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We’re fast approaching this year’s Father’s Day (18th June). To mark this special occasion care home residents across Yorkshire have shared their words of wisdom for new fathers, and dads-to-be with some timely and practical parenting advice! From providing a secure and safe home to ensuring your children have a good education, they’ve shared their practical advice, based on decades of experience. With an average age of 89, residents at Mayfield View Care Home in Ilkley and Seacroft Grange Care Village in Leeds have enthusiastically shared their best parenting advice. Father’s Day Wisdom for Yorkshire’s Younger Generations: - ‘Be prepared to listen to what the children have to say’, shares Keith (89 years old) - ‘Each child is different, communication is key’, shares Raymond (95 years old) - ‘Always do what’s right and take life as it comes’, shares Dennis (92 years old) - ‘Be a good father - understanding, careful and work hard’, shares Ronnie (95 years old) - ‘Never go to bed on an argument’, shares David (84 years old) 79-year-old Ian shares the importance of making sure your children have a good education. His proudest parenting moment was watching his daughters passing-out parade at the Cadettes. Ian shares, "I was very proud - she got to the same rank as me!" Ronnie (95 years old) is a devoted parent and grandparent and just like Ian, he believes a good education is very important. Ronnie shares, "I was really proud to see my daughter's child graduate from university to be a teacher." 92-year-old Dennis believes having a strong relationship with your children is the key to great parenting. Dennis shares, "I am very proud of how close myself and my daughter are and how she has always been there for me through the good times and the bad. I always appreciate it." Raymond (95 years old) believes having fun with your children and bringing them up with good manners is important. One of his favourite parenting memories is when his youngest son was asked to draw a picture in school. Raymond’s son chose to draw a picture of God. When the teacher said, "No-one knows what he looks like," his son replied, "No but they will when I’m finished." Whilst Keith (89 years old) shares his favourite memory from parenthood was watching his son take his first steps in the park whilst visiting family. “From lessons of wisdom to helpful parenting hacks - there’s plenty of parenthood lessons we can take from older generations. What’s more for older adults there are lots of benefits of reminiscing and revisiting treasured memories from the past,” shares Will Donnelly, Care Expert and Co-Founder at Lottie. “Reminiscing is such a great activity to do with your elderly loved ones and benefits the whole family." "After remembering happy memories, you’ll find your older relatives are often brighter and may smile more. Engaging in these types of conversations helps maintain balance, and it can even bring family members closer together. These past experiences that your elderly relative shares are valuable memories that can be passed onto future generations." "Reminiscing together is a wonderful way to communicate with anyone living with dementia. Activities involving reflection can improve their self-esteem and physical health by lowering their blood pressure. It also improves their communication skills and lowers their stress levels.”

Players and staff from FC Halifax Town attended a special event on Wednesday 14 June at Halifax Town Hall, to celebrate the club’s success in the FA Trophy. The team beat Gateshead in the FA Trophy Final, played at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 21 May and the Council and civic leaders wanted to recognise this amazing achievement. The Mayor of Calderdale, Cllr Ashley Evans, the Leader of Calderdale Council, Cllr Jane Scullion and the Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Services and Communities, Cllr Jenny Lynn, welcomed representatives from the club to the Mayor’s Parlour for a drinks reception. Players and officials from the club attended with the trophy and the Mayor and councillors spoke about the achievement and the pride the victory has brought to the club and local communities. The Mayor of Calderdale, Cllr Ashley Evans, said: “The FA Trophy victory was a magnificent achievement and it was great to see such fantastic support for the club, with thousands of fans travelling down to Wembley." “It was a real honour to meet members of the team, officials and coaching staff and to see the stunning trophy.” David Bosomworth, Chairman of FC Halifax Town, said: “We thank the Mayor and councillors for inviting our club to a reception in celebration of our Wembley win." ‘It was yet another immensely proud day for FC Halifax Town, reaching a second Wembley final in seven years. To reach Wembley once was a dream come true but for a second time is out of this world for everyone involved with the club and its fans." “We trust that this is not only wonderful exposure for the town and Calderdale as a whole, but a great example to everyone interested in sporting activities, that success can be achieved.”

