Growing a greener future: Planting 1,600 trees with GreenTheUK

We’re excited to announce that dbfb, in collaboration with GreenTheUK, has made significant strides in our environmental sustainability efforts. Since our partnership began in 2022, we’ve planted 1,600 mixed-species, climate-resilient trees across four regions in the UK—doubling our initial goal and underscoring our commitment to meaningful Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Statistics show that in the Top 5 SME trends of 2024, includes Environmental, Social and Governance is something that influences stakeholders when partnering and purchasing from SME companies – which is why dbfb are taking action in protecting our UK woodlands, and contributing to the ongoing battle of climate change. 

CSR in action

At dbfb, CSR means taking action. Our partnership with GreenTheUK is proof of this, as we’ve exceeded our tree-planting commitment, positively impacting national landscapes and mitigating the effects of climate change. These 1,600 trees are a tangible step towards a more sustainable future. 

The impact of 1,600 trees

Planting 1,600 mixed-species trees is about more than meeting a target. It’s about enhancing biodiversity, supporting ecological balance, and building resilience against climate change. These trees will absorb carbon, improve air quality, and provide vital habitats for wildlife.

Benefits for communities and businesses alike

Our tree-planting initiative brings broad benefits:

1. Cleaner air: Our trees improve air quality, contributing to healthier communities.
2. Boosting local economies: Thriving woodlands attract visitors, supporting local businesses.
3. Combating climate change: As carbon sinks, our trees help reduce CO2 levels.
4. Fostering community pride: Tree planting brings people together, fostering environmental stewardship.

Sustainability: A shared priority

Sustainability is central to dbfb because it’s important to our customers. We understand that today’s customers and their businesses prefer to work with ethical, environmentally conscious organisations. Our commitment to these values strengthens our relationships with customers who share our vision for a responsible future. By choosing dbfb, our customers support a supply chain dedicated to positive environmental impact.

Our vision

At dbfb, we aim to be a leader in service-driven communications with sustainability at our core. Our partnership with GreenTheUK reflects our commitment to real change.

A message from our Workplace and Sustainability Director, Jess Ansell

“As the Workplace and Sustainability Director, I’m proud of our steps towards environmental responsibility. Our partnership with GreenTheUK and the planting of 1,600 trees demonstrate our dedication to a sustainable future. Sustainability is a collective effort, and together, we’re making a lasting, positive impact.”

Join us in creating a greener future. Every action counts, and together, we can make a difference.

Established roots and community engagement:

Since opening our first office in Moulton Park in 1995, dbfb has become an integral part of the Northampton community. We proudly partner with local businesses, sponsor the NTFC academy and NTFC Women’s team, and support Cynthia Spencer Hospice as our charity of the year. Our deep commitment to Northampton led us to stay and refurbish our current office while acquiring unit 4, preserving the place where our journey began.

Investing in our people and sustainability:

At dbfb Communications, we prioritise investing in our people. Our office refurbishment fosters inspiration, collaboration, and stimulation among our team members. With significant investments in low-energy and smart technology, we have future-proofed the space and upheld our sustainability commitments. The positive impact on our team and the environment has been truly rewarding.

Collaboration with MANGO Interiors Group Ltd.:

For the successful execution of our office refurbishment project, we partnered with MANGO Interiors Group Ltd., a renowned Northampton-based interior design company with over 60 years of experience in the commercial sector. Their expertise and support throughout the entire transformation process have been invaluable, and we are grateful for their contribution to creating a space that surpasses our expectations.

A year of growth and opportunity:

This office refurbishment marks the beginning of an incredibly exciting year for dbfb Communications. We are poised for growth and new opportunities as we continue to provide exceptional telecoms services to the Northampton community and beyond. Stay tuned as we embark on this journey filled with innovation, community support, and sustainable practices.

