In recent years we have seen leading businesses move from the old model of corporate social responsibility, where doing good was seen as a bolt-on to a company’s core purpose, to a more progressive approach to environment, social and governance - ESG - which recognises that any organisation is moulded by their customers, their colleagues and the communities in which they are embedded.

In an area famous for its history and heritage, Canterbury City Council is very much focused on the future. Its Leader, Councillor Ben Fitter-Harding, is spearheading efforts to deliver equality of opportunity to its mix of urban, coastal and rural communities.

Northumbria University is one example of a modern university which has embedded quality research at the centre of everything it does, alongside a clear social mobility mission, and alignment to business and the demands of the regional and local economy.

The Purpose Coalition is working with some of the best purpose-led NHS organisations to address the range of challenges the NHS is currently facing.

The best are going even further and using the profits that their success brings to invest in their communities, giving back to make them better places to live. That’s exactly the approach that David Harrison, Chair of financial services and technology firm, True Potential, and founder of the Harrison Foundation, has taken.

Specialist lending and savings bank, Aldermore, today launched its Report to Society 2022. It shows how it is making a positive societal impact, alongside its financial and operational goals, and includes recommendations for how it can play an even greater role in levelling up the financial services sector and society more widely.

Strong council leadership is essential for improving social mobility - here we highlight the pioneering work of four of the Purpose Coalition councils and the positive impact they're making on their local communities.

In a year of political turmoil and economic uncertainty, our higher education sector has continued to play its part in finding the potential in every community, nurturing it to produce graduates who have the skills that employers need and forging local partnerships to encourage investment and entrepreneurship across their regions.

In partnership with former Education Secretary Rt Hon Justine Greening, the University of Stirling will produce an impact report that will map its activities against the Purpose Goals framework.

Energy services and solutions company Centrica has launched a Levelling Up Impact Report which assesses its social impact and recommends further steps it can take.

Through our work we’ve seen just what a difference employers can make on driving social mobility - in communities, for their own employees, working through supply chains and procurement and, as the cost of living challenge bites, supporting their customers.

After years in which the problem has received too little focus, it has been important to see both government and opposition pledge to increase growth and productivity by targeting the alarming growth in the number of people who have fallen out of the labour force in recent years.

Loughborough University has partnered with the Purpose Coalition and former Education Secretary Rt Hon Justine Greening by signing up to an innovative framework that will measure Loughborough’s social impact.

Glasgow Caledonian University has committed to spreading opportunity by signing up to a new framework to measure its social impact.

The most recent Roadshow was held at Southampton University during Freshers’ Week. Students had a chance to hear speakers from the University and Adecco talk about the importance of purpose in an organisation and how that translated into real action.

Gaming, hospitality and travel company Ambassadeurs Group (AG) has partnered with the Purpose Coalition to measure and enhance its social impact.

Smart energy infrastructure company, SMS plc, has unveiled its Levelling Up Report in Westminster, which assesses how its business – and the energy solutions sector more widely – is making a positive social impact amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

The University of Greenwich is a multi-campus university with bases in Greenwich, Avery Hill and Medway. While each campus has a unique identity, everyone on our campuses has a shared purpose: to create opportunities and change lives for the better.

I cut my political teeth as a new Treasury Minister, part of a team taking over from the outgoing Labour Government in 2010, and finding a now infamous note from our predecessors explaining ‘there’s no money left.’

Demonstrating the art of the possible. That’s the challenge for companies operating in digital and high-tech sectors who need to attract and retain the skilled workforces which will allow them to flourish.