Halo Furnishings Ltd

Sector:  Creative industries, Manufacturing
No.of Employees:  52
Region: North West

Summary
Halo Furnishings designs, manufactures and sources furniture, lighting and home accessories.

Background
The company was founded in 1975.  Its team has since grown to 52 staff.

Responsible business objectives 

Halo Furnishings is a family business and believes in treating staff, suppliers and customers as they would wish to be treated.  The Languages for School project was founded in the belief that business can work together with the local community to the benefit of business and society, and that such partnerships can be both sustainable and replicable.

How they do it

• Languages for Schools partnership.  A pilot initiative formed between Halo Furnishings, Languages for Schools Ltd and Gorse Hill and Partlington Primary Schools.   The aim was to expose children from socially-deprived areas to foreign languages and cultures, whilst simultaneously boosting Halo's staff morale and creativity, and providing funding and business guidance to LFS.

What impact it has

• Pro-bono language lessons and resources to 200 children from socially-deprived areas.

• 2 schools and 8 teachers being empowered to become self-sufficient in language provision.

• French lessons for parents supporting the children.

• Improved school-parent relationship.

• Promotion of positive attitudes towards other cultures and languages.

• Contribution to cultural richness and global citizenship.

• Education of future workforce, who will now be equipped to work with international partners.

• Contribution of £3,333 from Halo to LFS to facilitate the initiative.

• Provision of 2 hours pro-bono mentoring in business advice by Halo's MD to LFS.

• Provision of business expertise by Halo, such as Trade Mark Attorneys.

Business Benefits

• Core business: international expansion.  In contrast to unsuccessful previous attempts to sell internationally, during its first 8 months Halo Asia has sold to 145 new customers in 35 different countries in all 5 continents. 

• Communication.  Learning how cultural differences are managed in multi-ethnic schools has helped Halo overcome and address communication challenges.

• Creativity.  This innovative project has helped inspire and revitalise the company.

• Customer satisfaction.  Satisfaction with Halo in House of Fraser stores has grown from 63% in 2003 to 97% in 2005.

• Recruitment and motivation.  Employees are positive about the initiative.

• Competitive advantage and differentiation.  In an increasingly competitive market, Halo's ability to position itself as a socially responsible company is a way of distinguishing the company from the competition.