Launching Castle Cavendish Works as Nottingham’s Ethical Business Centre

During times of hardship and uncertainty we, at Castle Cavendish, believe it is right for organisations to step-up to support the communities we service.?That’s why we are driving forward our development of a new kind of business centre that will be ethically managed to achieve the ‘triple bottom line’ of social, environmental and financial returns.

Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Even ground-breaking.

For over a decade now, Castle Cavendish Works has been successfully delivering ‘managed office-space’ and business centre services to local firms and organisations in the heart of Radford. During that time, we’ve supported well over 250 businesses of one kind or another.?However, if we include businesses, organisations and local groups that have benefitted from our conference and training suites, our reach into the social and business community extends much further. ?So, if we’re already imbedded within our commercial and social communities, you may ask why change? ?Indeed, as we move out of the Coronavirus pandemic and into a world of hybrid working, our ‘smart spaces’ offer, with easy-in, easy-out terms, matches up quite neatly to the current requirements of many SMEs.

I guess the answer is because it’s simply the right thing to do - particularly at this moment in time. ?By embracing an ethically-driven approach, reducing our environmental and carbon footprint and increasing our social impact, we have the opportunity to play a wider role in the sustainable development of the City, its businesses and its communities.?Our commitment to the ethical business centre model also aligns well with Nottingham’s 2028 Carbon Neutral Charter.

So, on 1st April 2022, we will be launching Castle Cavendish Works as Nottingham’s Ethical Business Centre. ?We’ll be outlining why it makes both social and commercial sense for businesses to adopt ethical business practices and how we can help each other and access funding to do so.?The launch will also be a fantastic opportunity to network and share ideas with like-minded leaders from academia, business and local government.

If you’re interested to learn more, then come along to Castle Cavendish Works for the launch event on 1st April. It kicks-off at 12.30pm, with a buffet lunch and is free to attend. Please register at [email protected] or phone 0115 900 3100.

The main thrust will centre on the realisation that it’s not just ‘what’ you provide, but sometimes more importantly its ‘how’ you deliver it. ?Essentially, by promoting and implementing ethical policies and practices, improving our environmental credentials and ensuring the local area benefits, Castle Cavendish Works can generate additional returns and deliver much more.

We've learned that embracing an ethical approach to business, is good for the communities we serve as well as being smart business startegy.

Although Castle Cavendish Works has been operating in line with ‘good practice’ and has always strived to improve the way it does things, we know that to make the ‘Ethical Business Centre’ come to fruition, a major step-change is required. ?As a result, we put our heads together, consulted various professional bodies, and established new set of Operating Principles that will:

1.???Guarantee that the profits from Castle Cavendish Works are re-invested back into the local area through grants to support community groups and local projects, helping local communities reconnect and improve their quality of life.

2.???Ensure that Castle Cavendish Works is managed in a more ethical way; from its governance, policies and procedures, to the practical day-to-day operations. The principles will ensure the centre’s selection of business tenants and its procurement of services and supplies are managed in accordance with rigorous ethical standards;

3.???Reduce our negative environmental impact. ?A number of steps have already been taken to minimise our energy usage, water consumption, waste and CO2 emissions, whilst at the same time, switching to sustainable products and materials and promoting sustainable transport through our new EV charging points and recently installed cycle shelters.

The first point is something we have been doing for quite a while. ?Although Castle Cavendish Works is managed on commercial basis, all profits are handed over to our charitable parent company, and not as dividends to private shareholders. ?We then distribute these funds to support various voluntary and community sector organisations delivering worthwhile and needed projects. ?Since 2013, we have worked with the City Council on combining these funds with their Area Based Grant, culminating in providing a combined investment of over ￡500,000 this year into areas such as the Meadows, Lenton, Wollaton, Radford, Hyson Green, Berridge, Basford and Sherwood.

Putting all these ingredients together, we firmly believe that this new ‘Ethical Business Centre’ approach has a lot going for it, not just for Castle Cavendish, but also for other like-minded organisations and businesses who can see a value in giving something back to the local area, whilst being part of an ethically-driven commercial community that is working towards a more just, equitable and sustainable society.?

If all goes well, we plan to roll out the Operating Principles to our other Business Centres. ?By doing this, we will move forward in our ambitions to become a carbon neutral organisation and achieve our own ESG requirements. ?This will also go a long way to matching up to Castle Cavendish’s wider role as a ‘Social Impact Company’, combining this approach with providing advice and support for local VCS groups and funding a community renewal programme.

If the concept gains traction, we may even look to work in partnership with other property firms to replicate the model in other Business Centres across the City and region so it would be great to see you there.

Dave Brennan, CEO, Castle Cavendish