Corporate Responsibility a “key ingredient”

The Government has published a response to its Call for Views on corporate responsibility which indicates that companies are already going beyond legal requirements to manage and enhance economic, environmental and societal impacts.

Examples noted of businesses leading the way include:

O2 has linked up with Bauer Media to help give young people a better chance of getting into work. The two have launched GoThinkBig, an online resource designed to open up opportunities and create a community of people trying to develop their skills, employability and readiness for work.

Jaguar Land Rover has a national education initiative to encourage more students to consider an engineering career, hopefully inspiring a new generation of  engineers and technologists, with more than two million young people taking part since the programme launched.

Carillion took on more than 6,000 local people to build a new “super-hospital” in Bristol – 80% of all the construction workers on the project. The developer also sourced two-thirds of its building materials from within the city and south-west region

Business Minister, Jenny Willott, comments: “Corporate responsibility is a key ingredient of a stronger, sustainable economy. Many UK based companies are leading the way by putting this at the heart of their business plans and we’ve moved on from the days when it was simply philanthropic work.

“Not only can it improve productivity by helping companies attract and retain the best staff, but it can also build trust with investors and consumers, boosting their reputation. For that reason it really is a win-win for business.”