The new year got off to a great start, with brands embracing change and new beginnings. Our favourite stories for the month see businesses saying goodbye to damaging mining practices and hello to accessible mental health services.
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High Street’s first walk-in mental health service lands £2.25m support
As the UK faces a crisis with 1.2 million people currently on the NHS waiting list for mental health care, January saw a timely investment for the world’s first high street on-demand mental health service, Self Space. With NHS appointments hard to come by, Self Space offers a hybrid approach to therapy with virtual and in-person sessions available seven days a week. Positioned as a service for both people in crisis and those proactively seeking therapy, Self Space has facilitated more than 60,700 sessions since launching in 2019. With the strain on the NHS looking likely to linger, we’ll be keeping an eye on how this flexible, pop-up therapy model develops and whether other organisations start to follow a similar model.
Learn more here- https://bit.ly/3tMmywg
The world’s biggest jeweller Pandora stops using mined silver and gold
Already leaders in lab grown diamonds, Pandora is turning its attention to the impact of precious metals by transitioning to recycled products which require less energy to produce. Pandora claims it has stopped using mined silver and gold which will cut 58,000 tonnes of carbon emissions year on year. What’s more, Pandora says it will be absorbing the cost of this change instead of passing it on to consumers with inflated prices.
Read more here- https://bit.ly/42iKfca
Iceland boss urges cross-party support to make baby formula more affordable
The cost-of-living crisis has hit some products harder than others with the price of baby formula rising by 25% in just two years. This steep rise for an essential product has led to an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority, with families expressing concerns about how this is affecting their finances at a difficult time. Demonstrating integrity and a willingness to take on a fight, Iceland, has called on Parliament to tackle these price hikes through new legislation. As shoppers grapple with rocketing prices, it’s refreshing to see a voice in retail advocate for struggling consumers with more than promos.
Find out more here- https://bit.ly/48TAsLU
BT Group to turn old street cabinets into electric vehicle charging points
Electric vehicles are on the rise across the UK but to reach ambitious sustainability targets, we need to see a sharp increase in the uptake. Access to charging infrastructure remains a key barrier to drivers transitioning to EVs, with charging points often difficult to find and busy due to high demand. By launching a new initiative to convert 60,000 old green street cabinets into charging points, BT is directly tackling this challenge to make both an immediate and long-term impact on sustainable travel. With green street cabinets located across the UK, including smaller villages where infrastructure has previously been lacking, BT’s new project will hopefully encourage and enable people to adopt a greener mode of transport.
Read more here- https://bit.ly/3tGUg6h