Why wouldn’t businesses be community-focused? Especially if you consider your communities as customers? Andrew shares his personal experiences of why being community-focused is essential for survival, and how, through his roles, he has had to tackle some of the toughest challenges head-on.
This video is part of our series on the Economics of Kindness. Find out how we're changing the way that business sees kindness in the workplace.

On this page, you can watch our full video with Andrew Reaney or jump to the excerpts:
- Why it is essential for businesses to be community-focused and what happens if they’re not.
- What are the benefits of being community-focused?
- His personal experience at British Gas and the service delivered to customers.
- His experience faced throughout Covid leading the business.

How companies can build a deeper, more emotional connection with their customers

The role of honesty and of providing opportunities to rebuild when you can

What Centrica did with the Trussell Trust to provide support where it was

The secret to being around for the long term

Being unkind can make a business fail
Meet our experts

Ellen Fraser
Ellen Fraser leads Baringa’s global Energy Retail, Networks and Water practice and has the responsibility for Baringa’s portfolios in the UK, Europe and Australia. She’s sat in boardrooms with the CEOs of every major UK energy supplier, and even informed policy with energy regulator Ofgem. She’s a familiar face commenting on the BBC, and quoted everywhere from the Financial Times to The Guardian.
Learn more
Vanessa Clark
Vanessa Clark leads the Customer and Digital team and works across energy, utilities and resources; financial services; government and public sector; and products and services. She helps clients turn their promises into better customer experiences and embrace technology to unlock new solutions, especially in treating vulnerable customers better.
Learn moreOur Insights

Introducing the Economics of Kindness
At Baringa we’re convinced that, no matter the macroeconomic backdrop, kindness in business really does pay. That’s why we’re taking this opportunity to explore the economics of kindness across four pillars: people, business, leadership and investors.
Read more
People – planet – profit, in that order
The notion of a ‘triple’ bottom line – people first, then planet, then profit – is reshaping how organisations around the world do business. They’re bringing corporate kindness to the fore as we enter a new type of economy, and the businesses that organise themselves in this way will be the ones that succeed.
Read more
Why being community-focused is essential for survival
Why wouldn’t businesses be community-focused? Especially if you consider your communities as customers? Andrew Reaney shares his personal experiences of why being community-focused is essential for survival
Read more
Building brands through kindness
Does employee welfare and personal happiness lead to increased productivity and profit? Baringa and Ella’s Kitchen discuss the role of kindness in its rapid growth and how companies can help overcome the rise in loneliness.
Read more
Consumers confirm: kindness pays
To get the public's view on the economics of kindness, Baringa commissioned a global survey to understand how perceptions of kindness affect purchasing decisions.
Read more
Is kindness authentic?
We talk to four leading commercial semioticians to understand more about kindness and what businesses should do about it.
Read more
Redefining kindness in the workplace
Corporate kindness is all about the impact an organisation has on the world, engaging in responsible practices that benefit their customers, employees, and the communities they operate in.
Read more
Kindness can help you make decisions
Consumers vote with their wallets by choosing what they buy and who they spend with. Businesses can choose their suppliers, who they work with, and which markets they serve. Employees can choose who to work for and which career path to take.
Read more
Clarity and self-accountability: The cornerstones of kind leadership
How do you break the circle of artificial harmony and of avoiding honesty? Leadership coach Jeremy Sweeney explores how to humanise organisations, the power of accountability, and whether kindness pays.
Read more
The bank of goodwill
The bank of goodwill: kindness as a commodity? Anya Davis explores how kindness improves workplace relationships and how reciprocal kindness pays with behavioural psychologist Annie Hazlerigg.
Read more
Kinship fuels growth – a view from technology businesses
What drives innovation and growth? Supportive comments or complete honesty? If you’re a high growth tech business, it’s kinship. Startup advisory Sapphire & Steel share their views on the economics of kindness.
Read more
Firms considered “kind” are more likely to be successful
Our research indicates that kindness isn’t simply a matter of ethics – it’s a no-nonsense business issue too. If your firm is considered “kind”, it is likely to have stronger growth than a firm considered unkind.
Read more
Bringing kindness back to the top of the leadership agenda
Should kindness be back at the top of the leadership agenda? Managing Partner Adrian Bettridge discusses how when we lead with kindness, we generate lasting success for ourselves, our clients and our businesses.
Read more
How to balance kindness and profitability
We discuss why employers need to support their people beyond pay packet alone, the benefits of doing so, and the perils of short-term thinking.
Read more
The challenges of being a kind leader
In this conversation, Mike Lewis (previous CEO of E.ON) shares his experiences, what kindness means to him, and how being kind helped him navigate the most unprecedented challenge of recent history.
Read more