Member Article

NBS takes ethical business lead

Newcastle Building Society is taking new measures to help further integrate socially responsible business practices into the way it operates.

The Society’s new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy includes a range of initiatives such as giving staff additional paid leave to support voluntary causes to minimising the impact it has on the environment.

NBS says it aims to help demonstrate that strong commercial businesses can also be socially responsible without one area compromising the other.

NBS also has its sights set on a £25,000 staff fundraising raising target for its Charity of the Year, Maggie’s, which is building a new cancer care centre at the Freeman Hospital.

Gillian Tiplady, NBS’s head of legal and CSR, said: “Both as a leading player in the regional business community, and as a mutual organisation, we aim to set an example by ensuring we operate in a socially responsible fashion, and are mindful of the impact we have on society and the environment - but to do this properly, we, and all businesses, have to fully integrate the principles of CSR into our mainstream business practices.

“Our new policy helps to dictate how we act towards our customers, employees, suppliers, communities and the natural environment. We’ve already had a very positive response from our staff, who have been closely involved with the development of the policy and who are strongly committed to making the measures we’re introducing work on a day-to-day basis.”

Chief executive Colin Seccombe adds: “Our Board is fully behind this strategy, and the progress we make will be measured regularly against a set of specific criteria so we can see how the Newcastle’s everyday operations are evolving to meet our social, commercial and environmental responsibilities.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .