The pace of business can be unrelenting, can’t it?

We’re all so busy dashing from one meeting to the next, worrying about the bank reconciliation to the next VAT payment, bending over backwards to do a great job on time and within budget for those all-important-customers, whilst balancing the need for sustainability of the business too.

So, there’s often very little time to celebrate one’s achievements when they happen. All too soon they are past and we’re onto the next most demanding thing to-do.

Well not this month! We’re taking the time to celebrate what the summer months have seen us and our members achieve.

Firstly, from the ORB management team:

  • ORB Chairman Jill Poet has been shortlisted for We are delighted to announce that our Chairman, Jill Poet, has been chosen as a finalist in the Business Woman of the Year Award. This a prestigious achievement and recognises Jill’s tireless dedication and commitment to responsible business practices. We’re very, very proud of her and are keeping everything crossed that the judges pick the right winner; Jill! Find out more here: https://www.facebook.com/businessawardsessex

 

  • ORB Managing Director, Rachel Davidson-Foster has written a fiction novel, “The Point of Me: A spiritual tale of love and acceptance” which was published at the beginning of August. Already it has achieved Amazon sales of No.1 Bestseller status in 14 categories across 4 countries, making Rachel an International Bestselling Author. This has been one of Rachel’s personal dreams for most of her life, so to have finally achieved it is unbelievably brilliant. We’re very, very pleased for Rachel. If you’re curious, details of the book on Amazon can be found here (http://tinyurl.com/thepointofme).

 

 

And now to our ORB Members – here’s just a selection of what we’ve been told:

 

  • ORB Member Jacqui Burke who runs Flourishing People has also had a book published! This was earlier in the year. She tells us all about how she got asked to write her book, “Building Your Early Years Business” and her top-tips for anyone else thinking of writing a business focussed book. Perhaps it is just what your responsible business could do with… Read the article by Jacqui here.

 

  • ORB Member Peoples Energy have managed to jump through all the regulatory hoops needed to be an energy supplier in the UK and have begun to sign up their first customers! This is a massive milestone for their business and their mission to give energy consumers a better, more ethical deal. If you want a good deal on your energy AND the peace of mind that you’re dealing with an ethical energy company then you can get more info and sign up at their website here: peoplesenergy.co.uk. You might also like to know that they run a referral scheme if you know any friend or family that might also want to sign-up.

 

  • ORB Member Harris Global had a Light Touch Responsible Business interim audit last month and have retained Gold Certification. These guys work very hard at putting responsibility and ethical behaviour at the core of their business, and reaching out into their local community to support local initiatives. They thoroughly deserve their gold-status.

 

  • The team behind ORB Member Realising EVERY Dream are proud of their achievement in organising the UK’s first Love Summit. This was born from the simplest concept there is: Love can heal the world, one person, one relationship and one business at a time. You can join the Realising EVERY Dream team between 10am-4pm Sunday 24th September at Chelmsford City Racecourse where you will see 60 exhibitors and 8 inspirational workshops to make the rest of 2017 your best of 2017. Details are available at http://www.lovesummit.co.uk. They’re also on Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/lovesummituk/ or @lovesummituk for Twitter and Instagram.

 

  • ORB Member Lollipop Local were very proud to be approved by Trading Standards earlier in the year. This is a fantastic validation of Lollipop Local’s brand integrity. As Jo Shaer, their M.D. says “The digital marketing industry is completely unregulated and Lollipop wanted to stand out – for the right reasons!That’s why we used ORB’s Responsible Business Workbook to put our house in order. Then we submitted Lollipop to the rigorous testing of the Buying With Confidence scheme to get Trading Standards approval. You can find out more about what this means here.

 

  • ORB Member Where Does It Come From? Have had two lovely successes. Firstly; they’ve just completed their first large wholesale order of 150 handwoven organic shirts that come with their story.  They’ve gone to the New Internationalist Magazine shop (erhicalshop.org). Secondly; they’ve been shortlisted as finalists in the Blue Patch Awards in the Global Impact category. You can find out more at http://community.bluepatch.org/business-awards-finalists/ and you can still vote for them in the people’s choice category. Jo and the team would be extremely grateful. Finally, it cannot be left unsaid that the national treasure that is Joanna Lumley wore one of their traceable scarves on her recent TV programme “Joanna Lumley’s India” which we think is a great ‘claim to fame’ for them!

 

  • ORB Member London Stansted Training Academy have recently gained accreditation to run vocational qualifications and are focusing in the Community and Social Justice area. They are delivering work based qualifications on supporting survivors of domestic violence and working with victims, survivors and witnesses, covering a range of levels from 2-4. Excellent work guys!

 

  • ORB Member The Development Company have started their own network for professionals in their field and seven yars later they have over 900 members and are Finalists in the “SME Northampton Business Awards 2017, Networking Group of the Year”. Kay Buckby, Director at The Development Company started this in 2010, when she couldn’t find the right networking group for her profession.  The group that Kay set up is a local network for trainers, coaches and anyone passionate about learning and development. They meet up on a quarterly pay as you go basis, operating on a not for profit basis. “We have collaborated and referred work locally. It is great news for new start-ups to established L&D companies. We’ve even had a visit from the worlds’ largest institute for training and development professionals – the ATD!”

 

  • ORB Member Adrian Ashton has had a very successful year so far! Firstly he has been named as the UK’s leading enterprise adviser and the UK’s leading consultant to social enterprise in the Global SME Awards 2017. Not only that but he has been invited to be an expert mentor to a group of international social entrepreneurs on their MBA programme. And finally he has been a featured contributor to the ‘reversing the tide’ publication to encourage more businesses to adopt ethical practices. Way to go Adrian! 

 

  • ORB Member PDT Sales Consultancy’s Paul Durrant was a finalist at this year’s Thurrock Business Awards in the Community category.

 

 

  • ORB Member TMCS, which is a Community Interest Company supporting other social enterprises to win Public Sector Contracts through competitive tendering. One of TMCS’s clients is a national Charity with 140 local independent member organisations.  TMCS are delighted to have just passed the milestone achievement of securing £100 million worth of contract wins for them over the five year period that they’ve been working together. A huge number for an important charity.

 

Join in the success!

As you can see, as a group of SME businesses and business owners we’re a pretty successful bunch!

You could be part of this too! Membership starts from as little as £16 inc VAT per month.

Why not get in touch with us on info@orbuk.org.uk and join our mission to make Responsible and Ethical Business practice the successful ‘norm’ in the UK. After all, the more businesses that take up this sustainable stance, the better off we will all be.

P.S If you quote SUCCESSBLOG we’ll give you a 50% discount of your first year’s membership too