Pontefract Liquorice Festival is back on Sunday 9 July – get ready for sweet-themed fun celebrating Pontefract’s historic link with liquorice. The festival is a firm family favourite with something for everyone to enjoy including the return of the famous food and drink market. This year, venues across Pontefract will be offering delicious liquorice-themed items to delight taste buds throughout the festival weekend. It’s a chance to discover some of the independent bars, restaurants, and cafes across Pontefract. Cllr Michelle Collins, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport, said: “Pontefract Liquorice Festival is a great day out for all the family to enjoy, as we celebrate the town’s unique association with liquorice." “As well as the wide variety of entertainment and colourful market stalls, you can also visit many of the local, independent businesses, who will be selling lots of treats with a liquorice twist, which I’ll be looking forward to trying myself.” The festival is run in partnership with the Pontefract Civic Society, who are also hosting ‘Liquorice Shoots’ on Saturday 8 July - a community warm-up event for the main festival featuring entertainment, artisan stalls and family activities. Find out more here

Award-winning localisation, translation, editing and multilingual copywriting services company PAB Languages Centre is celebrating a record quarter for website localisation projects. The business, founded in the East Midlands and now operating globally, completed 11 different website translations and localisations for clients, including into French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Swedish, and Japanese. This comes as more and more businesses recognise the value of having websites not just in native languages but localised too. Around 40% of internet users said they will never buy from websites that are not in their native language and 65% of non-native English speakers prefer content in their native tongue, even though they are highly proficient in English, according to CSA Research. And in a 2022 study by PayPal, 57% of online shoppers said that they shopped internationally. In fact, two out of five global shoppers had made a cross-border purchase in the previous three months. Iwona Lebiedowicz, founder of PAB Languages Centre Ltd, said: “A multilingual website engages new audiences and opens the opportunity to become visible across international search engines. A properly localised website speaks directly to the consumer in their own language, enabling businesses and brands to compete with local and global players in their niche." “Localisation is a comprehensive process that entails not only text translation but also other factors to bear in mind. These include modifying your content to respect local market habits, addressing economic, historical, and sometimes political references, adjusting images, icons, and colours to local tastes and culture, changing dates, addresses, phone numbers, and other details to fit a local format, and converting to local currencies and units of measure." “The numbers are quite staggering – translating your website into English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese and Italian enables you to reach 80% of the global online purchasing power – so it’s no surprise that an increasing number of businesses are looking to translate and localise their websites.” PAB Languages Centre helps organisations across all industries connect and communicate with their audiences. Offering localisation, translation, editing and multilingual copywriting services in more than 200 languages, PAB has a team of professional translators, linguists, interpreters, and lecturers who come from all over the world. It has UK offices in the East Midlands as well as Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire, and Essex. PAB works locally and internationally with clients from the UK and around the world. “Localisation is a complex process and one that requires a huge range of skills and specialist knowledge. For these reasons, the process of localising a website is best handled by a team of professionals,” added Iwona. She advises checking experience, expertise, value and references when choosing a website translation and localisation service. “Look at their portfolio to see their approach to localisation and ability to work with diverse content types,” advises Iwona. “Check for reviews and ask for references from previous clients to understand their quality of work, responsiveness, and ability to meet deadlines. A professional team should include experts in areas such as culture, technical architecture, web development, SEO, copywriting, translation, and quality assurance." “Localisation requires specialist knowledge, and to ensure that your localised website delivers a return on investment it is essential to choose a trustworthy agency with a good reputation.” When PAB Languages asked clients why they had decided to translate and localise their websites they said it helped to create a sense of trust and familiarity between the company and its customers, helping to develop a better customer experience and increasing customer loyalty. For more information, visit www.pablanguages.co.uk

