New Leeds donation platform encourages businesses to help 'people, planet and prosperity

The 1% for the City founding team comprises Mike Quate and Sat Mann from ByDiffusion.

Guy Utley from TALL Agency, Anna Ashford from ALT Legal, Caroline Broad from Clarion Solicitors, Sarah Hex from Mercia, and Hannah Corne from St Gemmas Hospice.

The team plans to form a partnership and potential funding plan with Leeds Community Foundation, a non-profit organisation which distributes grants and funding to grassroots charities and community groups across Leeds and Bradford.

Speaking on his time working with Leeds Community Foundation, 1% for the City founding member Mike Quate said: “It really opened my eyes to how unconnected the third sector was with the private sector; the challenges that the third sector have got, and the opportunities that the private sector collaborating with the third sector can bring.

“We want to try and make our business model more accessible to SMEs. They’re the life blood of the economy, but SMEs also have a responsibility , and many want to take responsibility for the community they exist in

“So while they're growing, 1% for the City answers the question of “how can I focus on people, planet and prosperity, and do good, while growing my business?

“This gives them that simple platform in order to do it.”

The platform was launched in conjunction with new consultancy business ByDiffusion, founded by Mr Quate and co-founder Sat Mann.

Both ByDiffusion and 1% for the City were launched last week at an event attended by Tom Riordan, Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, and Eve Roodhouse, Chief Officer - Culture and Economy at Leeds City Council.

Mr Mann said: “The idea has come from a long time of thinking about the challenges of Leeds as a city, but also the wealth, investment and growth that has existed here over the last 10 years.

“We spoke about how that's been an amazing platform for business, but how over time that constant growth narrative is actually misaligned with the fact that a mile away from the city centre people are struggling with the bare essentials, and that can be anything from feeding your children to having accesses to services like wifi and phone.

“I believe this is part of what's happening more broadly. There's a sentiment across the market, when you look at what's happened over the last four or five years in regards to things like B Corp, and increasingly things like doughnut economics and how we reframe economics to serve people and community and planet, I think everyone is starting to understand that there's an opportunity to do things differently, so we’re creating a mechanism for that.”

The group also note how they hope the new platform could act as a blueprint for other cities in the North of England to follow.

Steph Taylor, strategy and programmes director at Leeds Community Foundation, added: “I think it will spread. If what we can do really well though this is create a culture whereby when people set up a business, they think from the beginning about how that business is going to have social purpose, that's a really compelling change to culture, and one that we don't have in any city at the moment.”