REGIONAL LEADERS UNITE TO BACK WORKPLACE REVOLUTION

The region's leaders gathered in Durham on Friday 28th March to plan their next steps in the push for smarter working practices and more opportunities to work flexibly. 

To mark the first anniversary of the flagship Work Wise North East campaign, heads of professional bodies and leaders from the public, private sector and voluntary sectors met at Ramside Hall Hotel, Durham to pledge their commitment to transforming work practices. The event celebrated the success of the Work Wise North East smarter working campaign and showcased best practice in the region.

Campaign partners signed the Work Wise North East Concordat backing the implementation of smarter working practices across the region. Signatories included the North East Chamber of Commerce, EEF, TUC, Nexus, One NorthEast, BT and Government Office North East who are committed to bringing about a work style revolution which will make the North East the most progressive economy in the UK.

The Work Wise campaign aims to consign nine-to-five, five-days-a-week working to history and aims to promote smarter working practices, such as flexible working, mobile working, remote working and working from home.   It is based on the national Work Wise UK initiative, a major five-year programme which has broad government, business and union support.

The North East was the first region to launch the smarter working campaign a year ago, backed by leading organisations in the region (see editors note below).

The showcase event was chaired by David Lennan, Work Wise UK chairman who said: "Our current working practices, which date from Victorian times, do not allow an efficient use of the resources or skills available to businesses. The adoption of new modern smarter working practices will not only help address key issues facing the economy today, such as competitiveness, environment and congestion, but also aid the issue of staff and employee wellbeing."

Event speakers included include Sharon Hodgson MP; Margaret Fay, chair One NorthEast; Alison Smith consumer relations associate director, Procter & Gamble; Mark Henderson, chief ecutive Northumberland County Council; Simon Shimmens, director of employment solutions RBL (Royal British Legion Industries) and James Ramsbotham, chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC)

Work Wise partners and delegates met to review the progress of the campaign and discussed how a more modern and flexible approach will increase business productivity and competitiveness, reduce transport congestion and pollution, improve health, assist disadvantaged groups and harmonise work and family commitments in the region.

Simon Roberson, chairman of Work Wise North East said: "Our rigid work structure is dictated by culture.  It wastes time and resources, damages the environment and causes stress - all of which are unecessary considering the new technologies that are available today.

"Some companies are already implementing smarter practices such as home and remote working - these practices which are underpinned by improved technology make life so much easier for employees and can enable staff to strike a good work/life balance.

"Wide adoption of smarter working practices is an obvious answer to some of the key issues facing our economy today.  The Work Wise campaign aims to create a smarter working region, making it more productive, more competitive, more environmentally friendly and a better place to live and work"

"The nature of work is changing, and North East employers need to move into the 21st century and realise that they cannot continue to use antiquated working practices.  Organisations across all sectors need to modernise, change their approach, retrain their management, and understand the benefits of new smarter working practices. 
James Ramsbotham, chief executive of the NECC added: "Work Wise is not just about better staff practices - it is about better business. We see tremendous benefits not only for our staff but also for the customer service we provide to our 4,400 members by adopting these new practices.

"The North East faces some huge challenges in the coming years including addressing the issues of skills shortages. Recruiting and retaining good staff is going to become an increasing problem as the population ages and the marketplace becomes ever more complex and competitive.
 
"To be able to compete in the labour market, and attract the skills they need, businesses are going to have to adopt smarter working - it is the only way forward, and the reason why I am a keen supporter of Work Wise North East"

The North East has seen the number of people working from home grow by over 56 per cent since 1999. Almost 50,000 workers - nearly five per cent of the working population - are now based at or regularly work from home. But British workers spend the longest time travelling in Europe - as much as 47 working days per year (Samsung research)

Kevin Rowan, TUC regional secretary, said: "Flexible working and other innovative working practices offer a wide range of opportunities for workers and businesses, as well as for the regional economy as a whole.  Smarter working can enable people to juggle good careers with family life much better. "

Margaret Fay, Chair of One NorthEast said: "The Agency and its partners are committed to increasing the region's competitiveness whilst doing all we can to make employment accessible to everyone, which is why we are backing the Work Wise North East campaign.

"Conditions such as flexible working and working from home can make a real difference, while allowing us a better focus on our work life balance and at the same time considering the impact on our environment.

"If we can improve the productivity and profitability of regional companies, we will be well on the way to achieving our aim of being the number one business location of choice."

Alan Hall, director of EEF Northern said "EEF is one hundred per cent behind this campaign. We support the broader use of smarter working as a modern day approach to working life.  There is a strong business case to be made - it can improve productivity and employee retention and it can also offer a wide range of environmental and social benefits"

Chris Sayers, regional director of BT added:" Thanks to our flexible working policy BT has 20 per cent less absenteeism than the national average, 99 per cent of our employees on maternity leave return to work, and we save 12 million litres of car fuel every year.  Work Wise North East will help bring these benefits to everyone in the region.

ENDS

For information about Work Wise North East or to receive a full event itinerary please contact: Sheila Chapman PR 07732 827 486 email scpr@btopenworld.com or contact Simon Roberson on 01977 596258

Notes to editors:

Further information about Work Wise North East can be found on the website www.workwiseuk.org/northeast.
Work Wise North East has attracted wide-ranging support from leading organisations in the region.  Strategic partners include One NorthEast, Government Office North East, North East Chamber of Commerce, Onyx Group, EEF Northern, Association of North East Councils, Equality North East, the Workplace Travel Plan Company, Dickinson Dees, BT and RBLI