Employers’ Forum on Disability
Encyclopedia
Employers' Forum on Disability (EFD) is the UK’s national employers’ network specifically focused on the topic of disability.
Its membership of about 350 employers, including 100 multinational corporations, small and medium sized enterprises and public sector employers, employ approximately 18 per cent of the UK workforce.
Members include employers from banking, education, health, broadcasting, telecommunications, manufacturing and retail sectors. Employers' Forum on Disability (EFD) is a membership organisation of UK businesses.
EFD provide a wide range of products and services making it easier for business to recruit
and retain
disabled employees, serve disabled customers and develop partnerships with disabled people as stakeholders in the wider community.
Membership benefits include a unique Helpline
, offering expert information on all aspects of disability, a connect service helping members to resolve potential Equality Act 2010 claims, member policy
audits and a wide range of events and publications.
Employers' Forum on Disability also operate a management tool called the Disability Standard
that enables organisations to accurately measure their performance on disability across the whole business and put in place an action plan to address priority areas.
EFD was launched with support from the Prince of Wales' Advisory Group on Disability and Business in the Community (BiTC), a business-led coalition promoting corporate social responsibility. The original founding members at the official launch in 1991 were Barclays, BBC, Pearl Assurance, Prudential Assurance, Shell International and Shell UK.
EFD was created when its founder, Susan Scott-Parker, proposed to business leaders that companies should jointly fund a central expert resource which would allow employer members to benefit from best practice and disabled people to benefit from economic and social inclusion. Many of these business leaders had personal contact with disability through connections with disability NGOs and/or family members.
Given this, EFD aims to enable employers to become competent in disability inclusion, and to support a broader systems and culture change in terms of policies and practices related to disability. It serves its members through advising and supporting businesses in all aspects of disability confidence, conducting training on disability issues and providing a range of services and resources.
The most powerful thing EFD did in the beginning to trigger change was to run the world’s first Leadership Development Programme for People with Disabilities. The programme, run by EFD for seven years, enabled disabled entrepreneurs to access leadership and management training courses organized by major corporations for their own employees. Participating corporations found that their management expectations regarding people described as ‘disabled’ were transformed by this opportunity to work alongside them during the courses.
EFD has a group of around 50 core funders or partners representing both the public and private sector and various business sectors. These ‘gold members’ as they are called, receive certain benefits such as additional support, free services, and access to focused networks.
EFD is governed by a board composed of representatives from the membership and is managed by a CEO and circa 35 staff.
People with disabilities are strongly represented in EFD’s activities, including through an influential network of Associates. The disabled associates, all experienced in business matters and serve as expert advisors, ambassadors, speakers and trainers. They contribute to all events and to the drafting of guidance on best practice. The 20-strong UK network of associates was created in 1991, followed by a growing network of eight worldwide associates in 2007.
EFD has good relations with other disability organisations in the UK and beyond, but does not have formal partnerships with them.
In addition to the general network, EFD has facilitated sub-networks by region and economic sector. Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire have formed regional networks while sector-specific networks exist for the creative industry, the police and ICT technology: the pioneering Broadcasting and Creative Industries Disability Network (BCIDN), active from 1989 to 2011, consisted of the major broadcasters in the UK.
EFD facilitated the recruiting and retention disabled employees, the sharing of good practices among its members and promoted a non-stereotypical representation of people with disabilities in the media. The Emergency Services and Law Enforcement Network (ELEN), which has more than thirty members, was organized in 1999 at the specific request of the Association of Chief Police Officers. The network shares best practice and provide advice on the service delivery within law enforcement.
The Business Taskforce on Accessible Technology (BTAT), launched in 2008, is the most recent of the sector-specific groups. Its thirty-five members have come together with shared aim to advance accessible technology products and services.
In 2007, EFD’s president created a President’s group, bringing together members at Chief Executive and Board level, to position disability as a top management issue to do with business and investment in human potential.
The Disability Standard measures three areas: employer commitment, organizational policy and practice, and the impact of policy and practice. Disability Standard participants carry out an online assessment by rating their performance on a range of disability-related issues (including accessibility, outsourcing, recruitment, customer services), and providing evidence in support of the ratings. Disability experts assess the ratings and evidence of each participant, and draw up a ‘diagnostic report’ for each company. The results of all participants are pooled together to establish a benchmark score.
