Our promise to you, our community, and the planet

“We believe that everyone has the right to be healthy and happy at work, connected to a community of people who want to make a positive impact on themselves and their workplace.”

I wrote this mission statement for Everyday Juice Limited (EJL) in 2018. Our mission statement comprises several key values, which Andy and I set out when developing the Juice concept in 2011:

1. Juice is for everyone
2. Juice emotionally engages with people
3. Juice starts with the needs of the employee, not the employer
4. Juice has a bias for action
5. Juice showcases people’s hobbies, interests, and talents.

Two of our original values missing from the mission statement come through in our actions; to embrace technology and to be informal yet informed.

This mission statement and our key values are still important to us today, informing every decision that we make. We don’t shout about them externally half as much as we should.

Why am I writing this today?

Well, like many small businesses, it’s been an incredibly difficult couple of years for EJL.

When the first lockdown was announced in 2020 the business was impacted immediately. We lost clients; some closed their doors and others moved budgets. We lost opportunities; every discussion we had with numerous employers, many of which we had exchanged contracts awaiting signature, cancelled overnight (literally). Our cooperative project for NHS employees, which we’d spent over two years building, was shelved abruptly so they could (rightly) focus on the pandemic.

Maybe to our downfall, I didn’t want to be one of those people that attempted to profiteer off the collective pain we were all suffering. That didn’t sit well with me. Nevertheless, finances were battered and I lost quite a few nights’ sleep to say the very least.

However, the renewal of one of our key clients and partners, the University of Westminster, feels like we’ve turned a corner.

The continuation of our work with the University not only brings with it the opportunity to support awesome people for the next few years; it also brings with it a renewed sense of confidence that what we’re doing makes a difference to people’s lives.

Whilst I have few positive things to say about this period of my professional life, it has made me reflect on who we are as a business, what our values are, how well we align to our mission, what we care about and stand for, and the impact that we want to make on the world.

With the answers to these questions, we can go into the future with vigour, knowing that we’ve stamped our orange and green colours firmly to the masts that we care about.

It gives me great pleasure to announce the Juice Manifesto.

These 15 pledges, for the most part, are not based on business or product development. Whilst EJL is my small business, I firmly believe that we’re all in this together. These 15 pledges will set the direction of our business, how it operates, the messages, and most importantly, the actions, that it takes going forward.

This is the first iteration of a working and growing document and I will be reporting on our progress every three months to ensure accountability. Sign up to our mailing list if you’d like me to keep you updated.

So, dear reader, these are EJL’s pledges to you, to our local, national, and global community, and to our planet.

Our business, EJL

1. Become a four-day week organisation (1st July 2022)

Research shows a strong positive correlation between the four-day working week and increased productivity and wellbeing. As a result, it’s becoming more common practice amongst small businesses like ours.

For a business our size it will be straightforward to implement. I’ll be using Wednesday as my day because I like the idea of it being mid-week, but as the business grows, colleagues can choose. We’ll also be continuing absolute flexibility with working hours, which has been standard practice for us since the start.

2. Update EJL’s Articles of Association with the B Corporation legal statement (15th July 2022)

B Corporations (B Corp) are companies that meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. There are over 5,000 B Corp businesses globally, around 700 of which are in the UK, and becoming one has been on my bucket list for years.

Updating our Articles of Association with Companies House immediately binds EJL to putting all stakeholders first (clients, users, employees, and the environment) and not solely shareholders. Whether we manage to achieve B Corp status in the end is less relevant, what matters is that by updating our Articles of Association accordingly it solidifies our commitment to all stakeholders in law.

3.?Introduce a colleague profit share scheme (1st July 2023)

My first job was at Morrisons as a college student in the early 2000’s. When I worked at the supermarket I remember vividly the sense of being valued when, unexpectedly, I received an extra ￡300 on my pay packet close to Christmas. Underage beers all round!

Morrisons taught me early on in my career that growing as a business is a team effort, and that following a strong year, everyone should be appreciated for it. I want to bring this ethos to EJL.

The practicalities of this will take further exploration but the intent and drive are there. This may extend to some level of employee ownership as the business grows.

4.?Achieve B Corporation accreditation (31st December 2023)

This one isn’t completely in my hands but it’s something that I’ll give my all to achieve. By becoming a B Corporation, EJL will join a group of businesses that are committed to one single aim: to be a force for good.

The application and verification process are external and takes time (currently estimated around 18 months) so this will have to be a sliding deadline. However, we have already started the application process.

5.?Introduce 10% pension contributions for all EJL colleagues (1st July 2024)

Financial wellbeing is an important part of an individual’s overall health, and it doesn’t just include the here and now. We all need to future-proof our finances and the employer is in a position of positive influence over what that could look like.

I believe that people are not costs, they’re investments. By bringing people into your business, they’re adding value to your organisation. I don’t think it’s not too much of a stretch to invest in their future.

