Network Magazine

Doncaster’s business community is filled with cutting-edge trailblazers, world-beating industry leaders, and authoritative experts who know their respective sectors inside out.

However, one side of our network that we haven’t covered quite so extensively is its capacity to bring about positive change. We are blessed with many organisations here in Doncaster who, driven by more than just their bottom line, are regularly going above and beyond for the betterment of the region. That’s why we have decided to use this issue of our magazine to champion those who really are making a profound difference.

For our cover story, we have interviewed the team at Wilson & Cooper Independent Funeral Directors, who always go the extra mile for families, even when it means absorbing some hefty costs along the way. Having overcome adversity and misfortune themselves — trying to get a business started just as the COVID lockdowns were announced — they have boundless empathy for anybody who comes through their door and it has inspired them to make some truly remarkable gestures.

Next, we sat down with Mark Burley, Social Value & Partnerships Manager at Keepmoat Homes, to learn more about how the company serves its home-owners long after they’ve moved in by trying to improve things in the surrounding communities. Working with prisoners, young people and schools, they’re certainly keeping busy, but it’s all in service of one overarching goal and, as Mark points out, has commercial benefits for Keepmoat that will pay off long into the future.

We have also profiled a staggeringly accomplished businesswoman for this issue, with a piece on Suzy Brain England OBE. As chair of both Keep Britain Tidy (a litter picking charity that’s done a great deal for the environment in recent years) and the local NHS Trust — and that’s without mentioning her involvement in countless other causes — she too has a lot on her plate, but still managed to find time to speak with us about what motivates her to do it all.

Last but not least, we caught up with a trio of businesses leaders — Amelia Banful of Enviro Electronics, Chris Oldacre of IBM and Yetunde Elebuibon of Knowledge Pool— about their efforts to combat digital poverty in the region. For this one, we took a bit more of a backseat and let the experts lead the conversation, resulting in an incisive and in-depth piece that’s sure to pique your interest.