The report assesses the member’s performance against previous Disability Standards rating (if available), their sector average and the overall benchmark average. On the basis of the report, individual employers can develop a disability action plan.
While the individual employers’ ratings are confidential, participants receive either a Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze or Participant certificate, depending on their rating. Tracking of the Disability Standard participants’ performance over time shows that employers’ disability confidence rating has improved as they continue to benchmark themselves with the help of the Disability Standard.
The first Disability Standard in 2005 had some 80 employers participating while the subsequent Standards in 2007 and 2009 had over 100 participants. Consultation with members and disabled people after the 2009 Disability Standard, found the Standard to be a useful and credible exercise enabling business improvement - but also a resource intensive exercise that needed to be more versatile to meet the specific needs of individual organisations.
The Disability Standard is therefore being revised, and the new version will be available to members in 2011.
Over 100 organisations took part in the 2009 Disability Standard
. The following organisations were ranked as the top ten:
1. The British Library
- BT
2. Motability Operations
4. Barclays Plc
5. Disability East
- London Borough of Tower Hamlets
7. Microlink PC
(UK)
8. Habinteg Housing Association
- Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust
10. Ministry of Defence
All participating organisations receive a rank to demonstrate their commitment to disability confidence. Top scores achieve Platinum followed by Gold, Silver, Bronze and Participants ranks.
In addition, EFD-facilitated Business Taskforce on Accessible Technology (BTAT) has created its own ‘Accessible Technology Charter’ to which companies can sign up. The signatories of the Charted commit to ensuring that the technology they purchase and use allows them to hire from, and provide products and services to the widest pool of people. The Charter also requires them to consult with disabled employees and integrate accessibility into procurement processes.
The Charter has been complemented with a business tool called the ‘Accessibility Maturity Model’ which enables companies to measure their ICT accessibility.
Public launch of these initiatives is due in late 2011.
The senior ICT directors engaged in BTAT are also contributing to the creation of a procurement protocol that can be adopted by any company wanting to ensure that all new ICT purchases make accessibility and usability an important requirement when deciding on ICT related purchases.
EFD’s first major publication, ‘Disability etiquette' was launched in 1991 and has sold well over 2 million copies. Since then, it has published a multitude of guides, often in collaboration with their members, among them ‘Guides on disability communication’ geared at different audiences and ‘Line manager guides’ on managing disability at work.
It also issued a set of 18 ‘EFD Briefing papers’ that provide employers with practical guidance and case studies on various issues related to the employment of people with disabilities.
EFD recognises that many large corporations want to provide their employees and customers with information which is specifically relevant to them. Therefore, all EFD publications can be tailored to feature particular corporate brands, and many guides are available either in hard copy, or as licensed versions for use on the corporation’s intranets.
Although EFD has always offered a helpline service to its employer members in some form, a specific service, ‘Disability Directions’, was established in 2007.
It is provided by a team that answers a range of disability-related queries of members by phone, email, textphone , post or online. The service is confidential and tailored to the needs of the particular client. Calls can be about any aspect of business and disability. Examples of queries include, for example, how to recruit someone with a mental health condition; how to design an accessible conference; or feedback on specific policies affecting disabled people.
Training methods vary. In addition to face-to-face training, EFD offers telephone tutorials, expert speakers to events and online training – or a combination. One example of online learning is ‘Disability Confident’, developed in 2004 by Skill Boosters, a company specialized in inclusive learning, in partnership with EFD. Disability Confident is an interactive learning resource which uses case scenarios and activities as a basis of learning about best practice, legal obligations and how to maximise the access and contribution of disabled people as employees and customers.
Another key online resource and publication, ‘Realising Potential’, sponsored by Intercontinental Hotels, was launched by EFD in 2006. It presents the new business case for disability, emphasizing the benefits which result when a company becomes disability competent, and contains facts and figures on disability as it affects business and the global economy, case studies, and advice on stakeholder engagement and on organizational change.
