Supporting the unsung heroes - Beckie Hart

To me, though – and to the CBI – business is about so much more than that. In my eyes, business is society’s driving force, delivering high-quality goods and services people need, jobs and growth. It raises aspirations and living standards, and defines individual destinies as much as the national balance sheet.

After all, it’s business which ultimately enables us all to keep a roof over our heads and put food on the table for our families.

There is no doubt business can be a powerful force for good. Over the past 12 months, with a pandemic raging and lives in crisis, companies have proven themselves, time and again.

Since the Covid outbreak hit the UK almost a year ago, businesses across the country – not least here in Yorkshire and the Humber – have stepped up in service of the nation. Whether pivoting operations to produce ventilators and PPE, utilising world-class scientific brains in vaccine production, or more recently lending premises and manpower to vaccination efforts, businesses have been front and centre to the fightback.

But the positive influence has run much deeper. Not every business effort has hit the headlines or changed the world. Yet day after day, I hear of firms going above and beyond to make a difference in their community. Supporting charities and foodbanks. Donating kit to care workers. Laptops to schools.

Above all, helping their own teams make it through this crisis by looking after their employees’ physical and mental wellbeing. At a time when so many firms are struggling to keep their own heads above water, it really has been a remarkable show of solidarity. Businesses’ positive influence does not end there. We have also seen our region’s firms’ excel in the gestures of support they have offered to NHS workers. As early as the first lockdown last spring, when so many of us joined the Clap For Carers campaign, businesses were coming up with their own contributions to help.

From supermarkets offering dedicated shopping slots, to restaurants and cafes discounting food and drink, the outpouring of kindness to our NHS teams was immediate and significant.

Yet now, nearly a year down the road, the goodwill remains, but much of that initial wave of direct support has waned. Doctors, nurses and carers, fatigued from the toughest year they have ever seen, continue to battle daily to save the lives of desperately poorly Covid patients in our hospitals.

Yet in many cases, that initial show of appreciation has largely dried up. NHS teams need – and deserve – to know they have not been forgotten.

That is why the CBI has this week launched #BusinessBackingNHS, a campaign which urges businesses to look again at the support they can offer to these unseen heroes of the pandemic. Gestures large or small – ranging from day-to-day support like donated meals or discounted services, to practical help such as offering resources or manpower to accelerate vaccination drives – can make a meaningful difference and will be warmly welcomed.

We know vaccine delivery is going well. Real hope is on the horizon. Let’s unite once more behind those who have toiled tirelessly to protect us all during the pandemic’s darkest days.

Find out how you can help by logging on to the CBI website at cbi.org.uk.