Scottish Business Pledge Survey 2017

Scottish Ministers agreed that Scottish Business Pledge progress should be monitored through a survey of Pledge firms conducted every two years.

As such, this report sets out the key findings of a short survey of businesses signed up to the Scottish Business Pledge which took place between 21 July and 7 September 2017. It provides an insight into businesses’ perceptions of the impact of the Pledge, the benefits of committing to the Pledge, and whether they would recommend the Pledge to other businesses. In addition, it sets out whether businesses that had not originally signed up to all nine Pledge elements have since increased their commitment to additional elements and whether businesses have since gained Living Wage accreditation.

A short written questionnaire was issued to all businesses who had been signed up to the Pledge for at least nine months at the time of the survey (300 businesses). Responses were received from 110 businesses, accounting for over a third of all businesses signed up to the Pledge for at least nine months. The survey results have been weighted by business size to ensure they are more representative of the population of Pledge businesses.

Summary of Key Findings

66 per cent of respondents reported a positive impact (57 per cent ‘some positive impact’ and 9 per cent ‘very positive impact’) on their business as a result of signing up to the Pledge. The most commonly cited reasons for the positive impact related to enhanced reputation/positive credentials.

34 per cent of respondents reported no specific impact on their business as a result of signing up to the Pledge. The most commonly cited reasons were a lack of awareness of the Pledge by customers, lack of interest from others in the sector and the Pledge not being sufficiently well known/valued.

The most commonly reported benefit of committing to the Pledge was ‘enhanced reputation’, cited by 73 per cent of respondents.

The vast majority (93 per cent) of respondents said that they would recommend the Scottish Business Pledge to other businesses.

Of those respondents who had been unable to commit to all elements when they signed up to the Pledge, the majority (81 per cent) had since increased their commitment to at least some of the remaining elements.

20 per cent of respondents stated they had gained Living Wage accreditation since signing up to the Pledge whilst 44 per cent were already Living Wage accredited when they signed up to the Pledge.