Quadrant2Design’s bespoke exhibition stands help New Zealand charity – the Kākāpō Recovery Programme.
Leading exhibition stand specialists, Quadrant2Design, are best known for their compelling and bold graphical exhibition stands, and the modular and reusable Prestige Events System that they employ to create them.
What wouldn’t be so obvious before September 2017 is their strong affiliation with New Zealand and the exotic wildlife that resides there.
In late 2017, Quadrant2Design announced their official sponsorship of the Kākāpō Recovery Programme and the donation of a number of bespoke exhibition stands to help the New Zealand charity with their advocacy and educational projects.
”New Zealand was somewhere I personally called home for 15 years, and I’m thrilled to help bring the kākāpō story to the UK and to share it with our employees and clients.As a company, we’re very environmentally aware. Our exhibition stands are a sustainable exhibiting solution that avoids the shocking waste of materials and resources involved in trashing an exhibition stand after just one use.”
Alex Jenkins, Managing Director
Help prevent the extinction of these flightless birds
For Quadrant2Design, the Kākāpō Recovery Programme is intrinsically tied to who they are, and what they stand for. CSR should never be a ‘box-ticking’ exercise, but rather the core values of the strategy should form an integral part of a company’s business planning. It’s the opportunity for an organisation to share ethical attitudes that go above and beyond to address key social issues.
This week, the Kākāpō Recovery Programme is celebrating the 21st birthday of their spokesbird, Sirocco. After shooting to fame in 2009 after appearing on a BBC documentary with Stephen Fry, Sirocco has gone on to be an advocate worldwide for the cause. Quadrant2Design have aligned their marketing plans to support the celebrations and continue to help educate the UK on how they can help prevent the extinction of this beautiful and rare parrot.
”SMEs are unlikely to be able to spare a whole job role to accommodate CSR activity. It’s vital not to overload your business and to ensure proportional CSR activity to the size of your organisation.
Logan Harrington, PR & Social Media Manager.”
Look to donate specialist skills
Every pound and penny is accounted for within an SME, and it’s important that the financial spend and employee hours are used wisely. However, CSR doesn’t equal a bunch of monetary spending. SMEs, by nature, are much more involved in their local community than larger corporations and boast many local connections. Many SMEs look to donate their specialist skills, like Quadrant2Design, or even their time.
Although SMEs may not have a large employee volunteer pool like a big business, they’re likely to have a closer connection to their employees and thus are likely to be able to successfully engage more of them in the idea of volunteering locally.
Whether it’s for in-house fundraisers, support of environmental causes like clean-up days or helping to build something tangible in the community. With SMEs accounting for 70% of the workforce, there’s the scope to make a big impact in the world around you, and to even reap the benefits of better brand recognition, a positive business reputation and the greater ability to attract talent and retain staff.
Collaborate with other local businesses
All companies begin at different starting points when it comes to CSR, and you’re likely to be employing a bunch of tactics already, whether that’s using recycled paper or regularly checking your energy bills to make smarter informed decisions.
Support good causes that go beyond simply handing over a cheque when it comes to working with charities. Instead of reacting to random requests, have a plan in place that not only executes great CSR activity but also deploys measurable results.
“I would challenge all SMEs to be more ambitious in their approach to tackling social or environmental issues,” says Alan Jenkins. “Think big! Collaborate with other local small businesses and share your imagination to achieve a common goal for the greater good.”