Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is top of the agenda at the International Festival for Business today (Monday 21 July) as speakers from across the UK gather to encourage business owners to improve their social thinking.

Held at The IFB Hub at No.1 Mann Island, Time for Plan C: Doing Business Differently Together aims to encourage companies to broaden their social conscience.

It will provide guests with the chance to learn more about more effective use of CSR budgets, and create new opportunities for supply chains for the private sector.

Hosted by the Social Enterprise Network, it will also look to improve business’s social values, grow the economy of social enterprise across the region, and raise the profile of social enterprise and CSR.

It will explore three key themes including Creating, to provide insight into setting up a social business; Committing, a guide to working with social businesses; and Collaboration, a guide to franchising.

Due to popular demand, it is the second time the event has been held as part of IFB 2014’s programme.

It will comprise a selection of leading guest speakers including David Skews, CEO at EDP, Tony Cahill, Managing Director at Vivark and Stuart Fitzgerald, CEO Liverpool Plus Savers.

Commenting on the event, David Skews, of leading St Helens-based health and safety, sustainability and CSR consultants EDP, said:

“CSR engagement really does benefit the bottom line. Implementing a strategy for positive impact on relationships with customers, employees, suppliers and the wider community has resulted in dramatically increased profits for our business.”

“We had tremendous feedback to the first event and are delighted to be bringing it back for a second time. We want to help businesses better understand the big differences that can be made by making small changes, and the International Festival for Business has provided the ideal platform for us to do so. We look forward to meeting with guests again at the second instalment.”