Company’s culture of care

Apr 29 2008 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

FOR THORNABY-based engineering firm K Home International, CSR has been part of the culture since the company was founded 35 years ago - it just hadn’t found an acronym for it.

One of the first to sign up as a Butterwick Hospice corporate partner last year, chief executive Andrew Home says simply: “We wanted to give something back to the Tees Valley community, which is what makes us.”

But its involvement doesn’t end there - kids’ football teams, cricket clubs and music charities all benefit from the firm’s philanthropy.

And, as Mr Home points out, it’s a tradition which goes back a long way. He cites chocolate tycoon George Cadbury’s work in building the model village at Bournville that lifted hundreds of workers out of the Victorian slums in Birmingham 200 years ago.

CSR isn’t a part of K Homes’ formal business strategy. Instead, it beats at the heart of the company, said Home - although he acknowledged that it may well impact on the firm’s public profile.

On K Home’s support of Butterwick Hospice, he says: “Hospices are an essential service because we will all know a close friend, work colleague, family member or even ourselves who has needed the care a hospice provides.

“The foundation of the hospice by Mary Butterwick is an inspiration in itself to anyone who wants to achieve their goals.”