EVera Recruitment, today, detailed the most in demand transferable skills sought by the electric vehicle and gigafactory industries. From manufacturing sectors as diverse as toilet roll manufacturing and chocolate biscuit production, the skills are directly transferable to state-of-the-art battery assembly lines. The UK eMobility sector is on a trajectory and never before have such a diverse range of transferable skills been in demand. Highlights: Reel to reel toilet roll production transfers to rolling anode and cathode in cylindrical battery Melting chocolate skills applicable to the deposition lithium paste on electrodes Foil wrapping confectionary relevant to production of anodes and cathodes Tata Gigafactory, Somerset will create double doughnut demand for skilled jobs The expected Tata Gigafactory in Somerset is a great example. To work it will need the following resources; a good supply of energy, the materials to build the batteries and, critically, a skilled workforce. Powder, paste and liquid handling skills are the mainstay of the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industries. Particularly the food and pharmaceutical sectors. The production facilities are kept clean and sterile to produce the very highest quality products. Not dissimilar to a gigafactory production line. When a modern factory of any sort starts up, it hoovers up much of the skilled workforce in the 20 – 30 mile radius, creating a doughnut effect. Businesses in that area who’ve lost their skilled workers then, in turn, have to recruit skilled workers from a further 20 – 30 mile radius creating a second doughnut. These doughnuts of skilled, highly paid workers ensure economic growth for the areas, some within a 60-mile radius from the original factory. An electric vehicle battery cell production line has around 15 discreet processes that all exist in some form in other industries. A Kit-Kat for example is made up of wafers, chocolate powder and oils which are blended to make a paste, the chocolate is heated to the perfect viscosity and deposited on the biscuit before the foil wrapper is applied. In cylindrical battery production, powders (lithium and cobalt) are mixed in exacting ratios with liquids to make a paste which is deposited onto a foil to make the anode and cathode. The cathode and anode are then firmly and delicately rolled together to maximise the energy density of the battery. The engineering skill in setting up and managing reel to reel machines to produce consistently rolled toilet rolls, where the tension is maintained even as the roll diameter changes is directly transferable into the production of cylindrical lithium-ion batteries where precision is critical to the efficiency of the battery. EVera Recruitment, Europe’s only dedicated battery, electric vehicle and gigaplant recruitment consultancy, established to provide the talent required for the UK to become a global leader in battery cell manufacturing for the automotive industry. The company currently has hundreds of jobs at all levels for clients across the UK and beyond. EVera Founder and CEO Steve Doyle said: “Somebody who understands part of the confectionery production process may have skills that are directly applicable to a specific phase of the battery manufacturing line. They will know that running a production line can be like fine-tuning a musical instrument. There is undoubtedly an art to it.” “EVera Recruitment currently has hundreds of vacancies across a whole range of exciting sectors from the OEMs developing the next generation electric vehicles and the pioneers in hydrogen HGVs to the gigafactories who are gearing up to produce cutting edge batteries and the innovators developing new forms of eMobility. Now is a great time to work in the burgeoning EV sector and potentially realise a decent pay increase in this highly technical and competitive sector." Find out more here

East Midlands-based civil and structural engineering company BSP Consulting has promoted two members of its team. Pedro Navarro has been made an Associate, while Oliver McElroy has been promoted to Principal Engineer. Both are members of the civil engineering team at BSP Consulting, with Pedro working in the Nottingham office and Oliver working out of the Derby office. BSP Director Tony Goddard said: “These promotions are in recognition of their tireless technical work within the civils team and their proven ability encouraging and developing younger staff, managing project finances and going the extra mile to nurture positive client relationships." “On behalf of everyone at BSP Consulting, I’d like to congratulate Pedro and Oliver and wish them well in their new roles.” Pedro has been with BSP since June 2017, while Oliver joined in November 2020. One of the largest independent civil and structural engineering companies in the East Midlands, BSP is an award-winning firm that operates across the UK, offering civil engineering, structural engineering, transport engineering, geotechnical and environmental engineering. BSP works across all sectors including housing, student accommodation, commercial, industrial, health, education, senior living, retail and heritage. For more information about BSP Consulting visit their website here