Our community, clients, users, and partners

1.?Support the wider community with regular, free-to-enter activities and events throughout the year (31st December 2022)

During the first UK lockdown I launched a free-to-enter step challenge called StrollwithIT. The idea was to bring people together virtually, at a time when we were so far apart physically, to work together for a greater aim; to walk around the world. Since that first event I’ve continued to run it twice per year.

During the same period I was part of the founding team of Leeds Digital Makers, an initiative developed through a voluntary organisation that I’m a part of called Leeds Digital Drinks. The Makers sessions brought together those who were interested in developing technology products and services using no-code tools, where we supported each other through knowledge sharing and experience.

Creating opportunities for people to come together, whether they’re EJL clients or not, is something very precious to me. I have more that I’d like to create which will become regular events in our calendar.

2.?To have contributed to meaningful research (1st July 2023)

The area of social wellbeing is a broad one. From understanding the benefits of sharing experiences with colleagues in the workplace, coming together to support one another through initiatives like social prescribing, to addressing societal issues like loneliness, isolation, and depression. We want to help lead that charge.

We’re interested in, and actively seeking out, charities and universities to partner with so we can keep pushing social wellbeing research forward.

3.?Bring in a new member to the EJL team (1st July 2023)

This is one of few pledges in this manifesto that is based upon business development because it will hinge on affordability.

The purpose of a good business is to create value; value to its customers, community, and to provide employment, which in turn creates even more value. The cycle goes on. We want to bring someone into the business who can help us share the stories of our clients and users with our wider Juice community and supporters.

We’ll be exploring how we can enable people to learn and grow with EJL through placements and apprenticeships.

4.?Reinstate our "Juicevocates" conference (1st July 2023)

In 2019 we ran a small conference in Sheffield for our clients and partners. The day brought together wellbeing leads from several different businesses to meet, share, learn, and collaborate with one another to benefit their Juice offers and, most importantly, their people.

Community runs in our veins, both as a business and a species. For obvious reasons we couldn’t bring people back together into one room over the past few years, but this pledge signifies our intention to bring it back next year, and every year thereafter. ?

5.?Support charities that are important to our community (1st July 2024)

There are many, many charities out there that do some amazing work. As a business I want us to support them in any way that we can, whether that’s through financial donations, benefits in kind, or simply spreading awareness across our communities.

We’ll be asking our community which charities are important to them, likely using social media, with a new charity partner being announced each year. ?

?

Our planet

1.?Plant a tree for every Juice user, mailing list subscriber, and social media follower every year (12th August 2022)

Let’s be clear, we can’t simply plant our way out of the climate crisis. We need systemic change in the way businesses operate if we’re going to make a meaningful and lasting impact on carbon emissions. But it’s a start.

Every email subscriber, Juice user, and follower on LinkedIn and Twitter, will have a tree planted in their honour just for being a part of our community, every year, for as long as they’re with us. We will eventually automate this process for Juice users working with partners but for the sake of implementing quickly a manual process will suffice for now.

2.?Achieve carbon neutrality (31st December 2022)

Step two of reducing our environmental impact is to address our operations. We have already measured our current output and whilst we’re happy with where we are we can’t sit still.

Now that we have a base measurement, we’re beginning to make changes to how we discuss, develop, deliver, and maintain our services to clients. As a short-term measure this will likely consist of offsetting practices working with partners.

3.?Support our clients and Juice users on their own sustainability journeys (31st January 2023)

One thing that I’ve learned about EJL’s sustainability journey so far is that it can be a bit of a minefield, and that’s just for an SME.

Working with the partners that we discover we’ll support our clients and Juice users using our steps and experiences to make their own positive steps towards positive carbon reduction.

4.?Reach net zero carbon emissions (31st December 2023)

By this point we will have achieved carbon neutrality as a business through carbon offsetting, but this isn’t where the journey ends. We need to go to absolute zero.

For us to achieve this goal we will need to research, invest in, and procure services that are green alternatives. This includes the hosting providers we use, where we invest our pensions, and how we travel to work and meetings. We need to get as close to zero as we possibly can, offset the shortfall, and continue to pursue Scope 1, 2, and 3 net zero policies. Once there, carbon positivity is the natural next step.

5.?Invest in and implement sustainable travel initiatives (1st July 2024)

Sustainable travel is the future. Whether that’s driving electric cars, greater use of public transport, or active commuting, every one of us needs to play our part. For our manifesto, we’re going to focus on the latter.

With the popularity of Cycle to Work schemes, access to bikes has never been easier, but getting people to use them is a different story entirely. All too often these bikes spend most of their time gathering dust in sheds instead of churning up miles to the workplace.

We have a few ideas up our sleeves as to how we can get more bums out of bucket seats and on to bicycle seats but considerable fundraising will be required beforehand.

We believe that everyone has the right to be healthy and happy at work, connected to a community of people who want to make a positive impact on themselves and their workplace.

I hope that these pledges help us to move closer toward that goal.

I’m pleased that we now know who we are, what we stand for, and who we want to become.

Gary Butterfield

Co-founder and Executive Director

Everyday Juice Limited

www.juicelimited.co.uk ?