The real-world impact of your contribution

Find out how even a one per cent rise in productivity changes businesses, lives and communities

Productivity fuels growth

The word “productivity” can feel like a meaningless economic phrase – but that couldn't be further from the truth.

With the UK lagging behind other major global economies, Be the Business is on a mission to tackle our productivity problem. We exist to inspire greater productivity across the UK – improving all our standards of living.

The impact of just a one per cent increase in productivity

For an average UK small or medium-sized business (one with a turnover of £1.3m) a one per cent productivity improvement sustained over five years would add £65,000 to its turnover.

That greater productivity – essentially doing more with the same or less – can have a big impact on what they can achieve.

What that looks like in hours (not) worked

Business with 10 employees

Get up to 201 hours extra per year

Business with 25 employees

Get up to 520 hours extra per year

Business with 50 employees

Get up to 1,040 hours extra per year

Be the Business – inspiring greater productivity

We are an independent charity that
inspires greater productivity by connecting
leadership teams to the curated expertise
needed to answer today’s big challenges.

Since 2017 we've helped British small and medium-sized businesses produce a productivity uplift of £500m by connecting them to the kind of expertise and experience crucial to finding those one per cent productivity improvements.

That is a lot of money going into local communities and high streets, led by small and medium-sized business leaders who have been on our programmes.

Productivity isn’t everything,
but in the long run it is almost
everything.

Paul Krugman, economist