The Realising Potential website has had around 24,000 visits per year since its launch and is now being updated to provide a global resource to global business. The new site will be branded: ‘The New Business Case’ for realising potential.
EFD also provides a policy and procedural audit services designed to help employers design barrier free and adaptive processes for recruitment, retention of people who become disabled, and doing business with people with disabilities.
Bringing business leaders and disabled people together is important. An employers’ network like EFD can only challenge deep rooted misconceptions regarding disability by bringing business leaders together with disabled people, be they disabled opinion leaders, politicians, experts, advisors, entrepreneurs, advocates, graduates, colleagues, customers, shareholders or job seekers. This face to face contact, reinforced by the message that employers should treat disabled people fairly – and employ them on the basis of capability – is crucial. The problem solving skills of both business and persons with disabilities can also generate creative solutions that may well bypass the traditional way things are done.
Establish a clear role. EFD realized that it should establish a clear role that is separate from the role of the agencies that help disabled people to find work or who advocate on their behalf. EFD does not provide services to disabled people directly; it loses its capacity to influence its employer members if it is seen to be part of the traditional disability services field. EFD’s job is to make it easier for employers to say ‘Yes’ when approached by disabled job seekers for work opportunities and to create new more productive partnerships with services that promote economic and social inclusion.
Use the language that business understands and recognises. It is important to watch the jargon and avoid terms and tone that reinforces the view that ‘disability’ is ‘owned’ by government, doctors or charities.
Developing value added services requires resources. According to EDF experiences, it is key to have the resources to employ a small team who then to energise, communicate, and deliver a package of messages, services and innovation – which provide added value to the business community.
Its membership of about 350 employers, including 100 multinational corporations, small and medium sized enterprises and public sector employers, employ approximately 18 per cent of the UK workforce.
Members include employers from banking, education, health, broadcasting, telecommunications, manufacturing and retail sectors. Employers' Forum on Disability (EFD) is a membership organisation of UK businesses.
EFD provide a wide range of products and services making it easier for business to recruit
Recruit
Recruit can refer to:* a recently enlisted member of a military or paramilitary corps, still in training, as in :** Army recruit** Seaman Recruit...
and retain
RETAIN
RETAIN is a mainframe based database system, accessed via IBM 3270 terminals , used internally within IBM providing service support to IBM field personnel and customers....
disabled employees, serve disabled customers and develop partnerships with disabled people as stakeholders in the wider community.
Membership benefits include a unique Helpline
Helpline
A helpline was originally a telephone service which offers help to those who call. Many helpline services now offer more than telephone support - offering access to information, advice or customer service via telephone, email, web or SMS....
, offering expert information on all aspects of disability, a connect service helping members to resolve potential Equality Act 2010 claims, member policy
Policy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
audits and a wide range of events and publications.
Employers' Forum on Disability also operate a management tool called the Disability Standard
Disability Standard
The Disability Standard is a benchmarking assessment run by Employers' Forum on Disability.Best described as a management tool for employers, the Disability Standard acts as a statistical study providing us with a snapshot of UK businesses performance on disability in line with the disability...
that enables organisations to accurately measure their performance on disability across the whole business and put in place an action plan to address priority areas.
History
Established in 1986, EFD pioneered the first employers’ organisation of its kind. At the time of its formation, the initiatives to promote the employment of disabled people in the UK were largely developed in isolation of employers’ needs, so the creation of EFD started addressing that gap.EFD was launched with support from the Prince of Wales' Advisory Group on Disability and Business in the Community (BiTC), a business-led coalition promoting corporate social responsibility. The original founding members at the official launch in 1991 were Barclays, BBC, Pearl Assurance, Prudential Assurance, Shell International and Shell UK.
EFD was created when its founder, Susan Scott-Parker, proposed to business leaders that companies should jointly fund a central expert resource which would allow employer members to benefit from best practice and disabled people to benefit from economic and social inclusion. Many of these business leaders had personal contact with disability through connections with disability NGOs and/or family members.
