During this critical time, we are focusing our efforts on calling on all businesses to take action by doing three things:

• Supporting each other
• Prioritising the people for whom they are responsible
• Taking action now to help their local communities, and those that will need our help.

We need a real time breakthrough.

Support for the nations and regions of the UK

BITC has many years’ experience of supporting business at moments of crisis to engage in the most effective and practical ways and reduce the overload and mass requests made of the very organisations and partners that we want to help rather than slow down. We have a network of collaborative business hubs led by the Prince’s Responsible Business Ambassadors standing by ready in each nation and region, to help us coordinate support in the most effective ways.

To do this we have asked all our members to share the actions they are taking so we can create a new resource for you to use under three key areas:

1. Practical actions for your business

Keeping your business going and supporting suppliers and customers through financial and logistical challenge. The first of our resource is now available and more will follow.

• Suppliers & SME’s: download the factsheet
• Customers
• Product & Services
• Supporting your employees: factsheet to come

2. Government advice and guidance

Measures for the workforce include:

• Changes to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and sickness certification.

Take a whole person approach

Business in the Community (BITC) promotes a whole person approach to wellbeing that covers mental, physical, social and financial aspects. With COVID-19, all these strands of wellbeing are at risk and responsible employers and managers can help reduce those risks for themselves and colleagues to stay well as possible.

Advice for employers

We would urge employers to be clear and practical about how they support their workforce to absorb extra responsibilities, reviewing their emergency dependant’s leave and avoid making any gendered assumptions about who will step in.

Resources

Encourage employees to protect themselves and others against Coronavirus by following NHS advice. Download marketing resources related to the current COVID-19 response from the PHE Campaign Resource Centre.

3. Supporting communities

• COVID-19 – helping your communities download the factsheet
• Funding: Community Foundation Coronavirus Fund
• Support from NICVA: https://www.nicva.org/article/nicvas-advice-on-managing-the-impact-of-coronavirus

Work with BITC to get the best from the Responsible Business Network

We need to hear from you urgently about the support you need from the BITC network and what resources you have available to help others.

We will use this information to inform our national and local emergency response.

Please contact your Business in the Community relationship manager or email info@bitcni.org.uk

BERG remains active during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Business Emergency Resilience Group (BERG), was created to help businesses and communities across the UK to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies. BERG is an influential network of UK business leaders and strategic partners that include national charities and UK government departments. The network is convened by Business in the Community and led in Northern Ireland by John Thompson of Translink.

Small businesses are the backbone of the UK economy. Of the 5.7 million businesses in the UK, 99.9 per cent are small and medium-sized enterprises, employing 16.1 million people which accounts for 60 per cent of total employment. These same businesses are at risk of being disproportionately impacted by disruptive events such as a fire, flood or cyber-attack. Without proper preparation, any one of these events could result in business failure and potentially life-changing consequences for owners and employees.

Click here for more information.