Our Credentials

At the Growth Company we’ve worked hard to cement our position as a leading social enterprise and in 2022 we were awarded the ‘Social Enterprise Gold Mark’.

The Social Enterprise Gold Mark is a prestigious accolade, which demonstrates your organisation has been through a rigorous external assessment process to achieve a recognised social enterprise quality standard.

It offers enhanced accreditation to social enterprises which can show best practice across several key business areas that are central to social enterprise excellence:

• governance
• stakeholder engagement
• business ethics
• financial transparency
• social impact

We’re proud to have pledged our support for the UN’s Race to Net Zero through Business Declares, a fast growing network of businesses who acknowledge the Climate and Ecological Emergency. biodiversity.

Our aim is to continue to reduce our emissions and impact on biodiversity year-on-year, off-setting the remaining carbon through a recognised carbon off-setting scheme, to the point of becoming Net Zero by 2035.

Concern for both people and the planet are not new to us and we look forward to continuing to share our journey and ensuring our voice is part of the collective, resounding call for change. We are certainly not claiming to be perfect, neither are we judging others, instead we are part of a coalition of the willing looking to collaborate and accelerate action while continuing to highlight the challenges and uncomfortable truths.

A Charter member of the Responsible Finance trade body, the CDFA;
Community Investment Tax Relief accredited (BEIS);
British Business Bank - Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) accredited;
Member of European Microfinance Network. (EMNFN);
Formally certified to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013 by an international UKAS Accredited Certification Body

• GC Business Finance

• GC Business Finance also operates a wholly owned subsidiary - BFS Funding Managers Limited, FRN 608682 which has permissions to operate as an Authorised Investment Fund Manager (Sub-Threshold).

To achieve the certification, businesses must demonstrate a commitment to the protection of personal information and be assessed for preparedness in dealing with common security threats including malware infections, social engineering attacks and hacking.

Disability Confident is a government scheme designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with health conditions. It has replaced the previous Two Ticks Positive About Disabled People scheme.

It is voluntary and has been developed by employers and disabled people’s representatives. The Disability Confident scheme has three levels that have been designed to support organisations:

• Level 1: Disability Confident Committed

• Level 2: Disability Confident Employer

• Level 3: Disability Confident Leader

The Growth Company

Investors in People assess how our organisation is performing against our ‘We invest in people’ framework. They advise and support us on how to improve our workplace culture over time, specifically in areas around employee engagement, communication, organisational culture and work practices.

The Gold accreditation is a great achievement and was only achieved with the contribution and dedication of all our colleagues.

In August 2022, the Growth Company was accredited as a Real Living Wage employer. Over the following 12 months, we’re working towards the milestones identified in our action plan.

The All Equals Charter is a set of values, principles and commitments that participating businesses and organisations must adhere to in order to ensure the inclusion and prevention of discrimination against LGBT+ people, both service users and colleagues.

Working Families is the UK’s work-life balance charity. Their mission is to remove the barriers that people with caring responsibilities face in the workplace. They provide the tools and benchmarking to influence policy and advise employers on best practice.

The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter is a voluntary membership and assessment scheme that aims to raise employment standards across Greater Manchester, for all organisations of any size, sector or geography.

In July 2022, the Growth Company joined the Armed Forces Covenant which enables us to recognise, understand and support those who serve, or have served, and family members of the armed forces to ensure fairness and accessibility to services.

It’s a pledge which ensures no member of the Armed Forces community is unfairly treated, or left disadvantaged in their day-to-day lives.

As an organisation, we recognise the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and their families bring to our business, and to the businesses and communities we serve across the UK. As part of our commitment, we've pledged to:

• Raise awareness among our colleagues and create focused training for colleagues who directly support veterans and those transitioning from the Armed Forces.

• Continue offering mental health support to colleagues.

• Build relationships with local communities.

• Review and improve policies relating to reservists, and extend our support to family and dependants of Armed Forces personnel.

• Attract veterans to work for the Growth Company by looking at guaranteed interview schemes for ex-Armed Forces, advertising vacancies through the Resettlement Programme and promoting The Growth Company as an Armed Forces friendly organisation.

• Promote and offer our suite of cross-group products and services to those who are leaving the Armed Forces – including support with starting their own business, access to training and qualifications, employability support, and transition support (such as help with budgeting, cooking and finding accommodation).

We’ve also achieved the ‘Bronze Award’ in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, which further reinforces our commitment to supporting ex-Armed Forces personnel, while encouraging other businesses we work with to do the same. Going forward, we’ll be working towards achieving the ‘Silver Award’.

ISO 9001 is the world’s most recognised quality management system standard, established by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO).

ISO 9001 helps organisations implement clear, repeatable processes to maintain a quality service for their customers every time.

• Corporate Services (all)

• GC Education & Skills

• GC Employment

• MIDAS

• GC Business Growth Hub

• GC Business Finance

• BFS Funding Managers Limited

• The Manufacturing Institute

• Marketing Manchester

• Aspire Recruitment

ISO 14001 is an internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for an environmental management system. It helps organizations improve their environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and reduction of waste, gaining a competitive advantage and the trust of stakeholders.

• Aspire Recruitment

• BFS Funding Managers Limited

• Corporate Services (all)

• GC Business Finance

• GC Business Growth Hub

• GC Education & Skills

• GC Employment

• Marketing Manchester

• MIDAS

• The Manufacturing Institute

ISO 27001 is an internationally recognised specification for an Information Security Management System, or ISMS. It's the only auditable standard that deals with the overall management of information security, rather than just which technical controls to implement.

• Corporate Services (all)

• GC Education & Skills

• GC Employment, MIDAS

• GC Business Growth Hub

• GC Business Finance

• BFS Funding Managers Limited

• Marketing Manchester

• Centre for Assessment Ltd

• Aspire Recruitment

• The Manufacturing Institute 

Matrix Standard is the international quality standard for organisations that deliver information, advice and/or guidance (IAG). Either as their sole purpose, or as part of their service offering.

The matrix Standard is the Department for Education’s (DfE) standard for ensuring the quality of the delivery of high-quality information, advice and guidance. The DfE supports the matrix Standard as the quality framework for accrediting information, advice and guidance contracts.

It helps providers to improve their services by benchmarking against best practice and it offers accreditation to those that meet the full standard.

• GC Employment

• GC Education & Skills

The Growth Company has signed the Mental Health at Work Commitment.

We're committed to achieving better mental health outcomes and a genuine longer-term positive impact on our colleague’s wellbeing, joining a growing movement of over 1000 organisations.

Developed with the knowledge and expertise of mental health charities, leading employers and trade organisations, the Mental Health at Work Commitment provides a simple framework for employers who recognise the importance of promoting colleague wellbeing.

This framework sets out the following six clear standards based on what best practice has shown is needed to make a difference and create an environment where colleagues can thrive:

1. Prioritise mental health in the workplace by delivering a systematic programme of activity.

2. Proactively ensure work design and organisational culture drive positive mental health outcomes.

3. Promote an open culture around mental health.

4. Increase organisational confidence and capability.

5. Provide mental health tools and support.

6. Increase transparency and accountability through internal and external reporting.