We all like to do a good deed (well, most of us, anyway), arguably no more so than ‘big business’. And with good reason. For one thing, large enterprises want to be - and be seen as - good corporate citizens, contributing to the benefit of the communities and locales in which they operate, particularly so, those businesses with headquarters based outside the UK. And there’s another good reason. If you are bidding for a significant central government contract, then by law you must be able to demonstrate how your solution may improve the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of the relevant area. Bristol-based ‘B-Corp’, Neighbourly, is a ‘corporate giving’ platform that dramatically simplifies the process of connecting corporate enterprises with local worthy causes, and helps them quantify the social impact of their contribution, be it financial or ‘in kind’. Neighbourly was founded in 2014, and is now led by former corporate executive, entrepreneur and investor, Steve Butterworth. Neighbourly currently partners with some of the nation’s leading corporates, including supermarkets such as Sainsburys and Aldi, retailers like Currys and M&S, food and beverage brands including Coca Cola and Heineken, as well as businesses in many other sectors. Neighbourly connects its corporate partners to a network of over 40,000 charities and community groups around the UK & Ireland, from food banks to community centres to hospices, who pay not a penny to be part of the network. To date, Neighbourly has facilitated over £1bn of impact into local communities across the UK and Ireland, with a further goal to deliver £10bn of positive impact by 2030. So if you are responsible for social impact in your organisation - or you just want to hear how a small-but-(almost) perfectly-formed B-Corp is helping engineer social impact on a phenomenal scale - then listen to ‘Just Being Neighbourly’ in which Anthony Miller chats with CEO Steve Butterworth. It’s the neighbourly thing to do! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit anttheantidote.substack.com
