Briefed launches Honesty Box Initiative, delivering expert training and advice from barristers at a price charities and social enterprises can choose, with NOW Group being the first social enterprise to benefit from the initiative.

Barrister-led legal compliance business, Briefed, set up in 2012 by barrister Orlagh Kelly, has just launched its new Honesty Box Initiative, which enables those in the third sector to benefit from first class training in exchange for an honesty box payment.

Specialising in protecting clients from fines and possible prosecutions, the online training delivered by Briefed enables businesses to achieve GDPR Certification, which helps demonstrate compliance to the regulator and mitigate against possible ICO enforcement action, such as fines, as well as loss of reputation.

NOW Group is the first social enterprise to benefit from the Honesty Box Initiative and it’s staff have benefited by training to the exact standard their job requires. Briefed have supplied NOW Group with training from entry level through to certification level for management. With a value of £25,000 upwards the NOW Group was able to pay what their budget would allow and so was born the first honesty box initiative partnership.

Speaking about the creation of the Honesty Box and why it is important to Briefed, Orlagh Kelly comments:

“This year marks our tenth year in business, and to celebrate the milestone, we wanted to do something with purpose, to give back to those in the third sector by offering up our expertise and skills to further enhance their business offering.

“Historically, it is the third sector that would be the most underrepresented in our training – for many they are unable to benefit from the courses due to limited resources, and this is where the idea for the Honesty Box Initiative came from. This is our way of delivering high level training so that all businesses can avail of our skills and protect themselves with regards to GDPR and demonstrate their compliance if they are ever dealing with a data breach.”

Empowering businesses to understand and manage legal risks and responsibilities while maximising competitive advantage, the training designed and led by a team of experienced barristers, helps charities and those in the third sector to reduce risk within their organisation.

Maeve Monaghan, Chief Executive of NOW Group adds:

“As a social enterprise, we want to be leading the way, to be doing everything to the best of our ability which means that we want to have access the best of training for our employees, but the reality is that the top training often exceeds our budget. However, Orlagh’s Honesty Box Initiative now makes this possible and we’re honoured to be the first clients of the scheme.

“Like many businesses, we now operate online, so it is imperative that our staff are educated and trained to stay updated in any legislative changes, know how to remain GDPR compliant, and through being certified now get access to the Briefed highly knowledgeable support clinic should they need advice.”

Maeve continues: “Briefed is an innovative locally grown firm which is investing heavily in helping those in the third sector. Since taking part in the training, over 70 NOW Group staff are now certified, and this is something that just would not have been possible without the Honesty Box Initiative.”