Carillion and Jaguar Land Rover have been recognised with the highest ranking in Business in the Community’s annual benchmark of responsible business management, The Corporate Responsibility Index (CR Index).
The CR Index is the UK’s leading and most in-depth voluntary benchmark of corporate responsibility. It has been run by Business in the Community for over a decade to help companies; accurately measure and manage all aspects of their social and environmental performance; shape how they integrate and improve corporate responsibility throughout their business operations and benchmark themselves against competitors.
Carillion and Jaguar Land Rover are amongst only 31 businesses nationally to be announced as Platinum Big Tick companies, a new banding in the Index for 2013 designed to challenge leading companies with ‘stretch questions’ on topics, such as their long-term planning and the unique contribution their business can make to create transformational change and a sustainable economy.
The announcement had been timed to coincide with Responsible Business Week (15-19 April 2013) an initiative taking place across the UK this week to raise public awareness of the powerful, positive role of business in society.
Despite the ongoing economic challenges facing business, the 2013 CR Index paints a positive picture of levels of commitment to responsible business in the UK. Participating companies achieved a high average score of 89% indicating that firms are continuing to overcome commercial pressures to maintain their investment in and engagement with responsible business.
About the CR Index
Business in the Community’s CR Index is the UK’s leading voluntary benchmark of corporate responsibility. It helps companies to integrate and improve CR throughout their operations by providing a systematic approach to managing, measuring and reporting on business impacts in society and on the environment. For over a decade the CR Index has inspired and challenged over 360 companies to continuously improve their impact on society and the environment. The CR Index scores participating companies against the following areas of responsible business, Corporate Strategy, Community Management, Environmental Management, Marketplace Management, Workplace management. Environmental Impact and Social Impact. This year over 100 companies participated publicly.
A Platinum Big Tick company demonstrates that it has started thinking about how the global mega trends, such as population growth and resource scarcity, are affecting the future strategy of the business. Platinum Big Tick companies tend to make long-term investments to improve current or launch new environmentally and socially
Achieving Platinum Big Tick means that the company can demonstrate that it is thinking about how global mega trends, such as population growth and resource scarcity, are affecting the future strategy of the business. The banding is an indication that it is making long-term investments to improve or launch new environmentally and socially sound product and services, and is embedding responsible values throughout the workforce.
Responsible business matters – to businesses, employees, communities, and the long term sustainability of the planet. As the UK’s first Responsible Business Week is launched to celebrate the positive powerful role of business, this Index is a key tool to help the public understand what good business looks like while also providing examples to inspire many more companies to accelerate the pace of change within their business.