Last week we held our annual Alumni Showcase Masterclass with 100 delegate and alumni business leaders from the West of England. It's always a special day in our calendars, and this year was even more special as we launched our CEO, Dr Stewart Barnes's and his co-author, Professor Steve Kempster's new book to our clients.

To see the photo gallery of the day, scroll to the end of the page.

'Realising Good Growth: A Practical Guide for Business Leaders', published by Routledge, is a practical and purposeful guidebook for leaders wishing to take a different path on a journey towards collective purpose and a better world, where profit is not the destination, just one of the sturdy pillars that supports the journey.

Gifting each of our guests with their own signed copy of the book, the day was presented in three parts. In part one, Steve and Stewart were interviewed about what 'good' growth actually is and how best the reader can use the book and accompanying set of free digital tools to help them build their 'plan on a page'.

Thank you for explaining the rather eye-opening background to Good Dividends and the need for us all to follow the path less travelled to 'good' growth and becoming regenerative organisations.

Professor Steve Kempster and Dr Stewart Barnes in part one of the Showcase

During part two of the day, we heard from 7 local leaders of Alumni organisations who use the Good Dividends model and feature as case studies in the book. Facilitated by fellow Alumna, Victoria Petkovic-Short, Managing Director of APT Marketing & PR, each of them generously shared their stories in what pursuing good growth has meant for their organisations and their people, productivity and profit, as well as the planet.

First to speak were Louise Woodward, Director, and Justin Young, Operations Director at Cotteswold Dairy Ltd as they detailed their story of how this multi-award winning local family business resolved a very-real business challenge through pursuing Good Dividends. Understanding the wider Social Value creation from their actions was also fantastic to hear.

"The work being done made business sense. It was indeed producing 'Good Dividends' for all..."  - Justin Young

Justin Young and Louise Woodward of Cotteswold Dairy

Next Victoria welcomed to the stage Hayley Coombs, Sales and Operations Director, and Luke Freeman, CEO at MF Freeman Group to hear how Freeman Homes - another multi-award winning local family business - identified how the SDGs align with their business strategy and how they consequently transformed the business into a forward-thinking, community-focused housebuilder with a mission of 'Building for a Better Future'.

"Steve, if I get this right, it's not what we can do for the SDGs, but rather how the value can be realised for the business by pursuing the SDGs, correct?" - Luke Freeman

Victoria Petkovic-Short, Hayley Coombs and Luke Freeman

Following Hayley and Luke, we then heard from Christina Line, CEO, and Kirsty Day, Director of Recovery at The Nelson Trust, a locally headquartered multi-award winning charity that works across the south-west of England and Wales. It was inspiring to hear how our free DigiTool, the SDG Configurator, helped them link the important work they do with the UN SDGs and how that creates social value. This then enabled them to bid against national 'giants' to win a multi-million-pound, multi-year national government contract in Wales - the largest in its 40 year history. A truly fantastic story of David and Goliath, well done!

"Social value and positive impact are at the core of what we do. By using the Configurator, we identified that we work across 11 SDGs, but actually 5 SDGs were where our strengths truly lie." - Kirsty Day

Victoria Petkovic-Short with Christina Line and Kirsty Day

Andy Barham with Victoria Petkovic-Short

Part three of the day looked towards the future, guided by Stewart and Steve, and how we can move towards collective good growth to create regenerative businesses for regenerative futures - enhancing (rather than harming) people, places and the planet, so that when business flourishes, so do people, places and the planet.

A huge Thank You to all of our guests and speakers for making the annual Showcase Masterclass the great success that it was.

L-R: Our fantastic speakers - Andy Barham, Victoria Petkovic-Short, Hayley Coombs, Luke Freeman, Louise Woodward, Christina Line, Kirsty Day and Justin Young

The business case for Good Growth is very clear - common sense in fact - and with this unique practical guidebook now available to support business leaders, the journey to a collective purpose and along the path less travelled can, as with SDG 17: Partnerships for the Community, be a truly collaborative one.

"We are in no doubt that collaborative relationships are all important... It is with others that the path can be opened up, and together the journey made so worthwhile."