Yorkshire Business Masters 2011: Vote for your Yorkshire Pride winner
THE contribution of business to the wider community in the region is showcased today as the shortlist for the Yorkshire Pride award at the Yorkshire Business Masters 2011 is revealed.
From the generosity of one individual to a business-wide commitment to charity, the shortlisted entries are just a snapshot of the many ways companies support good causes.
Readers can choose vote online for their favourite entry with all the awards being presented at the Yorkshire Business Masters 2011, at Aspire in Leeds, on June 16.
The shortlist in each category has been drawn up by a panel of judges chaired by Andrew Palmer of the CBI with Yorkshire Forward chair Julie Kenny; Finance Yorkshire chairman and Sheffield City Region LEP chairman James Newman; Yorkshire International Business Convention founder Mike Firth; Stephen Martin, chief executive of Clugston Group and Paul Fullerton, agent for the Bank of England in Yorkshire.
Arco
Arco launched its own ‘calendar girls’ calendar last year in support of the Jo Martin Cancer Trust which was established following the death of joint managing director Jo Martin in February 2008 and supports people suffering from cancer in Hull and East Yorkshire.
The initiative raised £27,250 and will be used to help buy new equipment that will help doctors more accurately treat breast and other cancers.
This reflects the company’s wider charitable work with Arco donating more than 1% of its annual pre-tax profits to good causes and staff giving their own time.
Every member of staff can take two days paid leave to support initiatives that are important to them and last year the company made donations of more than £143,000 spread across more than 230 charities.
Jimi Heselden, Hesco Bastion
IN the four years before his untimely death, Jimi Heselden donated around £30m to causes in his home city through the Leeds Community Foundation.
Having left school with no qualifications, Mr Heselden earned his fortune from wire mesh baskets that can be filled with sand, soil or rubble to create barriers which proved hugely useful to the defence sector.
Determined to share his success, he established the Hesco Bastion Fund to support Leeds charities with more than 100 different groups benefiting but shied away from publicity.
Asked what it was like to be such a great philanthropist, Mr Heselden said: “I am not even sure what one of those is. I give because I want to help people who need it most. I think that businesses that do well have a duty to put something back to the community.”
Jonathan Straight, Straight PLC
The ‘Compost with the Clangers’ initiative was launched last year and ensures that for every compost bin the company sells it contributed 10p to Yorkshire Cancer Research.
Using the animated classic The Clangers as a mascot, Mr Straight devised the campaign which appears on all the promotional materials for Straight and its retail arm Evengreener.
Straight donated £30,000 to charities last year including £9,000 from ‘Compost with the Clangers’.
Mr Straight himself is a trustee of the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board and holds the post of fundraising chairman, spending a day every fortnight raising money for the elderly and disabled in the Jewish community.
TO CAST YOUR VOTE FOR THE YORKSHIRE PRIDE AWARD CLICK HERE
You can vote for winners in other Yorkshire Business Masters 2011 categories:
TO CAST YOUR VOTE FOR THE YORKSHIRE INNOVATOR AWARD CLICK HERE
TO CAST YOUR VOTE FOR THE YORKSHIRE GRIT AWARD CLICK HERE
TO CAST YOUR VOTES FOR THE YORKSHIRE NEWCOMER AND YORKSHIRE ADVISER AWARDS CLICK HERE
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