Not only does the transformation provide more space for our growing team, but also showcases our conferencing products in a brand new tech suite, allowing customers to experience them first-hand. We remain committed to our community partnerships, sustainability initiatives, and investing in our people. With the support of MANGO Interiors Group Ltd., we have created a space that inspires collaboration and reflects our values. Join us as we celebrate 25 years of dbfb and embrace a year of growth, seizing new opportunities as a leading Northampton telecoms provider.

Business Resilience: How Simon Pickering Rebuilt After Losing Everything

Running a business is often described as an exciting journey, but in reality, it is just as challenging as it is rewarding. The path to success is rarely straightforward, and even the most driven entrepreneurs can face moments where everything feels uncertain. As highlighted in this story, setbacks are not only possible, they are often inevitable.

Simon Pickering’s experience is a powerful reminder of this reality. Like many business leaders, he faced a period where things didn’t go to plan and came dangerously close to losing everything he had built. Situations like these can test not only financial resilience but also personal determination, confidence, and long-term vision. It is in these moments that the true character of a business leader is revealed.

Rather than walking away, Simon chose to push forward. His mindset summed up in his own words as the determination to “go again” demonstrates the importance of resilience in business. Failure, while difficult, can often become a turning point. It forces reflection, encourages learning, and ultimately builds a stronger foundation for future success.

This story also highlights a broader truth about entrepreneurship: success is rarely about avoiding failure altogether. Instead, it’s about how individuals respond when challenges arise. The ability to adapt, reassess, and continue moving forward is what separates businesses that recover and grow from those that do not.

At dbfb, this philosophy is reflected in their approach to supporting businesses. By focusing on clear communication, transparency, and practical solutions, we aim to help organisations navigate uncertainty and continue progressing. Our belief in understanding each client’s unique situation ensures that businesses of shapes and sizes whether that be SME or Enterprise are equipped with the tools and knowledge needed to thrive

Ultimately, Simon’s journey serves as both a cautionary tale and a source of inspiration. It reinforces the idea that setbacks do not define success, persistence does. For any business owner facing challenges, the message is clear: even when things go wrong, there is always an opportunity to rebuild, refocus, and come back stronger than before.

Discover more about the story of how dbfb became what it is today as Richard Osbourne of UK Business Forum sits down with Simon Pickering in this riveting interview!

It’s the time of year when many businesses and charities take part in some festive fundraising for those in need. This year, dbfb decided to take part in sponsoring the Myton Hospice Christmas sleigh collection, that travels around Warwick multiple evenings each December and collects funding from door-to-door knocking, as well as giving children a glimpse of Father Christmas on his sleigh!

Myton Hospice provide end of life care across Coventry, Warwick, and Rugby. They ensure that life is enhanced when cure is no longer an option, and provide comfort to those who are sick, from diagnosis to end of life. 95% of their funding comes from money that is donated, so the importance of having sponsors for events such as this is instrumental in making a difference to the hospice and ensuring they can provide the services they do.

The dbfb team decided to get hands on with our sponsorship and attend one of the evenings where we walked around with the Myton Hospice team as well as some other sponsors and collected money door to door. Despite the chilly evening it was heart-warming and very festive! Being able to speak directly with the hospice, we truly realised the change that donations and sponsors such as our makes the lives of people who are in the care of Myton Hospice.

From the area we covered alone, we managed to raise an amazing total of £1346.89! This will make a huge difference to Myton Hospice and ensure they can carry on providing the amazing care and support that they do.

We will continue to help Myton Hospice wherever we can, and we are already in talks of sponsoring the sleigh for next year’s festive season as well!

At dbfb, we’ve had an exciting new start to our marketing and brand design! Up until now, our small (but mighty!) marketing team have been creating our own brand content without an agency, but up until recently it started to become clear that we needed some more hands with our marketing material! We began the search for an agency that we could team up with for our wide range of materials, from video to artwork.

We’ve had a long-standing relationship with All Things Business at dbfb, and since their recent merge with Rocket creative agency to form GIANT, we knew that they would be the perfect match for us. They are a creative and agile team who pride themselves on understanding the needs of clients and turning projects around swiftly.

dbfb and GIANT are passionate about supporting local business and we both believe strongly in working with the communities in the surround areas and the different businesses within them.

