| enquiries@excellgroup.com | User Login | contact us About Info Centre Partners Portfolio Markets Professional Services Excell Network About Excell Evolution of Excell Why Excell Finance & Admin Awards Green Excell Career Centre Contact Account Management Team Project Sunshine Trading for Good Group Companies ournetwork Point to Point connectivity between data centres and alignment with leading vendors enable a common set of methods, tools and architectures to deliver consistent, high-quality global voice and data solutions. See our network » Home > About > Trading for Good Trading for Good Trading for Good - a digital service aimed at celebrating the good work small businesses do in their communities - was launched on 16th July by business minister Norman Lamb. The free-to-use service, unveiled at a launch event at the Institute of Directors in central London, rewards small businesses by encouraging them to showcase the good work they do. Trading for Good (http://www.tradingforgood.co.uk) aims to help consumers find a business based on its social and environmental credentials. The service acts in a similar way to a social media platform, giving small businesses the chance to upload and share news and information to a profile page. The service was pioneered and is operated by UK-based Excell Group, chaired by Darren Strowger, and was conceived and developed by a group of like-minded small businesses led by social entrepreneur Kay Allen OBE. It has the backing of BIS, is receiving the support of large organisations like Visa Europe and DLA Piper and is being given assistance from major trade organisations including the Institute of Directors. Even before the service was officially launched, nearly 500 businesses had already signed up over the course of a week. There are five ways that small businesses can show they are Trading for Good: Support charities and communities Help young people into work Improve your impact on the environment Work better with your suppliers Make life better for employees A company's profile page triggers an icon to turn green when evidence of a criteria is supplied. It also gives charities and other supporters the chance to endorse these claims with their own comments. A range of easy-to-use "how to guides" are available on the site to encourage small businesses to do more good work - ideally so that small businesses can demonstrate success in all five ways of Trading for Good. Shortly, a range of branded marketing material will be available for members to use on websites, letterheads and shop fronts. Trading for Good wants to help small businesses improve their reputation by boosting things like organic search listings and local media coverage and will exchange data with other social media platforms. Later, it aims to give members access to the supplier lists of larger organisations looking for "good" small business suppliers. The project, first conceived 12 months ago, emerged from the Cabinet Office's and BIS's Every Business Commits policy framework. It went into production six months ago and the service is now being rolled out across the UK. It will undergo further development in the months ahead. Kay Allen said: "Trading for Good is about getting small businesses to do more with their local communities and we've made it as accessible and achievable as possible. Small business is the backbone of the British economy and we want Trading for Good to be a great way of celebrating the good work that goes on - much of which goes unnoticed in everyday life. " Norman Lamb MP, the minister in charge of small businesses, said: (for example) "...consumers want to see small businesses behaving in a socially responsible way...are prepared to alter their buying behaviour according...Trading for Good is a powerful idea to help businesses improve their reputation and grow their business...Recommend small business to register..." Darren Strowger, chairman of Excell Group, said: "As a business, Excell Group has long believed in doing good work with local communities and charities, particularly the Teenage Cancer Trust. We are proud to finally see Trading for Good going live as it is a natural extension of this ambition and the culmination of over twelve months work from a dedicated team" To keep up to date with the latest news please follow Trading for Good on Twitter and LinkedIn web design and build by itineris email campaign software provided by little green plane Terms | Privacy & Cookies | Website Disclaimer | Contact Us | Sitemap | © Copyright Excell 2012 - all rights reserved