McGregor Boyall Associates

Why they joined Heart of the City

Coming out of Covid, City recruitment consultancy McGregor Boyall felt they’d had more time to look at where the business is currently and how they want to be in the future.

“We’ve always taken responsible business seriously, but it’s always been in the background, and now we think it’s time to make some commitments and have it in the foreground”, said Lucy Frost, Group People Director. They decided that by joining Heart of the City, they’d have the focus to drive it forward.

McGregor Boyall were initially due to do our net zero course, Climate for SMEs: 4 Steps to Action, but as a team, they decided they wanted to get a baseline level of knowledge in all CSR (corporate social responsibility) areas before concentrating on reaching net zero.

So, they started our programme, Foundations for Responsible Business, in 2022. We spoke to Lucy Frost, Nick Eveleigh, Associate Marketing Director and Charlotte Turner-Lewsey, HR Business Partner, to find out how they’ve improved their responsible business practices since they joined us.

Are people on board with responsible business?

The McGregor Boyall team is on board with improving how they do responsible business. People are particularly supportive of initiatives to increase diversity, equity and inclusion – not only from an internal perspective but it also because it directly impacts business. They have to demonstrate their diversity commitments to their clients, so being a Heart of the City member has business benefits too.

People are also on board with responsible business to readdress the balance:

“We want to retain a good, healthy, strong workforce, and that’s how you do it. You have to connect with what people need and then get the balance right” Lucy

Caring for People

McGregor Boyall knows there can be a lot of anxiety and stress in the recruitment industry, often linked to sales targets. So, they wanted to focus on mental wellness and issues around anxiety as a key part of their responsible business journey.

Charlotte has developed a wellness programme which is introduced in the onboarding process for new starters. This is important as it means people are aware of the support they can access from the very start – they’ve found that for their employees, even knowing they’ve got somebody they can talk to if they need to, is a great support.

Improving with Heart of the City’s help 

Charlotte was new to the business when McGregor Boyall began their responsible business journey with us, which she found a little daunting at the beginning. But she’s gradually working through our online learning platform, which she finds useful because she can work through it all in order. She also uses our responsible business resource hub if she needs more guidance.

“There have been multiple times that I’ve needed more help and gone to check what Heart of the City has got – and then I build up from that” Charlotte 

They’ve also found that by being on our programme, their responsible business journey has some accountability. “It’s helped us to push things through, knowing that you’re there”, said Lucy. In some areas, for example, around sustainability, they feel like they’ve gone back to basics and appreciate having a practical way of working – and having someone at Heart of the City to talk to and ask questions without feeling judged.

If you’re working for a big business and would like to support your supply chain to become more sustainable, responsible businesses, find out how you can work with us.