Our Head of Marketing, Emma Mullings, says “It wasn’t a hard decision to make when it came to choosing GIANT as our agency. They have a creative and agile team, who work and think in the same way we do at dbfb. On top of all this, they are right on our doorstep, which is what we also aim for when choosing our partnerships.”

9^th May 2022 marks the start of Mental Health Awareness week in the UK. Each year there is a theme, to give people an important topic to talk about. This year’s theme is Loneliness.

Loneliness is becoming one of the primary factors contributing to mental health problems across the UK, affecting millions. With the pandemic isolating us from family, friends, and work life, it’s been hard to adjust to and now things are opening back up, it can be daunting to get yourself back out there.

Here at dbfb, we understand that mental health is just as important as physical health, which is why we take the time to reflect on how we can make our workplace somewhere people can talk, and how we can help each other to tackle issues like loneliness. There are many things we can do to give each other a safe space at work, to be open about mental health and know that loneliness is mostly a feeling and not a reality. Being able to talk about mental health problems at work or at home can help to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health and sharing thoughts and feelings can help prevent the feeling of loneliness. 

“People should feel they can say ‘I am struggling mentally’ just as easily as they would say ‘I have a cold’, without judgement or negativity.  Our emotional state effects how we make decisions and interact with others. Therefore, having an open and supportive culture is mutually beneficial in the workplace, and should go a long way to reducing stigmas around mental health issues and make those suffering feel less alone.”

Jess Ansell, Head of HR at dbfb

Below is a list of resources if you need to speak to a professional, as no one should feel that they have no where to turn.

Samaritans

If something is upsetting you and you need to talk to someone, you can contact Samaritans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can call 116 123 (free from any phone)

Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). 

You can call the CALM on 0800 58 58 58 (5pm–midnight every day)

The Mix

If you’re under 25, you can call The Mix on 0808 808 4994 (3pm–midnight every day)

Switchboard

If you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community, you can call Switchboard on 0300 330 0630 (10am–10pm every day)

We believe in giving back to the community and supporting important causes that make a difference. Pink Wednesday has been a bit of fun at dbfb for a while, but we decided to make it an official fundraiser.

Launched by Shannon Parris, a member of our Delight team, the Customer Service arm of the business (and lover of all-things-pink), this is now our official internal company fundraiser! A different charity is selected at the start of each month using a fly wheel. These range from local causes to world aid and are all handpicked by our different teams at dbfb, so they are all charities close to our heart.

As well as kindly donating, every Wednesday our dbfb team wear either their favourite pink clothes, or one of our new snazzy pink dbfb t-shirts. Following the iconic Mean Girls quote, “On Wednesdays we wear pink!”.

It is a great way for everyone at dbfb to give back to causes that matter and with each month that goes by, we are more determined to meet the target goals we set ourselves on our Just Giving pages. Last month we raised £495 for the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal, and we can’t wait to carry this on for the charities in the future.

Plus, while the aim of the fundraiser is raise money for charities, it’s also a great way to have fun in the office and brighten everyone up by wearing pink.

The charities include; Harry’s Rainbow, Deafconnect, Tiny Changes, Cransley Hospice, Northamptonshire Mind, Cynthia Spencer Hospice, Team Vericco War Child, Bowel Cancer UK, Leicester Animal Aid and Macmillan.

We’re encouraging other local businesses on the initiative. Simply launch the fundraiser in your company and tag #PinkWednesdays on your social channels to take part.

“I absolutely love pink, and for a few years had already been encouraging the team to wear pink on Wednesdays for a bit fun. After speaking with the business, we decided that it would be great to take it to the next level and launch an official fundraiser. This was not only to bring bit of excitement to the team, but also to raise money for local charities.”
Shannon Parris, Customer Experience Executive.