Students from Baxter College, North Bromsgrove High and RSA Arrowvale quizzed a panel of business people including Ray Brookes, Group Chief Executive, in a discussion about good business practices as part of Responsible Business Week.
Students devised a series of questions beforehand which they then put to the panel, which included representatives from Lloyds Banking, adi Group, The Community Housing Association and Worcestershire LEP and was supported by Phoebe Dawson from Worcestershire Business Central, who chaired the proceedings and Mitch Bown from Elior (Business Class members) at the event organised by Business in the Community (BITC).
The discussion which was hosted by Baxter College was designed to provide students with examples of responsible business practices and the importance of better workplaces and thriving communities. As well as helping inspire the students to become responsible business people and support their wider learning.
Invited were members of BITC’s Worcestershire Business Class Cluster, a group of schools and businesses who work together to ensure that young people attending local schools achieve their best possible outcomes and leave ready to build successful working lives.
Through BITC’s Business Class programme, The Community Housing Group has established a partnership with Baxter Business and Enterprise College.
Andrew Mullaney, who joined the panel said: "It was encouraging to hear young people ask searching, researched questions about industry, the economy and business life. From talking to them afterwards I believe that we, the panellists, have helped to give them some further direction for the future."
The questions covered issues such as How do you ensure a gender, ethnic and ability balance within your business?, How would the EU affect your company? and How does your business make sure it’s sustainable?
“It was interesting hearing about how the different businesses are trying to be more responsible. We have been studying corporate social responsibility as part of our Business Studies course so it was really useful to hear some local examples.”
Phoebe Dawson – Panel Chair Quote -
"I thoroughly enjoyed the session. The students had obviously put a lot of thought into their questions and they were genuinely interested in hearing the responses from the panel. A superb experience for all involved."
Responsible Business Week is a national event where businesses and organisations share and discuss the many ways that they can work together to build a fairer society and a more sustainable future.
