It is a great opportunity for you to meet companies face to face, both ones in trades you are looking to fill and ones that you are already considering adding to your tender lists. You would have a series of pre-scheduled meetings with  10-15 local suppliers in trades of your choice. It is particularly relevant for those who have live projects in one or more of the participating boroughs (City of London, Camden, Islington, Lambeth or Westminster).

To attend, please complete this form and indicate which trades you would like to see and who will be attending from your side. Please email it back to Philippa Brook at Business to Business, the event organisers, on philippa@btob.co.uk, tel: 020 7700 0008.

To find out more about the benefits of local procurement and practical tips on how to set up a local procurement strategy, please download City of London’s Local Purchasing Toolkit.

Mentors are further encouraged to extend their own skills through workshops and networks.  Accreditation of their skills through nationally recognised qualifications is also being considered.

Despite being a newly launched service, a very powerful list of mentors is already available – from managing directors to sector specialists – and their profiles can be download from the London Excellence website.

If you would like to request support from a mentor, or volunteer as a mentor yourself,  you can email Rose Viggiani at rose.viggiani@london-excellence.org.uk, call her on 020 8405 5064 or visit the London Excellence website for more information at www.london-excellence.org.uk

London Excellence charge a small fee to cover the costs of the workshops and matching service.

‘In the 25 years the awards have been running, more firms have become involved in their communities but the most significant change has been in the lending of expertise through employee volunteering which is helping to equip charities with the skills needed to secure sustainable futures.’

One of the businesses who has been making a remarkable impact on the community is Lakehouse, whose Building Lives Academy who support marginalised groups in London with construction training and a guaranteed job. For this work, Lakehouse won a Dragon Award in the Economic Regeneration category in 2011.

David Anyan, 25, who had been homeless and jobless says: “Lakehouse Building Lives Academy has given me knowledge of the construction industry and skills so I can work and support myself. While training I even helped build my new home, which is an amazing feeling”. 

‘David Wootton is encouraging black owned businesses and community organisations to apply for the Dragon Awards, which recognises positive effort in the community.

“Diversifying is very important,” Wootton told The Voice after launching the 25th annual Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards.

He said he wanted to attract “new entrants from a wider pool”. And he added he would “like to make a particular effort to attract more black owned businesses who may not instantly think that this is for them.” ‘

Click here to read the full article by The Voice.

City Action, a free matchmaking service for City-based businesses to share skills with community organisations in the City and neighbouring boroughs through volunteering, is making a real impact on City business-local community engagement.

Run by the City of London Corporation since 1998, City Action’s service includes brokering volunteering placements as well as offering City firms and community organisations practical advice in developing long-term partnerships and raising awareness about the need for skills-based volunteering through community tours and networking events. 

 To find out more about City Action and the service they offer go to their website.

The City of London Fairtrade Group and the Fairtrade Foundation would like to invite you to a “Fairtrade Trade Fair” on Tuesday 1st May, 2pm – 5pm.

 If you have not already signed up this is your chance!

The event is a unique opportunity to meet Fairtrade suppliers and brands, to taste and appreciate the high quality of Fairtrade products, get information on the world of Fairtrade and learn how easy it is to make Fairtrade a part of your business.

You should attend if you are…

…responsible for purchasing or catering contracts

…interested in promoting ethical procurement, Fairtrade and sustainability in the City

The Lady Mayoress will attend the Fair from 3.30pm-4.30pm.

 Where: Basinghall Suite in Guildhall Art Gallery, Gresham Street, EC2P 2EJ.

To reserve a place, please email fairtrade@cityoflondon.gov.uk

The Lord Mayor David Wootton visited the Building Lives Training Academy, established by construction company Lakehouse and its partners, to launch the 25th Anniversary Dragon Awards.

“Last year, construction company Lakehouse bagged the Economic Regeneration Award for establishing the Building Lives Training Academy which ‘delivers a structured construction training programme to marginalised groups and guarantees graduates a job by working in partnership with a consortium of employers.’

David Anyan, a 25-year-old student at Lakehouse’s Building Lives Academy, said: ‘I’ve been unemployed and homeless so I know how important it is to have qualifications and training behind you. Lakehouse’s Building Lives Academy has given me knowledge of the construction industry and skills so I can work and support myself. While training with Lakehouse, I even helped build my new home which I’ll be moving into this month, which is an amazing feeling.’”

To read the full article by London Loves Business and see the Lord Mayor getting involved, click here.

“Corporate philanthropy is becoming increasingly strategic and widespread and will become even more visible in the coming years said London’s Lord Mayor David Wootton at the launch of the 25th annual Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards that celebrates the best community engagement programmes run by Greater London businesses.

While corporate philanthropy has come a long way, it will raise its profile responding  to increasing need and charity funding cuts, the Lord Mayor told a breakfast meeting of voluntary organisation representatives, City of London staff and journalists at Mansion House.  

‘A vast amount of excellent work is already being done, of course, but since the voluntary sector is being asked to do more with less, we will see more high-profile initiatives emerge,’ he said.”

Click here to access the full article by Philanthropy UK.

“Lord Mayor of the City of London, David Wootton, says, ‘Partnerships of businesses and community organisations, working together on important social and economic regeneration projects in their local area, are vital to the development and overall wellbeing of our society. I therefore urge businesses – big or small, from all parts of the Greater London area and from all walks of life – to come forward and showcase the important work they have done in their local communities.’

Construction company Lakehouse, last year’s winner of the Economic Regeneration Award, illustrates this evolution of a Community Interest Company. The firm helped to establish the Building Lives Training Academy which delivers a structured construction training programme to marginalised groups and guarantees graduates a job by working in partnership with a consortium of employers. Critically, trainees are given a valuable skill to enable them to support themselves. By utilising this model, Lakehouse has doubled the number of apprentices that it recruits.

Sir Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of the National Council of Voluntary Organisations, says, “The last 15 years were a golden age for the voluntary sector as it doubled in size…The relationship between corporates and charities continues to grow in importance as the voluntary sectors finds new ways of doing things. Businesses’ inherent skills will become ever more important as charities seek their support to deliver vital services.”

Please access the full article here.

Jonathan Last, Civil Society, writes

“London’s Lord Mayor says that while corporate philanthropy has come a long way, it will become higher profile in response to the pressure charities are facing.

David Wootton used the launch of 25th annual Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards today to applaud the increasingly strategic and widespread nature of philanthropy and volunteering by businesses in Greater London and predict that corporate philanthropy will grow in profile.”

To access the full article, please click here.  

Entries for this year’s Dragon Awards are now open and all businesses, public bodies, and community organisations making a positive impact on London’s local communities are encouraged to apply.