The funding is available for Wakefield district creatives, cultural organisations, and community groups to support new cultural projects to ensure the entire district creatively thrives. This June sees investment by the Council into Culture Grants which support the creative sector to produce high quality projects and enable communities to lead their own activity in their local area – giving everyone access to arts, culture and heritage. Councillor Michelle Collins, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport, said: “I am pleased to be announcing grants to support creativity, culture and heritage across our district today. It’s great that people in so many of our communities will be able to participate in and benefit from a diverse and inclusive range of activities in the coming months." “This is about embracing and developing creativity wherever it is in our district. I’m excited that we’re supporting such a wide range of really important projects, from community-led murals to wellbeing workshops to musical events and activity.” There are two grants available - Made in Wakefield for the creative sector and Culture Everywhere for community groups to apply for. Made in Wakefield grants range from £1,500 to £15,000 to support new creative work, and ambitious participatory projects. One of the recipients is Our House Wakefield, who will launch a year-long programme of cultural activity at Our House – the new LGBTQIA community hub in Wakefield city centre. The programme will offer opportunities for all community members to participate creatively, to learn new skills and share with monthly creative workshops and community open mic nights. Louie Stafford, Founder & Managing Director, said: “We are building something special for the Wakefield LGBTQ+ community through Our House; we are bringing local people together in a safe, affirming environment where we can share our passions and express ourselves freely. Receiving this funding has come at a critical time for our organisation and will enable us to deliver an exciting creative programme of events and workshops over the next nine months. We are so excited to get started!” Culture Everywhere support community groups, charities and CICs, to run small arts and culture activities and events with their local communities. These grants support residents across the district to have the opportunity to experience culture in their communities and are for up to £1,500. The full list of recipients of the Made in Wakefield grants are: The Made in Wakefield grants are: Artist Claire Walker will run six community yarn making and weaving workshops, and display a large piece, to commemorate the strength of the community at The Brig’s Summer Fair on the 9 July 2023. Featherstone Rovers Foundation will develop a year-long project called ‘Pit to the Pitch’, a celebration of the history and traditions of Featherstone Rovers RLFC and its association with the heritage of coal mining in Featherstone through creative activities. Our House Wakefield will launch a year-long programme of cultural activity at Our House – the new LGBTQIA community hub in Wakefield city centre. The programme will offer opportunities for all community members to participate creatively, to learn new skills and share with monthly creative workshops and community open mic nights. Wakefield Live will celebrate its second year as a free city centre festival in Wakefield. The festival will grow, with a new public city centre open air and solar powered stage as well as more venues taking place rooting the festival in Wakefield and engaging with more local people. Portobello Community Forum will come together over 12 weeks to ‘Sow, Grow and Know’. An exciting new community initiative for families to get involved with growing their own food, storytelling, supper sharing, seed sowing and building bird boxes. Sustain Wakefield will be working with artist Lewis Ryan over 10 weeks to create a new large colourful mural at St Catherine’s Church Wakefield celebrating LGBTQIA themes, with workshops in Drag make-up and confidence. There will be a public launch including 20+ stalls at the event to share information and services available to all Wakefield residents. Creative Suzie Cross will be working at Anglers Country Park to create a series of wellbeing workshops in the woodlands, as well as an experimental bone-conductive sound sculpture which Suzie is developing so that deaf participants can ‘hear’ the sounds of the woodlands. The Community Choir Wakefield will be performing across the district with their summer singing for wellbeing campaign. The choir will perform at WDH coffee mornings in the district. Providing inclusive and accessible opportunities for elderly isolated Wakefield residents to be involved in fun community singing events. Wakefield District Sight Aid will be developing a series of inclusive art workshops in Wakefield open to all its service users. Each free course will consist of eight weekly two-hour sessions, facilitated by Ruth Fones, a leading visual artist from Wakefield, and supported by two facilitators who have lived experience of sight loss. Clarence Park Festival 2023 will go ahead with 22 live music performances over the weekend of the 29 and 30 July 2023. The festival is well established in Wakefield, and this year trainee DJs from Wakefield College have been invited to perform, as well as a poetry space for a series of workshops for children and young people in poetry writing and spoken word performance. Wakefield Pride continues to grow, hosting 5,000 people in one day on Borough Road. As one of the largest events taking place in Wakefield city centre, this year looks to be an exciting and celebratory programme of artists and acts on stage to entertain the crowds. The Culture Everywhere grants are: Featherstone Male Voice Choir in September 2023 will be celebrating their 60th Anniversary special concert at Wakefield Cathedral with Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Wakefield Council’s support will help 150 Featherstone residents to attend the Wakefield concert by providing coach travel and subsidised tickets. Pontefract Civic Society will be running a full programme of events for Heritage Open Days in September 2023. They have started their planning of over 50 heritage related events to help celebrate Pontefract’s heritage. Many local performers and local history talkers will be involved in the series of events. Darrington Village Field Trust will run their summer annual Darrington Feast & Fayre Festival this year, growing on their festival which has been run by the community since the 1980s. The community day celebrates their local community in the green space and will include children’s activities, musical acts, walk-about theatre performers and a competitive tractor pull for adults. Portobello Gala 2023 has been awarded a Culture Grant to support professional and community created outdoor entertainment for the gala day. This summer’s gala will promote integration in the community and there will be a full day of performances and 10 stalls for workshops and crafts. The Prince of Wales Hospice in Pontefract will host an informal, sociable and inclusive Friday afternoon craft group which will act as a friendly peer support group for people with shared experiences. Activities and craft therapies with an emphasis on enablement will be themed to mark celebratory dates throughout the year. Love 2 Act based in Wrenthorpe will work with a Makaton tutor to teach children and young people aged 5-15 a Makaton performance. They will rehearse the performance over a series of weeks, before releasing a film of the work for everyone to enjoy. Portobello Craft and Camera Group will work in Pontefract Valley Gardens using the giant pin-hole camera working with artists Bob Clayden and Rose Knight. They will produce life-sized portraits, which will then be exhibited at up to 10 hair salons across the Wakefield district and at the community led Fitzwilliam Station gallery. Pontefract Art Club , along with Pontefract Civic Society , will run their second annual art trail as part of Pontefract Liquorice Festival 2023 . All nine Pontefract schools receive the required materials, and each school will create an artwork which will be exhibited in shop windows throughout Pontefract town centre. Maps will be printed so that visitors can enjoy a self-led walk of the town finding the street-gallery images during the festival weekend.

