Half the Story Is Getting Bigger!

Some partnerships begin with a strategic plan and a finger buffet.  Ours has involved rather more flour.

At the beginning of the year, we announced Half the Story as Totem’s charity partner. Despite the name, Half the Story is not technically a charity. It is an award-winning social enterprise created by Grace Enterprises and Green Pastures, two charities working to provide hope and opportunity for people facing serious barriers to employment.

The biscuits are excellent, especially the Lemon ones.  Buy yours here.

But, as you may have guessed, they are only half the story.

Proper Jobs, Proper Support

Half the Story provides supportive employment for people who have experienced homelessness and other significant obstacles to work. Its bakery team receive the real Living Wage, secure employment and access to mentoring and wider support.

That matters because getting someone into a job is not the same as helping them thrive in one.

People may need time to rebuild their confidence, adapt to workplace expectations, manage health challenges or rediscover a sense of purpose and routine. Half the Story combines meaningful work with the support people need to take those next steps.

As business psychologists, we are naturally interested in workplaces that enable people to grow. As biscuit eaters, we are also interested in shortbread.  Buy yours here.

It is therefore an unusually well-aligned partnership.

From Nottingham to a Train Near You

It has been encouraging to watch Half the Story grow.

Their biscuits are now available aboard both Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway trains. The business is also working with major catering and venue partners, including Sodexo, and its biscuits are being served at locations such as Headingley Stadium.

These are not simply impressive names for a partnership slide.

Each new customer creates more demand in the bakery, which creates more supportive, real Living Wage employment. One bakery team member described the role as an opportunity to gain professional experience within a caring environment, with the work adapted around their physical and mental health needs.

Half the Story has also been working with Nottingham Trent University on product and display design, giving students the opportunity to help communicate the social impact behind the biscuits.

The business is growing, the story is travelling further and most importantly, more meaningful work is being created.

Totem Gets Its Hands Doughy

We’ve been pleased to donate some time along the way too.

That has included supporting the team’s work towards food-safety accreditation, helping with team-development days and getting involved in the actual biscuit-making process.

This last activity provided several useful leadership lessons, including the importance of precision, teamwork and not becoming overconfident around industrial quantities of butter.

The shameless sales plugs will never end.  You can sample some of our work by buying your biscuits here.

The bakery is now SALSA approved, an important step in demonstrating robust food-safety standards and supplying more organisations at scale.

We have enjoyed playing a small part, but the real credit belongs to the Half the Story team, who are building an ambitious business while remaining focused on the people the business exists to serve.

Did You Know?  You Can Now Buy Them Online

Finally, here comes the subtle sales pitch.

Half the Story has launched a brand-new online shop, making it easier to order its handmade shortbread directly. Smaller trade quantities are now available in cases of 180 packs, making them suitable for events, meeting rooms, hospitality venues or businesses that would like to trial them. Each case provides more than two hours of work in the bakery.

Yes, 180 packs may initially sound like quite a lot of biscuits.

It is not.

You have colleagues. You have clients. You have meetings that should probably have been emails. All of these situations can be improved with shortbread.

The current range includes Original plant-based shortbread, Lemon, and Choc Chip.  Lemon is the best, order yours here.

So, consider this your entirely shameless invitation to visit the online shop and buy some biscuits.  Especially the Lemon ones, although the Choc Chip are rather tasty too…

They taste good. They look good in a meeting room. And every order helps create work that brings stability, confidence, dignity and hope.

Frankly, your existing office biscuits are beginning to look a little underqualified.