Mission
The underlying idea in EFD’s approach is that corporate disability confidence presents a huge potential to businesses as they learn how to recruit and employ disabled people on the basis of capability, and as they learn how to become fully accessible for disabled customers and stakeholders in the wider community.Given this, EFD aims to enable employers to become competent in disability inclusion, and to support a broader systems and culture change in terms of policies and practices related to disability. It serves its members through advising and supporting businesses in all aspects of disability confidence, conducting training on disability issues and providing a range of services and resources.
The most powerful thing EFD did in the beginning to trigger change was to run the world’s first Leadership Development Programme for People with Disabilities. The programme, run by EFD for seven years, enabled disabled entrepreneurs to access leadership and management training courses organized by major corporations for their own employees. Participating corporations found that their management expectations regarding people described as ‘disabled’ were transformed by this opportunity to work alongside them during the courses.
Structure and Partners
EFD is an independent not-for-profit organization managed and funded by its members through membership fees and through financing websites, new initiatives, tools and events. Some members also provide pro bono advice and actively participate in joint problem solving such as the Business Taskforce on Accessible Technology. Although technically a charity, EFD does not receive government grants or charitable donations.EFD has a group of around 50 core funders or partners representing both the public and private sector and various business sectors. These ‘gold members’ as they are called, receive certain benefits such as additional support, free services, and access to focused networks.
EFD is governed by a board composed of representatives from the membership and is managed by a CEO and circa 35 staff.
People with disabilities are strongly represented in EFD’s activities, including through an influential network of Associates. The disabled associates, all experienced in business matters and serve as expert advisors, ambassadors, speakers and trainers. They contribute to all events and to the drafting of guidance on best practice. The 20-strong UK network of associates was created in 1991, followed by a growing network of eight worldwide associates in 2007.
EFD has good relations with other disability organisations in the UK and beyond, but does not have formal partnerships with them.
In addition to the general network, EFD has facilitated sub-networks by region and economic sector. Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire have formed regional networks while sector-specific networks exist for the creative industry, the police and ICT technology: the pioneering Broadcasting and Creative Industries Disability Network (BCIDN), active from 1989 to 2011, consisted of the major broadcasters in the UK.
EFD facilitated the recruiting and retention disabled employees, the sharing of good practices among its members and promoted a non-stereotypical representation of people with disabilities in the media. The Emergency Services and Law Enforcement Network (ELEN), which has more than thirty members, was organized in 1999 at the specific request of the Association of Chief Police Officers. The network shares best practice and provide advice on the service delivery within law enforcement.
The Business Taskforce on Accessible Technology (BTAT), launched in 2008, is the most recent of the sector-specific groups. Its thirty-five members have come together with shared aim to advance accessible technology products and services.
In 2007, EFD’s president created a President’s group, bringing together members at Chief Executive and Board level, to position disability as a top management issue to do with business and investment in human potential.
Disability Standard
To enable its members to measure their performance on disability confidence, EFD created the Disability Standard in 2004. The Disability Standard is aself-assessment tool, validated by EFD experts, for enterprises and public bodies to evaluate their performance relating to disability as it affects their entire businessThe Disability Standard measures three areas: employer commitment, organizational policy and practice, and the impact of policy and practice. Disability Standard participants carry out an online assessment by rating their performance on a range of disability-related issues (including accessibility, outsourcing, recruitment, customer services), and providing evidence in support of the ratings. Disability experts assess the ratings and evidence of each participant, and draw up a ‘diagnostic report’ for each company. The results of all participants are pooled together to establish a benchmark score.
The report assesses the member’s performance against previous Disability Standards rating (if available), their sector average and the overall benchmark average. On the basis of the report, individual employers can develop a disability action plan.
While the individual employers’ ratings are confidential, participants receive either a Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze or Participant certificate, depending on their rating. Tracking of the Disability Standard participants’ performance over time shows that employers’ disability confidence rating has improved as they continue to benchmark themselves with the help of the Disability Standard.
The first Disability Standard in 2005 had some 80 employers participating while the subsequent Standards in 2007 and 2009 had over 100 participants. Consultation with members and disabled people after the 2009 Disability Standard, found the Standard to be a useful and credible exercise enabling business improvement - but also a resource intensive exercise that needed to be more versatile to meet the specific needs of individual organisations.
