Bedford Business Update – September 2022

Bedford is a hugely entrepreneurial place and has a diverse variety of businesses of all sizes and the Council’s Economic Development team has had the opportunity to visit many exciting businesses over the years.  During the pandemic we had to cease all our business engagement activities but we are now excited to start this up again and get out to meet as many employers in the local area as we can.

Maybe you want highlight your business, share any good news stories, or maybe just want to show us around, or for anything else you may want to discuss we are happy to come out and listen.

Please contact us on the email address below if you feel like your business would benefit from a visit from us.

Invest.inBedford@bedford.co.uk

Employees are a businesses’ best asset and there has never been a more important time to prioritise workplace health and wellbeing.  Promoting a happy, healthy workforce through a positive culture and supportive environment guarantees improved productivity and staff retention, reduced sickness absence and recruitment costs, not to mention the reputational benefits of being a good employer. Did you know that there is a return of between £2 and £34 for every £1 spent on workplace health interventions?

The Public Health Workplace Health Team are proud to announce the launch of the Healthy Workplace Standards; a free best practice framework to help workplaces support the health and wellbeing of their workforce, across Milton Keynes, Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire. Register for the Standards now and they will support you to achieve the Standards at your own pace and at a level that’s right for you!

If you would rather speak to a member of the Public Health Workplace Health Team, please email Public.Health@Milton-keynes.gov.uk.

Bedford Borough Council recently collaborated with the Energy Savings Trust to deliver some short online GoElectric briefings, so that Bedfordshire businesses could understand the options, benefits and support that is available in switching to electric cars, vans, fleets, bikes and cargo cycles.

The briefing was recorded and it’s now available on the Council’s YouTube page via the  link below, for those who couldn’t make it.

youtube.com/watch

You can also find out more by emailing sustainable.travel@bedford.gov.uk

28 September at The Forest Centre from 2pm to 4.15pm

Do you struggle to get staff involved in making sustainability changes? Are you looking for ideas of what you can do to get staff involved? If this is you, fear not, you can find out how to influence and change your staff behaviour and learn some practical tips to gain buy-in for environmental programmes at this seminar.

There will be a formal presentation, followed up by plenty of exercises and a workshop. You will take part in several hands-on sessions that will focus on:

– Values and how these relate to climate change

– A bit of basic psychology

– Strategies for handling staff buy-in

– Case studies from other local businesses

– Tips and tricks.

At the end of the session, you should have a good understanding of why people are resistant to change and take away some good ideas and strategies to tackle this.

Jane Varley, GBN Manager, will lead this session. She has more than 25 years’ experience of helping businesses to improve their environmental performance. Jane has liaised with hundreds of companies and has taken their learning and condensed it down to help other businesses.

Register for your place here: GBN/event/behavioural-change