Are you a small or medium-sized business? Let’s talk!

We have been considering what a package of support could look like for small and medium sized businesses with under 250 employees (SMEs). Before we go any further we would like to hear from SME businesses themselves about the type of information and support they would value the most from us.

Why is disability important for businesses?

There are over 26 million people in the UK with a disability or long-term condition. They already impact on your business: they are your customers, your employees, your suppliers and your stakeholders.

• Your customers: The ‘Purple Pound’ is now often referred to as the potential spending power of disabled people. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reports that households with a disabled person have a combined income of £249 billion after housing costs. There is evidence to show people with disabilities are often ‘repeat’ customers when they get the service and products that meets their personalised needs.
• Your employees: All businesses need to remove barriers to employment and career progression to ensure they are recruiting from the widest pool of talent available. They should also observe best practice in terms of support, retention and progression of all their staff, including those with disabilities and long term conditions.

What do we need from the research?

This is a piece of developmental research and not a sales call. This is an exciting project for Business Disability Forum and any help you can give us in terms of ideas for further development will be greatly appreciated.

Ideally we would like to speak to someone in a senior managerial position in your organisation with responsibility for your employees or general business development for 30 minutes over the phone. Karen Cutts, Research and Insights Manager at Business Disability Forum,  will be undertaking the interviews as tele-depths. We can schedule the interview at a time that suits you.

If you are happy to help us please contact Business Disability Forum directly on the email address below to say you have opted in to the research. We will then select a number of businesses to take part and be in touch to set up a time and give more details.

Telephone Karen Cutts on: 020 7089 2482

Email: policy@businessdisabilityforum.org.uk

All your comments will remain anonymous and you will not be identified in any way in the data or report. The report will be for internal use only at Business Disability Forum and their stakeholders who are helping fund and build this service.

We are hoping that interviews would be completed between now and mid-January.

If you have any immediate questions relating to the project please do not hesitate to contact us using the details above.

Disability-Smart Awards: The impact of winning an award

By Ebunola Adenipekun

Lloyds Banking Group – Last year’s winner of the “Nothing About Us Without Us” Award

Awards can make an impact, as one organisation shows here below:

Winners of last year’s customer-led ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’ Award Lloyds Banking Group’s David Oldfield, Group Director, Commercial Banking, and Group Executive Sponsor for Disability (below) said:

David Oldfield, Group Director, Commercial Banking, and Group Executive Sponsor for Disability at Lloyds Banking Group

“One of our key achievements in 2017 is that we won the ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’ Disability-Smart Award, recognising that we include disabled colleagues and customers in discussions and decisions which affect them.

“We won this award for the work we do through initiatives such as focus groups, the Assistive Technology User Group (ATUG), and the partnerships we have with various charities, including our Charity of the Year, Mental Health UK. These initiatives provide invaluable insights to help us make our organisation as inclusive and accessible as possible for disabled customers and colleagues.

“It’s terrific to be recognised by Business Disability Forum for displaying best practice.”

Business Disability Forum believes inclusive and accessible customer service should be standard practice and that every workplace should be a great place to work. We want to know where you have seen this done at its best.

Our new ‘Disabled People’s Choice Award for the most inclusive service provider, employer or experience’ is an opportunity for us to recognise an organisation that really cares about its disabled customers, service users and employees of an organisation that has been selected by disabled people.

If you have great experience of a business, organisation or employee that has made a real difference in your life or the life of a disabled person you know, then please do get in touch.

Perhaps an employer or a shop or small business? From libraries and schools, to charities or health providers, let us know what company, small business or individual sole owner that you, a friend or family member really values and should know how much you appreciate them.

Entries for all categories are open until Thursday 20 September 2018, so there’s plenty of time to get a submission together for one of our seven award categories:

1. Senior disability champion of the year
2. Inclusive service provider of the year
3. Positive cultural change of the year
4. Workplace adjustment innovation of the year
5. Influential business of the year
6. Technology initiative of the year
7. Disabled People’s Choice Award for the most inclusive service provider, employer or experience’ 

Winners will be announced at the Disability-Smart Awards Ceremony in November 2018 (date and venue tbc).

Judges for all of these entries include leading experts in the area of disability, representatives from Business Disability Forum’s Member and Partner organisations and disabled opinion leaders.

Send us your entry today!