Businesses that are simply in existence to make money for their share-holders and owners are failing. Even the Financial Times in Sept 2019 declared on its front page, “Capitalism: Time for a Reset”. Those businesses that have a purpose beyond making money are now the successful ones. Paul will show you how.
If you want your business to grow and prosper in the 21st century, it needs to be more than about simply profit. Today’s consumers and buyers want to engage with businesses that are making the world a better place and putting people and the planet at an equal level as profit. If you want to move your business or organisation in this direction then I would love to come and speak as one of the leading voices in the UK encouraging and inspiring businesses to be a Force for Good.
We spoke to Paul Hargreaves who is one of the leading voices in the UK encouraging and inspiring businesses to move away from the capitalism that has resulted in more inequality than ever before and a planet that is on the brink of catastrophe.
Watch the recording of the conversation with Paul:
Many business leaders are realising that to prosper and survive in the 21st century they need to focus on putting people and planet first, and profits will follow; in so doing, they will make the world a better place. Within his own business, and through speaking to other business leaders, Paul also inspires personal change, his 4th bottom line, to facilitate the change that the world so badly needs.
Twenty years ago, Paul founded Cotswold Fayre, a speciality food wholesaler, from his house in inner-city London whilst he was also engaging in charitable work within the local community. Initially aimed at merely supporting his charitable work, the company grew rapidly to become the leading speciality food and drink wholesaler to retail in the UK. Cotswold Fayre now supplies around 2,000 retail sites in the UK from its base in the Thames Valley.
The tremendous success of the company, now with revenues approaching £30M, has been down to creating a great place to work and one that focusses on changing the world for better, through its carbon reduction, community focus and primarily selling British-made artisan food products. The company is well known for working with a poor rural community in Africa and Paul has taken teams of employees and suppliers over to Kenya many times. In early 2020 Cotswold Fayre won the coveted Thames Valley Business of the Year Award and in November 2021 Paul became a Great British Entrepreneur of the Year.
Since 2015 Cotswold Fayre has been certified as a B Corporation and was one of the founding companies in the movement within the UK. B Corps are companies that meet the highest standards of overall social and environmental performance and the B Corporation standard is the only way of measuring how good a company is for the world. Paul is a leading voice for B Corp and an ambassador for the movement within the UK.
In Summer 2021, Paul and his team opened its first retail and restaurant site: Flourish Foodhall & Kitchen in the Bristol/Bath area. This has been a great opportunity to put into a brand-new business the ‘business for good’ principles and the queues to dine most days seem to indicate that it works!
Paul has published two books. The first in 2019, Forces for Good which describes the journey of his company and others into being businesses for good. Paul’s 2021 book, The Fourth Bottom Line, is a book looking at 50 essential characteristics of compassionate leadership and is designed as a 50-day reflective read. Both books have opened doors for Paul to speak to leaders across business and other sectors.
Read Paul’s Books on how to make a difference:
