areas, and they provide generous support to us and our members by speaking at events, writing resources and having 1:1 conversations with members.
This year, 255 individual ambassadors from 79 companies have supported our members with their expertise in environment, people and community.
We spoke to one of those experts, Louise Skinner, Head of Octopus Giving at Octopus:
What does supporting Heart of the City mean to you?
"I really believe that businesses have such an opportunity to make a meaningful difference and that's why I'm an ambassador for Heart of the City. It's tricky to know where to start in this field, so being part of a network that gives advice and support for small businesses looking to start their responsible business journeys is incredibly rewarding. Similarly, I believe there are always things we can learn about what others are doing so we can improve too, and this is a great way to share best practice."
A key part of your work is building charity partnerships. Why is this so important and how does Octopus make the most of it?
"Everything we do at work can be used as a force for good, and the more good we can do, the better impact we can have on the people in our businesses and the communities around us. At Octopus, wanting to give runs through the backbone of the organisation: we encourage everyone to be involved in our community and charity programmes. For us, it's been essential to have a clear idea of the impact we want to have, and where. We align our charitable efforts with areas that Octopus wants to have an impact in - this helps us to really focus and means Octopus people really get behind our charities."
"For us, making a meaningful difference means engaging people from the start. All Octopus people are involved in choosing the charities we support: we need everyone to take our charities to their hearts and back them all the way. We focus on volunteering as well as funding. Donations are important but easy to do - but we can really help organisations at a critical point in their development through skills-sharing volunteering. As a biproduct, we're really invested in that charity's future and they feel like part of the Octopus family."
"Involving people has helped build a community at Octopus that is deeply committed to making a sustained difference to the charities and people we partner with. It's part of who we are and what Octopus stands for, and it means we're also engaging our people and attracting others who are looking for this kind of experience at work too."
"We really believe in the power of charity partnerships to do good, and we hope sharing these experiences with SMEs through Heart of the City can help catalyse charity partnerships and community work even further."
What's Octopus thinking about in terms of their own community practices and wider social responsibility in 2022?
"We'll be in our second year of our charity partnerships, and we'll be focusing on skills-sharing volunteering to help them with some of the things they want to achieve next year. I can't wait!"
"Also on our agenda, we're looking at how we can help charities outside of our main partnerships with funding and volunteering, to allow us to support more organisations we'd love to work with."
What have you enjoyed in this last year, and what are you looking forward to in 2022?
"I've most enjoyed seeing how businesses have still been so committed to their responsible business plans during the pandemic. Earlier this year, I took part in a Heart of the City workshop to help SMEs benchmark their responsible business programmes, and I experienced first-hand how motivated and innovative SMEs are being with their plans to support their local communities. I'm hoping in 2022 we'll see more of this."
"In the coming year, I'm personally looking forward to seeing what we can learn from small businesses setting out on their responsible business journeys and sharing best practice with my fellow Heart of the City ambassadors."
3 Verulam Buildings joined Heart of the City in 2021 and have used the programme to develop a CSR strategy, a CSR landing page on their website, an environmental policy and action plan, an ethical policy and action plan and a wellbeing policy. We asked Stewart Thompson, Chambers Director, to tell us about their year putting these actions into place.
"Now more than ever, 3VB has ramped up our focus on social responsibility. It is at the core of our daily operations and a key part of our future progress. We will benefit from these efforts. They will have a positive impact on Chambers and our clients who have a growing expectation that we make a positive impact beyond economics. It is not virtue signalling, but rather giving structure to something that 3VB has been all about for a long time."
3VB have worked hard to support their people. They continue to be a Living Wage Employer and this year, they've focused on staff wellbeing. Their CSR committee started a programme to raise awareness of mental health and give help on improving mental and physical health in the business.
They've hosted talks by mental health and wellbeing experts across the year, supported employees to become certified Mental Health First Aiders, offered counselling through their Employee Assistance Programme and organised a few in-person events in more recent months to give people the chance to gather and socialise after so long not being able to do that.
They've supported their community too. They've signed up as a funder to the Sutton Trust's 'Pathways to Law' project, which is a support programme for A-Level students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. 3VB has pledged £5,000 each year for two years, and an employee has joined a panel talking to students about the different experiences of lawyers. In 2022 they plan to take part in their placements programme, hosting up to five students.
And they've developed their environmental policies. 3VB is a signatory of the Clean City Awards, a founding member of the Bar Council's Sustainability Network and a member of the Camden Climate Change Alliance.
They're currently implementing their environmental action plan which includes installing recycling facilities in each kitchenette - and they've got big plans for the next couple of years! They're aiming to have 100% of their waste either composted, recycled or turned into electricity and heat in the next two years.
"Without Heart of the City's help and support, we could not have achieved this so soon" Stewart Thompson, Chambers Director, 3VB
The Lord Mayor's Dragon Awards
In 2020, we took over organising the Lord Mayor's Dragon Awards at the City of London Corporation. Due to the pandemic, we had to postpone the ceremony so in April 2021 we ended up hosting the first ever virtual Lord Mayor's Dragon Awards!
Although we would have loved to invite all the businesses who applied to the usual dinner hosted by the Lord Mayor at Mansion House, we were so happy to still have the chance to recognise some brilliant businesses for their social impact.
The Lord Mayor for 2019-2021, Alderman William Russell was joined by compere Tim Campbell MBE, and we live streamed from Mansion House. We showed videos of all the winners' projects which you can watch here.
We awarded businesses in five categories: inclusive employment, boosting social impact, regional impact, community partners, innovation during Covid-19 and Heart of the City. The Heart of the City award recognises businesses that have started having a social impact in London in the last three years. We were really happy to see our members Red Ant as a finalist, and WeAgile as the winner:
Helping to launch Planet Mark's zero carbon tour
Planet Mark, an organisation we, and some of our members, have worked closely with over the last few years, contacted us in early 2020 to let us know they were working as a partner of the Race to Zero.
This meant that, in the run up to COP26, they were undertaking a nationwide tour to educate businesses about the importance of working to net zero. As part of the tour, the first Carbon Battle Bus in the UK would drive the length and breadth of the country stopping for education events (and charging) along the way to Glasgow. We were excited to get involved as one of our responsible business areas of focus is the environmental impact of our members and supporting them to work more sustainably.
The challenge they were facing was where, in central London, could accommodate a full-size bus for the tour launch…cue Heart of the City. As we’re so fortunate as to be housed by City of London Corporation we have access to Guildhall Yard, which we thought would be the perfect backdrop for the launch event, and we weren’t wrong.
On a thankfully sunny June morning the Carbon Battle Bus pulled up in Guildhall Yard and we were joined by our Co-President the Lord Mayor to welcome the Planet Mark team and officially launch the tour. Alongside this we hosted a Net Zero Carbon Essentials Workshop for SMEs, facilitated by Planet Mark.
We're supported by a brilliant council:
A fantastic trustee board:
And a wonderful board advisory panel:
We hope you've enjoyed hearing about our 2021 activities. If you have any questions about this report or Heart of the City in general, you can contact us to speak to one of the Heart of the City team. We'd love to hear from you.