Purpose Business Coalition partners were amongst those included on this year’s prestigious HR Most Influential list which recognises the people whose ideas and actions have most shaped HR practices in the UK and globally in 2023

While we see daily reports of the challenges that many people are continuing to face as they struggle with the cost of living, a slew of headlines is fast approaching on the huge profits that many of the UK’s biggest businesses are set about to announce.

The Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net-Zero made the visit to Doncaster – where low-carbon solutions company SMS employ 100 people – as part of an awareness event organised by The Purpose Coalition

Much has changed for me since that day at London Pride seven years ago when I came out as gay - the first ever openly gay female Cabinet Minister. It wasn’t an easy thing to do at the time, but it was the right thing to do, and I’ve never regretted it. I hoped that I could make a difference by being truly myself so that other LGBT+ people could see someone like them at the highest levels of government.

New research from Co-op in partnership with VotesforSchools reveals over half (59%) of young people aged 7-16 years old believe apprentices should be paid the national living wage as cost of living drives interest in apprenticeships

Whilst many expected this week’s trio of by-elections to result in wipeout for Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party, the results gave the leaders of each of England’s three main party leaders cause for hope ahead of the next general election.

Where exactly is the Conservative Party going? After this week’s by-election results, the flippant answer could be “into Opposition after the next General Election”. But in reality it feels like a much more fundamental question for the governing party.

What gets measured gets done. So if we want opportunities to be open irrespective of background, then tracking socio-economic diversity of employees matters for all employers.

Amidst the beauty of places like Devon and Cornwall, a pressing issue affects the people who form the backbone of these local economies.

Today Reed in Partnership has launched Reed Environment to address the UK’s net-zero skills shortage. It will create a newly trained green workforce to help the UK meet its net-zero targets and spread economic opportunity across the country.

Leaders from the defence, manufacturing and procurement sector gathered in Parliament to discuss and promote how their sectors are upholding UK values in a transformed geopolitical landscape.

Two key Purpose Coalition members - UK Power Networks and Essex County Council - are continuing their fantastic partnership work offering support and opportunity to the people of Essex that need it the most.

It’s clear this proposal will disproportionately impact more disadvantaged people from more disadvantaged communities.

It may be uncomfortable listening for some, but it’s high time that menopause – and women’s health more widely, including menstruation, fertility problems, pregnancy, miscarriage and more – move up the workplace agenda. The time for squeamishness is long gone.

Justine Greening interviews Sean Haley, CEO of Sodexo UK & Ireland.

Leading businesses and Purpose Coalition partners were joined by Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression, Mims Davies MP, at a Women in the Workplace roundtable, sponsored by Teleperformance.

Universities make a vital contribution to improving social mobility but a more strategic approach is needed if their work, and the transformative effect they have on communities, is to be maintained, a new report launched in Parliament today confirms.

The urgent need to level up the most disadvantaged areas of the country, particularly targeting women experiencing inequality, was highlighted by new research which shows that in 2021, a woman in the North East of England was 1.7 times more likely to die early as a result of suicide, addiction or murder by a partner or family member than the rest of England and Wales, an increase of 15 per cent since 2018.

Smashing that ‘class ceiling’ is a generational challenge, and politicians of all political parties - from John Major to Gordon Brown - have talked about it with passion over decades - but boosting opportunity can’t be limited to just education.

The NHS is 75 years old this week and we should take a moment to think of all those who have worked in it in the past, and those that still work there today.