North East England embraces sharing!

GB Shared are thrilled to announce further growth, launching their first share platform outside the northwest region.

GB Shared Founder, Lisa Edge said ‘It seems the further north you go, the friendlier people are as our traditional handshakes were exchanged for hugs.   This week we were in Newcastle for the launch of Northeastshare, putting 4 more counties under one sharing region, until our national rollout later in 2023.  I was nervous, stepping into the business space of another region, asking them to hear how a sharing concept amongst businesses has impacted the NW.   The NE business community embraced us and the model, already synergies, opportunities and connections have taken place, and by sharing, those businesses are already making it grow,  imagine that at a regional scale!’

NE businessman Paul Lawton of Chat Heroes & Active CSR connected with GB Shared in 2022 via a mutual contact and bought into the concept immediately.  Since then, Paul has been a staunch ambassador of the brand for the NE region, spreading the word across the business community.

Peter Nailon, CEO of Wear Rivers Trust presented on the work they do across the region, caring for the areas’ rivers, banks, soil, environment and work to educate future generations.  Several attending businesses have since connected with Peter whose work is reliant on its business and community relationships.

Lisa said, ‘both Paul and Peter have been instrumental in their support, gaining the momentum and sharing the brand with NE businesses, they backed us in good faith and we look forward to many years of sharing and building an even more collaborative and flourishing north east region, we don’t chase income, we chase impact’.

GB Shared founded their first county share site, Lancashare, on Lancashire Day 2016.  6 years on the model consists of Lancashare, Mancheshare, Cumbriashare, Yorkshare and more recently, Merseyshare.  Northeastshare is the first ‘regional’ share site to be trialled and the first outside the NW, before embarking on their national journey, putting a share site in every UK county.

Following a career in the public sector, and experiencing the lack of a central sharing point for her own county, Lisa founded Lancashare.  Share platforms act as central repositories or digital hubs by region, businesses pledge to share and pay an annual membership.  They receive returns for sharing, including introductions, media coverage, tender, funding & news alerts, discounts, events, connections, meetings and more, all tracked and reported via a personalised dashboard.  The model means, the more they share, the more returns they generate.

The platforms are free for anyone else to access job alerts or other useful, local information and resources, products and services, keeping more money and opportunity at local level.  Subsequently and positively impacting unemployment, local supply chains, carbon footprint, social values and many wider benefits.

In 2020, GB Shared developed and embedded a national youth platform, TheGen.Online, allowing member businesses to ‘share’ opportunities young adults (16-24).  Businesses help future generations by sharing jobs, life skills, career advice, opportunities, internships and more, gaining further brand exposure – The Gen is not monetised in anyway.

By 2022, they were multi (and national) award winning, Northern Powerhouse Partners and shortlisted for a Northern Power Women Award.  They further became the UK’s first sustainable marketplace of its kind in 2022, when they partnered with UK based sustainability accreditation partners, CSR Accreditation, adding sustainable education, signposting, assessment and accreditation to their share portfolio.  Their ‘local supply chains’ are now fast becoming regional ‘sustainable supply chains’ as member businesses register for accreditation.

In 2023, the share platforms will undergo a huge re-build, embracing modern and future technology, providing new features for users and members, and a technical platform ready for national roll out.