February 04 , NORTH EAST FIRST REGION TO LAUNCH PIONEERING WORK WISE CAMPAIGN
You are invited to send a reporter, photographer or camera crew to Beamish Hall Hotel, Stanley, County Durham on Thursday 8 th February 2007 for a photocall at 11.45am
A pioneering campaign that could radically improve working practices for North East people is being officially launched next week.
Work Wise North East aims to consign nine-to-five, five-days-a-week working to history and will promote smarter working practices, such as flexible working, mobile working, remote working and working from home.
It is based on the national Work Wise UK initiative, a major five-year programme launched last May with broad government, business and union support. The North East is the first region to put it into practice.
Heads of professional bodies and leaders from the public and private sector will gather at Beamish Hall Hotel, Stanley, County Durham, on Thursday 8 February at 10.30am to find out how the five-year Work Wise initiative will create a smarter-working North East.
Work Wise North East has attracted wide-ranging support from leading organisations in the region. Strategic partners include One NorthEast, Government Office North East, North East Chamber of Commerce, Onyx Group, EEF Northern, Workplace Travel Plan Company, Dickinson Dees, BT and RBLI. Other supporters include the Journal, TUC, CBI, Federation of Small Businesses, Northern Business Forum and Women into the Network.
Keynote speakers at the launch will include David Lennan, chairman, Work Wise UK, Kevin Rowan, regional secretary of the TUC , Jonathan Blackie, regional director, Government Office North East, Ray Smith, regional director BT and James Ramsbotham, chief executive, North East Chamber of Commerce and Michelle McGuigan, HR manager for the North East Strategic Health Authority.
Speakers will set out the objectives of the campaign and ignite discussion on how a more modern and flexible approach will increase business productivity and competitiveness, reduce transport congestion and pollution, improve health, assist disadvantaged groups and harmonize work and family commitments.
Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK said: “ Our rigid work structure is dictated by culture. It wastes time and resources, damages the environment, causes stress and harms health, and is actually largely unnecessary considering the technology available today.
“Wide adoption of smarter working practices is an obvious answer to four of the main issues facing our economy today, so obvious that it is being missed by many. The four issues are competitiveness, the environment, road congestion and quality of life.”
At the launch, delegates will hear case studies from leaders in the private and public sector and there will be an ‘Ask the Experts’ session where attendees can find out more about flexible working.
James Ramsbotham of the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) said: “Work Wise is not just about better staff practices; it is also about better business. We see tremendous benefits for the customer service we provide to our 4,400 members by adopting these new practices.
“Work Wise is a way for businesses to take a lead in demonstrating what should be done to address the needs of 21 st century business, and NECC will take a proactive lead in the bid to help many more businesses of all sizes to take up the Work Wise mantle.”
The North East has seen the number of people working from home grow by over 56 per cent since 1999. Almost 50,000 workers – nearly five per cent of the working population – are now based at or regularly work from home. But British workers spend the longest time travelling in Europe – as much as 47 working days per year (Samsung research 2004).
Kevin Rowan, TUC regional secretary, said: "Flexible working and other innovative working practices offer a wide range of opportunities for workers and businesses, as well as for the regional economy as a whole.”
Jonathan Blackie, regional director, GONE, welcomed the opportunity for the North East to lead the way.
“This gives us a real chance to demonstrate how working smarter, thinking about where and how and when we work can lead to further increases to our region's productivity while allowing us a better focus on our work life balance and at the same time considering the impacts on our environment,” he said.
Alan Hall, regional director of EEF Northern, who have just signed up to be a Work Wise North East partner said “EEF Northern is totally committed to the launch of this campaign. We support the broader use of smarter working as a modern day approach to working life. There is strong business case to be made - it can improve productivity and employee retention and it can also offer a wide range of environmental and social benefits. It's a benefit - not a cost to business.”
Ray Smith, regional director of BT North East said: "Thanks to our flexible working policy BT has 20 per cent less absenteeism than the national average, 99 per cent of our employees on maternity leave return to work, and we save 12 million litres of car fuel every year. Work Wise North East will help bring these benefits to everyone in the region."
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Notes to editors:
- A number of spokespersons are available for interview or to comment.
- Work Wise UK is organised by the IT Forum Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation.
- Further information about Work Wise UK can be found on the website www.workwiseuk.org.
- A dedicated electronic news room has been established for journalists to obtain further information, to download print-quality materials, and to register for media updates about Work Wise UK. This can be accessed either through the main website or directly at www.pressrooms.net/workwiseuk.
- Supporters of the Work Wise UK campaign include the CBI, TUC, the British Chambers of Commerce, BT, Transport for London, Scope, the RAC Foundation, Technology Means Business and Henley Management College.
For information about Work Wise North East, please contact:
Shelia Chapman, Sheila Chapman PR 07732 827 486 or scpr@btopenworld.com
For further information about the national Work Wise campaign, please contact: Roy Turner, Chelgate PR 020 7939 7939 or 07970 522232 or rt@chelgate.com