Helping London small businesses do well by doing good

Small and medium-sized businesses in London are being invited to make a difference to people and places by signing up for a capital-wide responsible business programme.

Heart of the City, a charity funded by the City of London Corporation and its charitable funder, City Bridge Trust, is offering funded places for its responsible business programme in 2021, to enable companies to help employees and communities respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since 2000, Heart of the City has helped 1,000 businesses to begin their responsible business journeys. Its foundation programmes focuses on four subjects: purpose, community, environment and workplace.

Andy Melia, Interim Director at Heart of the City, said: “SMEs have been dealing with new challenges throughout the pandemic and this year’s Heart of the City members have shown that responsible business is more important than ever.

“They’ve changed the way they work to support the communities they’re working in, looked out for their employees’ mental health and wellbeing, and adjusted their environmental focus on sustainability when working from home.

“Heart of the City knows that doing responsible business is the way for companies to build back better, and we’re pleased to offer this opportunity to London SMEs.”

The Heart of the City foundation programme brings together business leaders from a range of industries to learn practical ways to make sure their companies are making a positive impact on people, places and the planet. Workshops, surgeries and mentoring is supported by responsible business experts from some of the UK’s biggest businesses including Grosvenor, HSBC and Salesforce.

MSMR Architects said about the programme: “The first year of the programme was informative and inspiring. Heart of the City has helped us to shape our social responsibility programme and we’re excited to see where we can take it in the second year.”

Thanks to funding from the City of London Corporation and City Bridge Trust, there are funded places available to London SMEs on the introduction year with Heart of the City.

Businesses can apply to join by the deadline of Tuesday 1 December at: https://theheartofthecity.com/membership/foundation-programme/