Truro Foodbank is delighted to announce it has joined companies in Cornwall such as Action COACH (Bude & Bideford), HR Vitals, Pysk Ltd (Falmouth), Dean Stevens Wealth Management (Falmouth), Morek Engineering (Falmouth), Trailrunningman, HDWords (Camborne), Growing Links CIC (Penzance), CTCC Solutions Ltd (Truro) and Boo Consulting Limited (Newquay) in signing up to the Good Business Charter (GBC), an accreditation that seeks to raise the bar on business practices for employees, tax, the environment, customers and suppliers.
It has never been more important for businesses to regain trust and show they care about more than just profit.
The Good Business Charter exists for all companies, charities and public sector organisations across all industries and sectors and works through a simple online self-certification process. At a time when people are caring more about who they work for and who they buy from, the Good Business Charter offers a straightforward accreditation which recognises organisations which prioritise and care for their employees, the environment, customers and suppliers, whilst also paying their taxes according to the spirit of the law. The GBC and its members seek to inspire many other businesses to follow suit.
The Good Business Charter has the support of both the CBI and the TUC which both have trustee representation on its board. Other partners of the GBC include the Living Wage Foundation and the Prompt Payment Code. The GBC has been set up by a charity called the Good Business Foundation and accreditation will be free for all companies in the first year.
Chairman of the GBC board, Simon Fox, said:
“The Good Business Charter brings together 10 standards, most of which already exist, but in separate places. We have brought them together to give a coherent overall position for businesses to aspire to. We believe that the GBC has enormous potential to change business practice for good. We hope that because of its simplicity and cost effectiveness, it will quickly gain support.”
Simon Fann, Truro Foodbank Manager, said:
“Fair pay and treatment for staff should always be something any employer ought to commit to. During the cost-of-living crisis, however, it has become especially clear how serious are the implications when that does not happen: employees can fall into crisis and end up at a foodbank. Recent figures show 27% of employees in Cornwall are paid less than the real living wage, many are on insecure incomes, some are subject to short notice shift cancellations and imposed zero hours contracts. If the companies these employees worked for followed the GBC commitments maybe they would not need to use a foodbank. We therefore promote joining the GBC as one way in which there can be a future without the need for foodbanks.”
For more information see the website www.goodbusinesscharter.com