DBA Members’ Forum | March summary

• To the question of what businesses can and should do in response to the war in Ukraine, Matt took us through the 7 top tips from B Corp UK on how businesses can help. There were also some interesting ideas from others, such as donating old technology equipment, supporting Legal Aid and giving refugees a place to stay. We’re keen to hear from you on this issue and will prioritise getting our members guidance as necessary as it progresses. We’ve compiled an online resource to help you keep on top of how the conflict is impacting business you can access here.
• The government’s Levelling Up agenda makes clear that there isn’t equality of opportunity across the country. We heard some great suggestions from Michael Thompson on bringing together the community on a local level. Nigel Davies highlighted that some of the best colleges are outside of the central regions in the UK, and so there are perhaps opportunities to spread opportunities from those bases. Shray Vaidya also shared a great local level initiative – Speakers for Schools – their aim is to end educational inequality by giving all young people access to the same prestigious networks available to the top fee-paying schools in the UK.
• We were invigorated by Sam Jameson from Soapsmith’s story of how design changed the lives of her and her team. If design is going to contribute to the Levelling Up agenda, it has a key role in creating new jobs, improving living standards, and advancing public services – we as a design industry have a key role to play in this.

Our Members’ Forum takes place on the first Monday of each month, at 4 – 5pm. If you would like to attend, get in touch here.