SPONSORED BY CF FERTILISERS
DIVERSITY
FINALIST ALT LABS
Accolade – CF Fertilisers site general manager Keith Brudenell presents the Diversity award to Helena Bowman , head of business operations at Middlesbrough Football Club .
WINNER
MIDDLESBROUGH FC
It was a memorable 72 hours for Middlesbrough FC .
For just three nights after winning the Diversity gong among three category wins at the inaugural Tees Business Awards , the club claimed the EFL Diversity Award for its trailblazing work around dementia .
Through the RiverSideBySide programme , Boro work tirelessly to ensure the Riverside Stadium is as inclusive as possible – from recruitment to the matchday experience and everything in between .
The club ’ s head of business operations and community , Helena Bowman , said Boro continued to strive to promote equality , diversion and inclusion in everything it does .
She said : “ This is fantastic for Middlesbrough FC and everyone in the community that works so hard in making sure all our programmes are inclusive .
“ We have a programme called RiverSideBySide which is trying to ensure that everyone is welcome at the Riverside Stadium .
“ We do that in many ways – from recruitment , including our job adverts , job descriptions and making sure they ’ re accessible – to the matchday experience itself . How do we make sure the Riverside is accessible for everyone and that people feel welcome and not threatened to come ?
“ We ’ ve been doing RiverSideBySide for seven years now and in terms of our workforce especially , it ’ s more diverse than it ’ s ever been . Nearly 16 per cent of our workforce is disabled and that has changed drastically since we started this programme .
“ There ’ s always more to do – you ’ re never going to achieve perfection – but we ’ ll be working on this for many years to come .”
And speaking before the drama of the Championship play-offs , Helen explained : “ We are a Premier League standard club because of the work we do .”
SPONSOR ’ S MESSAGE
One of the most successful , ethnic-minorityled tech businesses in Teesside , Alt Labs ’ two founders , Imran Anwar and Anila Shahid , are from an ethnic minority background , while the firm emphasises equality and inclusion throughout its business practices
Alt Labs HQ is on Albert Road , Middlesbrough , and has office space in Newport , Wales .
It also runs Flok , a first-of-its-kind , 5,000-sq ft coworking space in Middlesbrough , which gives businesses the opportunity to thrive in purpose-built work zones .
At Alt Labs , every employee can embrace their individuality , as seen by flexible hours , a relaxed dress code , optional remote working and gender-identifying pronoun recognition .
FINALIST
MOONRISE 24HR RECRUITMENT
A healthcare open recruitment agency , founded in 2014 by Zimbabwe-born Jessica Gwaringa , Moonrise 24hr Recruitment supports vulnerable adults and children and supplies staff to care homes .
With more than 260 staff , it is a truly diverse employer , with no discrimination based on gender , disability , race , sexuality or religion . It employs a diverse range of people and helps a diverse range of service users , tailoring services to their needs – including for religious and cultural preferences .
Based at the Cleveland Business Centre in Middlesbrough , it understands the need for diversity and acknowledges the characteristics required in candidates from a range of backgrounds , including those not born in the UK .
CF Fertilisers Billingham general manager Keith Brudenell said : “ CF Fertilisers is proud to award the Diversity Award to Middlesbrough Football Club , who have recognised the need to promote , encourage and build more diverse and inclusive organisations in the Tees Valley and ensure talent in underrepresented areas of our economy and businesses can thrive .”
The voice of business in the Tees region | 47