A call to champion Responsible Business
24th May, 2024
By Jenny Herrera, CEO of the Good Business Charter
It has never been more important to take a stand for a capitalism that does right by people and planet. We have grown accustomed to businesses who prioritise profit over people – in whole sectors we accept that low wages and insecure work is the norm. We too readily resign ourselves to a lack of ambition around achieving net zero, or even putting into place the systems to ensure small businesses are paid on time!
In 2020 when we launched the Good Business Charter we billed it as simple common sense and something every business should be doing. What has become clear in the past four years is that the Good Business Charter actually represents a high bar – one that far too many businesses cannot or will not commit to.
In a nation with growing inequality and a planet under huge environmental pressure, where everyone is seeking the answer in growth, we believe a virtuous circle starting with responsible business behaviour needs to be recognised, championed and encouraged.
If workers are paid a fair wage with secure hours that will lift more people out of in-work poverty. If they are cared for, included regardless of who they are, and are genuinely heard they will feel respected and the business will see direct benefits in productivity and staff retention.
Businesses depend on key public services to operate and it cannot be acceptable that they can avoid paying their share of UK tax and thus fair contribution to things like the infrastructure they need to transport goods and that ensure their workers can get to work! Every business was once small and there should be zero tolerance for a scenario where large businesses rely on slow payment to suppliers to finance their own operations, even to the point of pushing businesses to the wall.
Small business make up 99.2% of all UK businesses – paid promptly, and a nation of companies who all pay their taxes, will only help that virtuous circle of respect, dignity and productivity. None of that should come at the expense of customers or those in a business’s supply chain, much less the planet! Behaving responsibly extends to all these different stakeholders.
It is not a case of ranking them and choosing the most important, or perhaps the easier route. That’s why we recognise accreditation on an ‘all or nothing’ basis – we say it’s not OK to pick and choose, go for the easy areas, talk a good talk whilst trampling over people, dodging taxes or polluting the planet.
This stuff really matters. Ask anyone on low wages, zero hours contracts, those suffering the impact of the climate crisis, those in modern slavery or people overlooked due to a disability just to name a few. It’s time to end bad capitalism. In fact it’s long overdue!
In the run up to this general election we are calling on all parties to take a stand for responsible business behaviour.