Features / Sponsored Feature
What is your reputation worth?
Did you know that sustainability performance determines reputation and brand strength, which has a significant effect on sales?
Studies show that a quarter to a third of a company’s public performance is based on social and environmental performance. A strong company and brand reputation can be beneficial in many ways:
· Ability to recruit and retain employees
· Ability to generate additional sales
· Ability to facilitate partnerships and charge premium prices.
In a crowded marketplace, with margins ever-more squeezed, it is even more vital to differentiate your brand and to stand out.
Sustain-Live works with local businesses to help them develop their brand through sustainability practice and innovation.
Bristol’s year as European Green Capital is providing lots of opportunities for local businesses and organisations to grow their business through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a business model for sustainability. As CSR improves your reputation and brand, whilst also motivating staff and cutting costs.
Here a few examples of our current work:
· An employee sustainability awareness-raising programme for a local business with 50 staff. This makes the most of Bristol’s European Green Capital year, with all its associated marketing and networking opportunities.
· Training to local food producers and suppliers, on behalf of UWE’s iNet, to help them improve distribution and logistics through low carbon and SMART technologies. We explored ways to save money, whilst also saving the environment, through; electric vehicles and new funding opportunities for renewable energy and other innovation.
· For our CSR we work with local charity Integrate Bristol. They do great work to support integration and opportunities for young people. However, like many small charities they are under-resourced, so we are working with them to develop a sound strategy and business plan, to help them to become a more sustainable organisation.
Traci Lewis is founder and director of Sustain-Live. She has been working as a sustainable development professional for the past 20 years, on many different delivery programmes in south west England, working with a diverse range of respected partners.
To find out more visit www.sustainlive.org or email traci@sustainlive.org