Children and staff at Whitecrook Primary School Early Learning and Childcare Centre are jumping for joy after an unannounced inspection rated their facility ‘Very Good’. Care Inspectors attended at the and carried out an assessment. During the visit, it was noted that children were having lots of fun and were engaged with the resources and experiences made available for their play and learning. The inspector also highlighted the environment at the centre, which was calm, relaxed and well-maintained, offering children different areas for exploration, resting and playing. Particular reference was made to curious resources that stimulated learning. Members of staff at the centre were credited for their commitment to continuous improvement as well as working well as a team and supporting each other to ensure positive outcomes for the children in their care. Their warmth, affection and kindness towards the children was highlighted. Councillor Clare Steel, Convener of Educational Services, and Councillor John Millar, Vice Convener of Educational Services, attended at Whitecrook Primary School ELCC this week to congratulate the centre on its achievement. Councillor Steel said: “It was an absolute pleasure to visit this centre and pass on my congratulations to the children and staff in person. The feedback they received as part of this inspection is just fantastic, and from what I saw on my own visit, very well deserved." “Ensuring the youngest members of our communities get a great start to their educational experience is so important, and that’s what is being offered at Whitecrook Early Learning and Childcare Centre.” Councillor John Millar added: “Nursery is one of the first places a child experiences independence from their parents, so it’s really important that the environment is nurturing and supportive. The outcome of this inspection is testament to the hard work being put in by the staff at Whitecrook Primary School ELCC to ensure this is the case, and they are also providing children with a great opportunity to lead on their learning through curious play. A big well done to all involved.”

Just in time for the social season, the Real English Drinks Distillery has relaunched their Deuce Strawberries & Cream Gin Liqueur. Produced under the ‘Pud’ brand of sweetly flavoured liqueurs, Deuce proved a complete hit last year with tennis and summer fans alike! Inspired by Wimbledon’s world-famous tradition of serving strawberries & cream, it is made from our own small-batch gin; with fresh strawberries and a hint of juniper. The liqueur has a light, refreshing flavour that is sure to please everyone. Whilst perfect on its own, sipped on the rocks, it also makes a versatile ingredient in sun-drenched cocktails, especially our fan-favourite, a Frozen Strawberry & Cream Daiquiri! Real English Drinks’ Master Distiller describes it as “The perfect way to enjoy the taste of summer all year long. It is smooth, refreshing, and easy to drink. We know that our customers love it as much as we do!”

SME Capital is pleased to be supporting the recent management buy-out of hazardous material removal experts, John Beech. Beech Group provides demolition, asbestos removal, asbestos surveying, land remediation, geotechnical, scaffolding, mechanical/electrical installation, and construction design management services to its customers across a broad range of sectors, having over 50 years of experience. Beech Group are set to celebrate their 60th year of trading this September. The MBO will allow the company to begin to fulfil their focused growth and turn-key service delivery plans, building upon a long and established reputation, in the commercial, industrial, automotive and petrochemical sectors. The sellers, Philip Jordan and Christopher Wainwright have supported the management team, providing them with an opportunity to take full control of the business with financial backing from SME Capital. Led by Regional Director, Colin James, SME Capital have agreed to provide a bespoke 5-year term loan to facilitate the buyout. Managing Director of John Beech Limited, Gareth Vaughan commented: "Beech Group has a well-established, experienced team in place to deliver some of the most hazardous services to new and continually valued Clients. We are committed to the continued delivery of specialist services to identify, manage, control and reduce/remove hazards, whilst protecting Clients, their employees, and their brand reputation. We would like to thank all those involved who made the MBO possible.” Colin James, Head of Origination for SME Capital, added: “We are delighted to have supported Gareth and the team in the MBO of John Beech & Co. The business makes a very positive environmental contribution undertaking industrial remediation and demolition projects across a range of sectors and the growth opportunities visible to the team are very exciting.” Headed up by Gareth Vaughan, Mike Fenwick, (Corporate Finance), and Rachael Brown, (Corporate Law), of GS Verde, advised on the deal.

