We are Delighted to Join the Good Business Charter

At a time when people care more about who they work for and who they buy from, it has never been more important for businesses to show they value more than just profit. Prioritising and caring for employees, the environment, customers and suppliers are focal points for the future and vital in the quest for success. Businesses should wholly and proudly take responsibility for these practices and eagerly encourage others to adopt the same standards. 

It is the ideal time for an initiative such as the ‘Good Business Charter’ to champion responsible business behaviour and publicly acknowledge and reward those organisations. 

About the Good Business Charter

The Good Business Charter is a simple accreditation that organisations in the UK can sign up to, to recognise their responsible business practices. The Good Business Charter (GBC) is being run by a charity called the Good Business Foundation with a team of trustees which include representatives from the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and the TUC (Trades Union Congress).

GBC is a new initiative that provides companies and charities with a powerful opportunity to boost and promote their expert management practices. It aims to inspire as many organisations as possible to positively change their behaviour in order to sign up. Encouraging wider good business practice is the main objective and what they aspire to achieve. 

The ten components that organisations will need to sign up for are as follows;

1. Real living wage
2. Fairer hours and contracts
3. No penalties for sickness
4. Employee representation
5. Diversity and inclusion
6. Environmental responsibility
7. Commitment to customers
8. Ethical sourcing
9. Prompt payment
10. Paying fair tax (charities are exempt)

An organisation must meet all 10 commitments (9 for charities) to receive GBC accreditation. Open to the private sector, public sector and charities of all sizes, including a streamlined version for organisations such as SeventhElement, with 50 employees or less.

A quote from the Chairman of the GBC board, Simon Fox;

“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.”

Who qualifies for the Good Business Charter?

If you are a charity or organisation with 10 employees or more from all industries and sectors that care not just about your beneficiaries but your employees, the environment and your suppliers, you could qualify for membership.

About our membership

Elements, attributes and qualifiers;

• We work with Government accounts and charities
• We support environmental, sustainability, equality, diversity charities
• We offer flexible hours
• We support and enable free-thinking
• We abide by our contractual commitments
• We frequently over-achieve on deliverables 
• We are an accredited Living Wage Employer
• We provide prompt and consistent payments on the same date each month

What this means for us

Here at SeventhElement, we believe that it is essential to operate within the Good Business Charter framework to ensure that our team, clients and business partners are recognised as responsible navigators in the workforce.

We are committed to being a part of the sustainable journey to a better future. We take pride in adhering to the 10 components required to be accredited by the Good Business Charter and feel individually responsible for implementing each element into our daily operations. 

Not only do we understand the importance of the GBC for our organisation, but we see the bigger picture for our environment, our economy and the public sector. We encourage all companies, charities and public and private sector organisations to register with the GBC to drive ethical change and a higher standard of working conditions.