IQ-Magazine-Issue-15

CSR:
IS IT YOUR
THING?
Joanna Badcock, Strategic Marketing Manager at
Go Glass, discusses the company’s CSR and why
the concept is fundamental to their business philosophy.
IQ business planning
In a business world littered with three letter acronyms, CSR
(corporate social responsibility), is bandied about with great
alacrity. There are numerous definitions; the one that most
fully defines it comes from The European Commission:
‘A concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to
contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment.
A concept whereby companies integrate social and
environmental concerns in their business operations
and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a
voluntary basis.’
Many large corporations write long and in-depth strategies and reports to detail their commitment to their internal and
external stakeholders. At Go Glass, this is very much a fundamental ethos by which we operate and is a core value
throughout the business. We do not believe that it is about just giving a lump sum of money to a designated charity and
patting ourselves on the back.
In common with many others, we have a company charity,
CLIC Sargent, for whom we produce a life-size glass
sculpture every five years. Our design director has created
subjects as diverse as a Ducati motorbike, Lewis Hamilton’s
McLaren F1 car and a long distance runner. The first two
have raised in excess of £8000. The runner, which has
been given the title Pushing the Limits, is presently being
auctioned on our website and bids sit at £2000.
Another of the Directors, Tracy Saunders, has walked
up Snowdon in aid of Limbpower. This was made all the
more remarkable as Tracy lost the lower part of her leg in
a collision with a lorry whilst she was on her way to work
on her bike. This was a very personal challenge for Tracy,
but she felt the need to increase awareness amongst our customers far outweighed the prying questions. Following the
accident, the company developed a strategy to reduce the number of large delivery vehicles coming to its premises.
It is not just raising money that is the heart of this ethos; if we can help the charities,
then we will. When the husband of one the team was cycling 300 miles to Paris for
charity with 19 friends, the cyclists desperately needed a van to transport their bikes for
the return journey. It made total sense to Go Glass to loan and cover the insurance cost.
This was a great help, as it was one less expense for this self-funded charity bike ride.
Due to the very nature of being a glass manufacturing company, there will always
be off-cuts. Rather than disposing of the off-cut mirror, we actively design products
that use them so at to lower the ecological impact of waste. The staff are very much
involved in CSR and understand the company ethos, using their own creative talents
and glass off-cuts to design donated glass awards for local charities. Designing one
such award has now inspired the Production Team to try to win The Accumulator
Challenge for The Arthur Rank Hospice Charity, and everyone at Go Glass is now
busy organising fundraising events over the next few months for the new hospice.
More Information
www.go-glass.co.uk
issue 15 | page 41