A trailblazing course has been launched in Dorset for businesses to understand and embrace the business benefits of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) best practice. Dorset Chamber is running the free ‘The Business Case for ESG’ programme over the next six months with online sessions open to all firms, countywide.
Event Details
Join Dorset Chamber, in partnership with Dorset Council and BCP Council, for this informative workshop on defining your responsibilities as a company director as part of our ESG programme for Dorset businesses.
Being a company director means taking on many key responsibilities within a business. However many directors are unaware of or do not have a full understanding of their responsibilities as a director. Such responsibilities relate to and arise within the following areas:
- Health and safety
- The Bribery Act
- The Data Protection Act
- Wrongful Trading
- Company accounts and reports
- Personal guarantees
- Conflicts of interest
- The environment
- The obtainment of D&O insurance
The session will also include a focus on how to conduct a boardroom meeting to ensure successful corporate governance including distinguishing between board meetings and shareholder meetings, keeping important board discussions and decisions within meetings that are subject to appropriate and official record keeping (i.e. minutes) and when conducting boardroom meetings virtually or by way of hybrid form, ensuring that meetings allow for the same resulting contribution and decisions to be made as though they were held in person.
Join us for this workshop with Partner and Head of the Corporate and Commercial team Grant Esterhuizen of Lester Aldridge where we will explore the essential responsibilities of being a company director and discuss ways in which we can strengthen governance in our businesses.
The event will also offer the opportunity for a Q and A discussion and we will signpost to further support available.
This free online event is open to all Dorset businesses and booking is essential. Following booking, delegates will be sent a meeting link.
Book your place HERE
Dorset Chamber members book HERE
Workshops with industry experts will cover topics including energy efficiency, carbon footprints and offsetting, renewable energy, employee wellbeing, and community and voluntary sector links. They will also feature details about support available from Low Carbon Dorset. Dorset Chamber, the county’s leading business support organisation, is working in partnership with BCP Council and Dorset Council on the new initiative.
Dorset Chamber chief executive, Ian Girling, said: “ESG remains a mystery for some in business but it is becoming increasingly important and difficult to ignore. Essentially it is a set of principles by which a business’s accountability and transparency as well as its impact on society and the environment is measured. Investors, existing and potential employees, customers and contractors are become more socially, ethically and environmentally aware, so businesses need to increasingly demonstrate their commitment to the principles of ESG.
“Our new programme aims to bust some myths surrounding ESG, help businesses understand and embrace its key aspects, provide practical advice and show the very real and tangible benefits it can bring. We believe our programme is one of the first, and the most comprehensive, courses of its kind in Dorset to help businesses get to grips with the ESG agenda. Together with our partners at the local authorities, we’re keen to see as many businesses as possible take advantage of these free sessions.”
All of the workshops with be held online and are free to all businesses in the county. Businesses can attend all of the sessions or choose which ones are of most interest. For those not able to join the live session, a recorded version will be available on the website.