The Essex Rebels has revealed its new head coach – who joins the franchise after a globe-trotting 16-year career. Ashley Cookson, 33, will take the reins of the record-breaking top-flight Women’s British Basketball League team this summer after steering sides in Sweden, Australia and Canada. The dad-of-one joins after a three-year stint with GB Basketball and coaching, scouting, and training roles on three continents. He has helped develop, nurture, and grow talent at Sweden’s Wetterbygden Basketball, and in a series of high-profile roles in Australia – where he worked with governing bodies, universities, and associations. Before signing with the Rebels Ashley ran Basketball Nomad in Canada – which developed coaches and players across the country. Whilst there he formed integral links with provincial bodies, launched leagues and used high-tech analysis to boost performance. Ashley will bring this expertise to the Rebels and will build on a successful season which saw the side set a nationwide attendance record and launch into the playoffs. The experienced scholar of the game said: “I’m really excited to join the Essex Rebels and be a part of this incredible programme. This is such a thrilling time for women’s basketball and I’m keen to start working with the players and building for next season." “The talent, infrastructure, and support here are unique in the WBBL and the University is really leading the way in developing the sport." “The team is in a great place and I’m looking to build on this and make an immediate impact.” He added: “I’m also just really excited to be in the UK, this is my first time as a head coach. I’m a big fan of the WBBL and I’ve been keen to break into this league for some time after following it whilst I was overseas. This is my opportunity to show what I can do, and I can’t wait to get started.” He was recruited after an extensive search by Director of Sport Dr Dave Parry who selected Ashley due to his wide-ranging experience and impressive CV. He said: “We had a strong field of candidates from across the globe apply to lead our basketball programme, but Ashley was the standout. He is full of determination and desire to bring success to the Essex Rebels." “We were really impressed by his highly analytical approach to assessing players and teams, and his passion for increasing improvement in their performance." “Ashley has an excellent reputation for developing players’ technical abilities and building strong relationships, as well as a very strong track record for putting in place player development pathways, which will help us in supporting our junior club to develop future Essex Rebels stars." “Ashley’s appointment feels like a ‘go-ahead basket’ for us, and with Ross Norfolk already in place as our Assistant Coach, we have a really dynamic, young coaching team who are hungry for success." “I feel confident basketball at the University of Essex is on the verge of reaching new heights.” Ashley replaces long-serving coach Tom Sadler, who left this year to spend more time with his family abroad.

BioPak has been awarded with a B Corp Certification, after achieving one of the world’s highest scores by any packaging company. B Corp certification is growing increasingly popular among businesses as it has become the recognised benchmark for measuring a company’s sustainability, accountability and transparency. A B Corp certified company is required to consider the impact of its decisions on its workers, customers, suppliers, community and the environment. BioPak was confirmed to have achieved a B Corp score of 88.8 out of 100. The required score to pass the certification is 80 and the median score for businesses is 50.9. The certification applies for all of BioPak Group’s global office premises, including its locations in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Leanne Osborne, Managing Director of BioPak UK, commented: “This is fantastic news for all of the BioPak team, its partners, suppliers and for everyone associated with the company. Being a sustainably-minded company is central to everything we do at BioPak, so it’s pleasing to see that we’ve comfortably passed the certification and achieved one of the highest scores by any packaging company in the world.” “This is yet another strong piece of evidence that shows that BioPak has the planet’s best interests at the heart of everything the company does.” Chris Turner, Executive Director of B Lab UK, says: “We are delighted to welcome BioPak to the B Corp community. This is a movement of companies who are committed to changing how business operates and believe business really can be a force for good. We know that BioPak are going to be a fantastic addition to the community and will continue driving the conversation forward." “We are pleased to have B Corps of all shapes and sizes as part of our community – from startups to multinationals and across many different industries. Business is a powerful force and B Corps demonstrate that you can do good in any sector. Welcoming BioPak is an exciting moment because they have an opportunity to lead the way within the packaging industry. We and the rest of the B Corp community are really pleased to support BioPak in paving the way for a new way of doing things." There are currently over 1,400 B Corps in the UK and 6,889 worldwide. Achieving B Corp certification comes with a number of benefits, including recognised differentiation from competitors, as well as an increased ability to attract socially-conscious customers and to recruit top talent that can help to drive a business forward. In order to achieve the B Corp certification, a company must pass a series of assessments and audits and undergo this verification process every three years in order to re-certify, helping to commit businesses to continuous improvement and long-term resiliency. For further information on BioPak’s B Corp Certification, visit their website www.biopak.com