Bolton companies accredited for positive employment

Two Bolton companies have become the first in the town to be recognised as leading employers for staff wellbeing.

Starts with you and Boo Coaching & Consulting have both been accredited as Members of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter.

The Charter, which is supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, contains 43 Members from throughout the region, reaching over 230,000 employees. A few Members include Electricity North West, KPMG, Transport for the North and United Utilities.

The Charter recognises companies that offer good employment support and progression for local people, with each company offering real benefits to staff including secure and flexible work, paying the real living wage, staff involvement in decision making plus inclusive recruitment and creating a healthy environment for all employees.

Starts with you, a social enterprise wholly owned by social housing provider Bolton at Home, works to create opportunities and empower people to address challenges and access good work. The company employees nearly 50 people in a range of commercial and support services, designed to create entry-level jobs and help local people. The Starts with you team offers property clearance and handy persons services, creating jobs for local people, and advice services, available to members of the community, including employment support, money, debt, energy efficiency and getting online.

Hayley Hulme, Managing Director of Starts with you, said: “As a social enterprise, we exist to improve the lives of people around us. That isn’t just limited to our customers and the people we support, but it means making sure our employees are valued in well-paid jobs, which put their wellbeing first.

“The GM Good Employment Charter Accreditation is an important recognition of the hard work and commitment Starts with you has put into being an excellent employer. It gives our team the assurance that they will be treated fairly and compassionately so that work can be a positive impact on them and their family’s lives.”

Boo Coaching & Consulting helps bosses be better and create happy, healthy workplaces in which everyone can thrive. Proudly Bolton-based the company delivers courses across the UK and beyond. The company is also a founding member of the Bolton Social Business Collective along with Starts with you and works with the Bolton Family to raise the living standards of local residents and promote employment stability.

Becci Martin, Founder and Director at Boo Coaching and Consulting, said “We have worked hard at Boo to create a healthy and happy workplace where all our team can thrive. Becoming a Good Employment Charter Member is a really big achievement for us and proves that we can do business differently – we hope that other companies in our hometown of Bolton are inspired by what Starts with you and Team Boo have achieved.”