A Dorset firm has confirmed that it is one of the first businesses to join a new initiative to combat poverty and boost employment and social mobility.
The structural engineering business REIDsteel has joined the Jobs Foundation, which hopes to unites industry leaders and entrepreneurs nationwide.
The firm's managing director Simon Boyd has also become a trustee of the independent charity, which will enable firms to learn from each other about how they impact their local communities to relieve poverty and unemployment.
Jobs Foundation is headed by an advisory council of business leaders from a range of sectors, locations and sizes. REIDsteel, based in Christchurch, currently employees 130 people.
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Mr Boyd said: “Business is a force for good. It makes an incredibly positive contribution to our society. Business provides jobs, drives the economy and funds our country’s vital public services through its taxes and those of its employees.
“I’m a firm believer in social mobility. In any business, the people are the company. Helping hem to fulfil their potential can only be good for them and our company. We are proud to support the Jobs Foundation in its mission to help alleviate poverty and unemployment while creating greater social mobility and delivering benefits for business, society and the economy.”
Georgiana Bristol, chief executive of the Jobs Foundation, added: “The biggest and most effective engine to tackle poverty is the business community.
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“By creating the jobs which take people out of poverty, offering training to help people fulfil their potential, and funding public sector jobs through taxation, businesses offer an economic and social infrastructure for the country and help reduce poverty.”
Research carried out by the Social Metrics Commission (2020) found that securing a full-time salaried job reduces the risk of falling into poverty by 90%, and unemployment raises the risk of poverty eightfold.
Matthew Elliott, president of the Jobs Foundation, said: “We hope to recruit 500 business leaders to our movement by the end of 2023 and 1,000 by the end of 2024.
“Business leaders are already superstars in the fight against poverty, but working together they can do even more to help people in need. It’s a mission that connects people of all political hues and none and I hope the business community will rally behind it.”
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