Nine Awards and two Special Recognitions were presented on Friday 6 March at the first National CSR Awards with Marks and Spencer, Wyke Farms and Zurich Community Trust amongst the winners.
As the excitement in the room climbed, so did the social media with twitter activity reaching over 1.2 million impressions in less than 12hrs.
Individual Leadership Awards were presented to Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E, for Innovation & Technology and to Bill Eyres, Head of Sustainability at O2 (EMEA), for his tireless work on the Think Big project.
Distinguished guests, judges, industry leaders and charities looked on as the Awards were presented to a ‘standing-room-only’ audience at Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey, celebrating the best of ethical governance and good business practice.
Tony Juniper, Environmentalist, Writer and National CSR Awards judge, said “The days when social responsibility could be treated as an add-on to business-as-usual are gone. Companies cannot simply give money to a charity to compensate for unsustainable practice. The bar has been raised and CSR must be part of businesses’s strategic core, with social, environmental and sustainability objectives embedded across every aspect of how they work.”
Special Recognitions were also given to Legal & General and Charities Aid Foundation for their perfect example of a community partnership, and to Marks and Spencer for the legacy of their Plan A initiative.
The award judges agreed that, since Plan A’s launch back in 2007, Marks and Spencer’s sustainability plan continues to set the benchmark for corporate responsibility in the UK. “Plan A goes beyond targets. M&S sees it as a starting point rather than the finish, using it to instil culture change and embedding it in everything it does.” commented Liz Jones, editor of Ethical Performance.
Karen Sutton, National CSR Awards Founder and Chief Executive, said “Half of the winning projects were joint partnerships between private organisations and charities, reinforcing the effectiveness of collaboration and the advantages gained for both communities and businesses.”
The enthusiasm generated by this first National CSR Awards, which is designed to recognise a broad range of CSR disciplines, will travel to London for next year’s event; and as sponsors are already forming an orderly queue, all those interested in involvement are invited to make contact early!
For a full list of the winners, visit the website: http://globalgoodawards.co.uk/our-winners/
