NEPO adopted its Environment, Society and Governance (ESG) strategy in 2022 to help guide the delivery of social value and wider initiatives.

NEPO’s ESG strategy includes tackling the scourge of late payments in supply chains. The impact that late payment is having on the North East is clear. At any one-time firms are owed on average £22,000 due to late payment with the total amount owed to firms due to late payment amounting to £7.4bn. The amount of time taken to pay invoices has started to rise and currently stands at 36 days. Chasing this debt costs smaller firms approximately £684m.

This has a massive impact on delivering economic growth across the region. Being paid late has a huge impact on cash flow hampering job creation, reducing business investment, and stalling the investment into skills.

To help tackle late payment, the North of Tyne Combined Authority launched the Good Work Pledge. The Pledge is designed to recognise organisations that demonstrate your commitment to providing ‘good jobs’, these are jobs that provide security, development opportunities, fair representation, and a decent standard of living as a minimum. You can find out more about the Pledge at goodworkpledge.co.uk.

Over 150 businesses and organisations in the North East have achieved Good Work Pledge accreditation. These range from large corporations to small and micro enterprises covering every sector. The process to sign up for the scheme is not onerous with assessments and recognition being achieved in as little as two weeks.

NEPO encourages potential suppliers of NEPO to sign up for the Good Work Pledge, we are committed to this pledge and discuss the status of this pledge as part of our contract management process. The Good Work Pledge may also demonstrate your commitment to tackling late payments whilst showcasing the great work that you’re already doing.

We hope that you will consider applying for Good Work Pledge accreditation. If you are interested and want to speak to the team behind this, you can email them at [email protected].