Public Interest Policy

Midlands Excellence was established in June 1996 with a vision to improve the competitiveness and performance of organisations in the midlands region primarily by promoting widespread use of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model © which is a well established proven  improvement framework.  The charity subsequently broadened its activities to promote and support the sharing of business best practice amongst individuals as well as organisations within the region and this work helps us achieve our original vision.

Midlands Excellence is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity.  Our governing document is the Memorandum & Articles of Association incorporated 19 June 1996 and amended by special resolutions dated 10 July 1996 and 28 May 2007.

The company’s mission is ‘Helping organisations improve’ and its vision is ‘Making excellence accessible to all’

The objects of the company are to:

• advance the education of the public in the benefits of striving for as well as how to achieve excellence within all types of industrial, commercial and voluntary organisations
• help all public, private and voluntary organisations in the midlands become more competitive as well as achieve continuously improving results through use of the EFQM Excellence Model © and
• promote, study and develop through research methods that secure the improvement of efficiency and productivity in the management in all public, private and voluntary sectors.

Our policy is to act in accordance with the objects of the organisation and continue to meet the requirements of the Charity Commission especially with regard to public benefits. All our activities are reviewed annually and through this approach we continue to meet our objectives. 

Activities undertaken in support of our objectives include:

• free advisory services provided for organisations wishing to learn more about quality practices and organisational excellence
• public speaking engagements to stimulate improvement activities in the midlands region
• on-line resources to share good practice
• organisation of events to share good practice and showcase achievements
• provision of recognition in a variety of ways to encourage people and their organisations to use the EFQM Excellence Model ©

Planned activities include setting up communities of practice (CoPs) and these will bring together like minded individuals who are focussed on continuous improvement activities.

 All the above activities are directly aligned with the objectives of the organisation and the following table summarises how we meet our obligations:

Principle 1 - there must be an identifiable benefit or benefits

Principle 1a - It must be clear what the benefits are

• We are clear that all our activities are designed to transfer knowledge to individuals and organisations wishing to improve their personal or corporate performances. The enhanced knowledge helps to increase competitiveness, improve efficiency and create wealth everywhere in society. 
• The knowledge we transfer is always current and relevant to the communities served by the charity.
• Our approach is to embed practical knowledge about how to achieve excellence in as many people as possible and in turn this helps to create sustainable benefits for the community.

Principle 1b - The benefits must be related to the aims

• We continually identify good practice and ensure that our activities :

1. advance education of the public in the concept of quality and positively influence standards of organisational performance; 
2. improve management efficiency and operational productivity throughout the private, public and voluntary sectors;
3. promote the study and research of organisational excellence.

Principle 1c - Benefits must be balanced against any detriment or harm  

• We recognise that our event based activities require people to travel and therefore have an impact on the environment. 
• Our policy is to hold events throughout the region so that everyone can benefit from our work and carefully select event venues in order to provide opportunities for participants to use public transport.
• In addition we provide a range of ‘virtual’ support services delivered through electronic media and this method of delivery does not require people to travel.

 Principle 2 - benefit must be to the public, or section of the public

 Principle 2a - The beneficiaries must be appropriate to the aims

• The knowledge we transfer is applicable to all types and sizes of organisations. 
•  We work with a cross section of individuals in organisations to ensure that the knowledge is transferred as widely as possible and ultimately all members of society benefit either directly or indirectly from our work. 

Principle 2b - Where the benefit is to a section of the public, the opportunity to benefit must not be unreasonably restricted, a) by geography or other restrictions, or b) by ability to pay and fees charged

• Our activities are open to all and also demand led to ensure that the knowledge we make available is applicable to everyone including all those people who wish to improve performance.
• The focus of our activities is on the midlands region but the on line resources provided by the charity also enable anyone with internet access to obtain and use the information.

Principle 2c - People in poverty must not be excluded from the opportunity to benefit

• Many of our activities are available free of charge and people in poverty are not excluded from the opportunity to benefit from the work of the charity.
• We also provide free places to significant numbers of people who are unable to attend our events for cost reasons and the expenditure incurred by the charity to do this is effectively funded by those participants who can afford to pay.

Principle 2d - Any private benefits must be incidental

• All people accessing our services as well as the underpinning knowledge provided by Midlands Excellence have the opportunity to improve and everyone can be a beneficiary from the work performed by the charity. Any private benefits are incidental and only necessary to enable the charity to undertake its activities.