Bells Bakery enters the house‐building business: Company seeks to make affordable homes available to workforce and community

Abstract

Purpose

Aims to describes how UK bakery Bells of Lazonby teamed up with a housing association to create more affordable housing in its local community.

Design/methodology/approach

Uses information from the company's managing director, who chairs the Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency and is working to increase the number of affordable homes in the countryside as part of an initiative headed by the Prince of Wales.

Findings

Reveals how the initiative – which is not limited to Bells of Lazonby employees, but also covers potential owners either working in the village, with children attending the village primary school, or originally born in the village – has helped young people and those on lower incomes to settle in the area.

Practical implications

Through achieving a better balance between housing availability and the demand for housing, Bells of Lazonby benefits directly and indirectly from the retention of local talent and a local workforce that helps to create a productive “buzz” in the workplace.

Originality/value

Describes an innovative solution to a significant HR problem.

Citation

Derbyshire, J. (2006), "Bells Bakery enters the house‐building business: Company seeks to make affordable homes available to workforce and community", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 34-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/09670730610656932