The Disability Standard is therefore being revised, and the new version will be available to members in 2011.
Over 100 organisations took part in the 2009 Disability Standard
Disability Standard
The Disability Standard is a benchmarking assessment run by Employers' Forum on Disability.Best described as a management tool for employers, the Disability Standard acts as a statistical study providing us with a snapshot of UK businesses performance on disability in line with the disability...
. The following organisations were ranked as the top ten:
1. The British Library
- BT
BT Group
BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
2. Motability Operations
Motability
Motability is a United Kingdom scheme which enables disabled people to obtain a car, powered wheelchair or scooter by using their Government-funded mobility allowances....
4. Barclays Plc
Barclays plc
Barclays PLC is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. As of 2010 it was the world's 10th-largest banking and financial services group and 21st-largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
5. Disability East
- London Borough of Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
7. Microlink PC
MicroLink
MicroLink was Estonian IT company, founded in August 1991. In 2005 it was acquired by Eesti Telekom. In 2009, MicroLink sold its software development business along with competencies to Helmes AS. By the end of 2010, the reminder of MicroLink claimed to employ up to 200 people...
(UK)
8. Habinteg Housing Association
- Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust
Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust
The Luton and Dunstable Hospital is a medium-size, general hospital run by the National Health Service in Luton, Bedfordshire. Founded in 1937, the hospital is currently an NHS Trust, providing general medical and surgical services, for over 350,000 people in Luton and Dunstable, the south of...
10. Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
All participating organisations receive a rank to demonstrate their commitment to disability confidence. Top scores achieve Platinum followed by Gold, Silver, Bronze and Participants ranks.
Improving ICT accessibility for job seekers, employees and customers
EFD undertook, with the help of the consulting firm McKinsey, the first research into the many obstacles created by inaccessible online recruitment systems. McKinsey founds that 1.3 million disabled people in the UK alone were unable to apply for jobs with the vast majority of companies only recruiting via online processes. As a result, EFD published the guidance on how to ensure online recruitment does not systematically exclude disabled and other disadvantaged job seekers, backed by the website: www.barrierfree-recruitment.com.In addition, EFD-facilitated Business Taskforce on Accessible Technology (BTAT) has created its own ‘Accessible Technology Charter’ to which companies can sign up. The signatories of the Charted commit to ensuring that the technology they purchase and use allows them to hire from, and provide products and services to the widest pool of people. The Charter also requires them to consult with disabled employees and integrate accessibility into procurement processes.
The Charter has been complemented with a business tool called the ‘Accessibility Maturity Model’ which enables companies to measure their ICT accessibility.
Public launch of these initiatives is due in late 2011.
The senior ICT directors engaged in BTAT are also contributing to the creation of a procurement protocol that can be adopted by any company wanting to ensure that all new ICT purchases make accessibility and usability an important requirement when deciding on ICT related purchases.
Providing information and advice on disability confidence
EFD raises awareness and provides information and definitive guidance on best practice through its website, networking events and publications. While information on some specific topics, such as legislative briefings, are available to members only, EFD shares a lot of disability and business-related information to the wider audience as well. It has a media centre with facts and figures and case studies to be used by journalists, which is seen as important to promoting disability as a business issue.EFD’s first major publication, ‘Disability etiquette' was launched in 1991 and has sold well over 2 million copies. Since then, it has published a multitude of guides, often in collaboration with their members, among them ‘Guides on disability communication’ geared at different audiences and ‘Line manager guides’ on managing disability at work.
It also issued a set of 18 ‘EFD Briefing papers’ that provide employers with practical guidance and case studies on various issues related to the employment of people with disabilities.
EFD recognises that many large corporations want to provide their employees and customers with information which is specifically relevant to them. Therefore, all EFD publications can be tailored to feature particular corporate brands, and many guides are available either in hard copy, or as licensed versions for use on the corporation’s intranets.
Although EFD has always offered a helpline service to its employer members in some form, a specific service, ‘Disability Directions’, was established in 2007.
