Paul Holly

Tell us how Beaverbrooks’ charity work has impacted your role.

“I’ve worked for Beaverbrooks for 33 years and from day one, it attracted me to the role that was advertised. Over the 33 years, I would get involved with charity work. Every year we give back to our charities and communities, we have great fun, we make a difference and it’s superb."

How did you become a Trustee of our wonderful Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust?

“The Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust was set up in 2011 as a way for Beaverbrooks to donate and build strong relationships with local charities and communities. The Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust allows us to make sure we’re donating funds in a way that works well for us, such as donating 20% of our retained profits to charity.

I’ve worked with Susie and the Charity Team for a long time. One day, Mark, our Chairman and Anna, our Managing Director, spoke to me and they suggested that I become a Trustee. I was very proud and delighted - I accepted straight away.

It’s a lovely thing we do, and it makes such a difference. You get up in the morning and you know you’re going to be involved with charities and talking to them. The relationships we’ve got with them all is superb and it’s a joy to be part of. The Charity Team are making a difference across Beaverbrooks."

Explain a bit about how you help your colleagues and the wider community when it comes to supporting causes close to their hearts.

“It’s really talking about experiences that people have and sharing them. We share our experiences all the way across the company, and it does inspire people.

I think myself and the other Trustees of The Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust would like to go out and talk to other businesses about what we do and positively influence them - and then they can start to make changes to how they operate to make a difference in their communities, too.

Because it’s not just about what we give to the charities and communities, it’s what we get back as well. Our Chairman, Mark, uses the phrase ‘nourishes the soul’ and it really does when you actually get involved and share it with other people."

What sets Beaverbrooks apart from the rest when it comes to our charity work?

“It’s the choice that we give to every single person that works with us. They can choose a charity that’s really close to their heart, so it’s not us deciding, it’s the whole of Beaverbrooks that makes the decision and that’s what makes the difference. And also, just how long we’ve been doing this for - we’ve been able to donate £24million to charity since the year 2000!"

How do our lovely customers help us to continue our charity work and achieve our goals of enriching lives?

“Our customers are amazing! They shop with us, they’re loyal to us, and they really understand what we do as a business - and they play such a massive part of us being able to donate 20% of our retained profits to charity. I just want to say a huge thank you to them all."