Ian started his career as an environmental health officer with Carlisle City Council. He's since held various operational and leadership roles including for the Health and Safety Executive and the World Health Organisation. Ian has led the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter since 2019.
At the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, we've recently recognised Acas as our Partner of the Year for 2025.
Acas has been shoulder to shoulder with the Charter from the very start. This partnership has been built on trust, communication and shared goals.
How the Employment Charter started
When Andy Burnham was first elected as the Mayor of Greater Manchester in May 2017, he set out his ambition for Greater Manchester to be the best place to live, work and get on in life.
His manifesto outlined plans to develop a Good Employer's Charter. This would include things such as addressing the pay gap between men and women, encouraging flexible working, recognising trade unions, and ending the use of enforced zero-hours contracts.
Seven characteristics of good employment
Work began to engage with stakeholders and partners to co-produce what good employment should mean for employers and employees. The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter emerged, based on seven 'characteristics of good employment':
- the Real Living Wage
- secure work
- flexible work
- engagement and voice
- recruitment
- people management
- health and wellbeing
Making the Charter relevant
The Charter operates at two levels. A 'supporter' tier, where employers can commit to good employment standards. And a 'membership' level, where employers are assessed against criteria for each characteristic.
The Charter was designed to be relevant to every sector and scale of employer. It ensures that all citizens can realise the benefits of a good job. And that all employers understand the productivity gains good employment practice can bring.
From the outset it was acknowledged that a Charter must be more than just an assessment scheme or accreditation. It also has to create a strong community of interest, a peer-to-peer support network, a 'movement'.
Growing and creating partnerships
The Charter has grown from strength to strength. We now have almost 1,000 supporters and over 150 members. We deliver over 20 events a year, have our own podcast – Good Employment Chatter – and hold annual awards. We also run a Good Employment Week campaign where key messages are developed for workers and citizens to understand what a good job should feel like.
Of course, none of this is possible without partners, and Acas has been shoulder to shoulder with the Charter from the very start.
How Acas supports the Charter
As a founding Charter Board member, Acas has supported our growth, and all things related to good workplace relations. Its willingness to help support the Charter community is constant and superbly professional.
Together we have recognised that charters cannot stand still. We know that the Charter must now challenge and stretch further. Our partnership with Acas will be vital as we support one another through the many debates and consultations ahead of the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill. But we are mindful of our role to push beyond legal frameworks and attain excellence.
As the recent House of Commons Library report on good work in the UK reflected:
"Soft policies lay out best practice for 'good' employers, while hard policies create a minimum floor for 'bad' employers (and implicitly prevent them from undercutting the good employers).
"There is emerging agreement that a combination of hard and soft policy measures is required to improve the quality of existing jobs and create new good quality jobs."
The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter relishes the challenges ahead.
Find out more about the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter