Supplies Team - CSR strategy development

Supplies Team have been very busy over the past months getting involved in some exciting CSR projects in Bradford. Well known as a leading supplier of general office stationery and electronic office supplies to both the private and public sector, Supplies Team are also members of Bradford Chamber and were first introduced to Be Involved in September 2009. Since then, Be Involved have offered them advice on CSR strategy development and supported them to develop a programme of specific activities that match their business objectives and complement their key drivers for CSR, Stuart Bleese, Marketing Manager for Supplies Team explains their reasoning behind launching a CSR programme.

“Supplies Team have been part of the Bradford business landscape since its establishment in 1970. Today we serve businesses of all sizes throughout the UK and Ireland and we want to acknowledge and demonstrate the gratitude we have for the support we’ve received from Bradford and the surrounding district. Our CSR programme enables us to show our appreciation by helping other local businesses develop as we have, while non profit organisations and local good causes will receive support to help them achieve their goals.

With the help of Be Involved we have created a CSR programme that enables us to use the energy, talent and enthusiasm of our people for the benefit of the wider community. In 2010 we are rolling our CSR scheme to the other regions where we have offices; Belfast, Dublin, Grangemouth and Hemel Hempstead.”

So, what have they been doing?

Volunteering - Team Challenges

A fantastic result from initial discussions with Supplies Team was their commitment to offer all of their staff one day out of the officer per year to volunteer in the community. They were eager to get started and a team of volunteers were out doing a team challenge in November.

The 10 volunteers made a huge difference to Greengates Primary School. In just one day, they dug and lined a pond and planted a variety of wild flowers with the children.

Will Pearce, Team Challenge Leader said 'The entire group really enjoyed our volunteering day and the internal feedback since we completed the task has been extremely positive. It was a lot of effort, but by the end of the day the team showed incredible team work (staying long after sunset to the get job done). Meanwhile on an individual level all found the activity personally rewarding.'

Adrian Mitchell, Business Volunteer from Supplies Team said 'This was the best team building exercise I have ever participated in, it was so much fun and with an obvious result at the end of the day that will last for years, not only in reality but in our hearts.”

Supplies Team are committed to doing a team challenge once a month and already have their next team challenge lined up. This will be at Womanzone, a Community Centre offering social educational and recreational facilities and services to women in Bradford. Supplies Team are going to send 10 volunteers for the day to re-decorate the main hall in the centre.

Team challenges are really fun, good for business and good for the community. Be Involved can find exciting team challenges for between 3 and 300 people, so if your business is interested in taking on a challenge, let the Be Involved team know!

Sponsorships and Donations

As well as offering their staffs time, Supplies Team have made valuable contributions in other ways… they have donated a mountain bike to a local charity, mugs to a community centre and a pantomime horse to a local theatre group.

The staff at Supplies Team also collected over 70 gifts for children across the district as part of the Secret Santa Appeal 2009. They set up a ‘mini-appeal’ within the organisation to encourage each member of staff to donate a present. The presents went to some of the most disadvantaged children in the district. The response from their staff was fantastic with jigsaws, books and even a Doctor Who Dalek donated.

Sponsorships and donations cover a range of activities from the donation of surplus stock and equipment to financial contributions and discounts on materials. Be Involved have experience of placing all sorts of resources with community organisations; you would be surprised by what is really useful. Be Involved welcome the opportunity to discuss placing anything your business can offer.

Mentoring other businesses

Supplies Team are not only committed to working on community projects, they also wanted to work with the private sector, specifically with new and growing businesses. Two Directors from Supplies Team have offered their time to support businesses through the Kickstart Mentoring programme. The mentoring programme matches experienced business people (mentors) with individuals from new and growing business (mentees). The programme enables the transfer of skills, experience, knowledge and expertise from mentor to mentee and offers huge rewards for both parties.

Steven Howarth, Managing Director at Supplies Team is now mentoring David Clough, the Technical Director for E4 Learning Solutions. E4 Learning Solutions have been offering competency management software, training consultancy and e learning training material to medium and large businesses for over 2 years. Steven is mentoring David with a specific focus on sale and marketing to help them grow their share in the market.

Keith Farnell, Sales Director at Supplies Team has also offered to be a mentor, utilising his sales, people management and leadership skills to benefit other businesses.