Northampton unites at UK’s first social trading conference

Date 23.11.2018

Maximising the way Northampton’s community can make the best possible us of the ‘social pound’ was just one topics up for debate at the UK’s first ‘How to Create a Social Echo’ conference yesterday (22 November).

The conference, hosted by Lord John Bird, Founder of the Big Issue, brought together representatives of local small business, representatives of local businesses, charities, social enterprises and public-sector bodies to create a more vibrant local economy through social trade.

The event, held in association with the University of Northampton, Northampton Hope, Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce and Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire, demonstrated how local organisations in Northampton build links to create a social economy, supporting people to do more ‘good’ through their business operations.

Nick Petford, Vice Chancellor at the University of Northampton, said: “As a key part of the community the University of Northampton is committed to putting our money where our mouth is by helping create social value through our procurement processes. I am thrilled to be working with The Big Issue for this important conference.

Lord Bird said: “Today was brilliant. I hope that local organisations leave today with a sense of empowerment born of the knowledge that, together, we can knit wealth back into the community by changing the way we trade.

“The day was full of brilliant examples of social trading. The next step will be for these amazing organisations to galvanise forces and build a social trading ecosystem where each player builds off the other creating connections and value. When it comes to trade we need to combine the commercial with the social.”

Catch up with all the chatter from the conference on twitter using the hashtag #SocialEcho

The event was sponsored by Carlsberg UK, a large business and employer in the Northampton community, Housing Technology, the leading housing magazine for business and IT professionals

Pictured: L-R: Tony Knaggs, Goodwill Solutions CIC, Lord John Bird, founder of The Big Issue, Robin Burgess, CEO of Northampton Hope, Nick Petford, Vice Chancellor at the University of Northampton.