It is provided by a team that answers a range of disability-related queries of members by phone, email, textphone , post or online. The service is confidential and tailored to the needs of the particular client. Calls can be about any aspect of business and disability. Examples of queries include, for example, how to recruit someone with a mental health condition; how to design an accessible conference; or feedback on specific policies affecting disabled people.
Training
EFD offers training courses and workshops on different aspects of disability management and confidence to the membership generally; it also tailors training to meet the specific needs of a particular organisation. Most courses are either free or discounted for EFD members, while non-members pay the full training fee. Most of the trainers and presenters are disabled themselves. In 2010, nearly 1,500 people attended EFD’s training events.Training methods vary. In addition to face-to-face training, EFD offers telephone tutorials, expert speakers to events and online training – or a combination. One example of online learning is ‘Disability Confident’, developed in 2004 by Skill Boosters, a company specialized in inclusive learning, in partnership with EFD. Disability Confident is an interactive learning resource which uses case scenarios and activities as a basis of learning about best practice, legal obligations and how to maximise the access and contribution of disabled people as employees and customers.
Another key online resource and publication, ‘Realising Potential’, sponsored by Intercontinental Hotels, was launched by EFD in 2006. It presents the new business case for disability, emphasizing the benefits which result when a company becomes disability competent, and contains facts and figures on disability as it affects business and the global economy, case studies, and advice on stakeholder engagement and on organizational change.
The Realising Potential website has had around 24,000 visits per year since its launch and is now being updated to provide a global resource to global business. The new site will be branded: ‘The New Business Case’ for realising potential.
EFD also provides a policy and procedural audit services designed to help employers design barrier free and adaptive processes for recruitment, retention of people who become disabled, and doing business with people with disabilities.
Achievements
Some of EFD’s major accomplishments during its 20 years of operation include:- Engaging over 1,000 employers in improving their disability confidence,
- Mobilising leading UK corporations, alongside the disability movement, to actively support both the abolition of the 1944 UK Quota and the introduction of modern anti-discrimination legislation, the Disability Discrimination Act, in 1995.
- Through the Disability Standard, setting the corporate standard for performance on disability as it affects a business and defining what best practice on disability actually means with regard to recruitment, employment, customer care and stakeholder engagement more widely.
- Disseminating over 8 million best practice guides throughout the UK and internationally to raise awareness of disability as a business priority and to make it easier to deliver business improvement.
- Increasing the capacity of hundreds of organisations and thousands of managers to employ and retain disabled employees and to do business with disabled customers through its disability confidence related training and by building relationships between individual business leaders and individual disabled people.
- Creating a global advisory group of multinational partners now setting out to establish similar networks in other countries, starting with an emerging EFD in Spain.
Lessons learned
Employers should lead the organisation.An organisation for employers must be owned and led by employers who create a platform from which to engage with disabled people’s organisations and other stakeholders. The forum must position employers as its key customers and then offer the employer relevant services and toolkits which make it easier for these employers to get it right.Bringing business leaders and disabled people together is important. An employers’ network like EFD can only challenge deep rooted misconceptions regarding disability by bringing business leaders together with disabled people, be they disabled opinion leaders, politicians, experts, advisors, entrepreneurs, advocates, graduates, colleagues, customers, shareholders or job seekers. This face to face contact, reinforced by the message that employers should treat disabled people fairly – and employ them on the basis of capability – is crucial. The problem solving skills of both business and persons with disabilities can also generate creative solutions that may well bypass the traditional way things are done.
Establish a clear role. EFD realized that it should establish a clear role that is separate from the role of the agencies that help disabled people to find work or who advocate on their behalf. EFD does not provide services to disabled people directly; it loses its capacity to influence its employer members if it is seen to be part of the traditional disability services field. EFD’s job is to make it easier for employers to say ‘Yes’ when approached by disabled job seekers for work opportunities and to create new more productive partnerships with services that promote economic and social inclusion.
Use the language that business understands and recognises. It is important to watch the jargon and avoid terms and tone that reinforces the view that ‘disability’ is ‘owned’ by government, doctors or charities.
Developing value added services requires resources. According to EDF experiences, it is key to have the resources to employ a small team who then to energise, communicate, and deliver a package of messages, services and innovation – which provide added value to the business community.