CSR Consortium

StraughanConsulting pulls together consultancies for unique CSR consortium

CIM Yorkshire member Mervin Straughan has helped eighteen companies join forces in a groundbreaking consortium designed to deliver a full corporate social responsibility (CSR) service to businesses.

The CSR Consortium will provide a one-stop shop to strategic and tactical expertise that will help organisations make the link between responsible business practice and improved financial performance.

Mervin, who runs Knaresborough-based CSR and communications management consultancy StraughanConsulting, came up with the idea at the start of 2007 and spent the next ten months identifying service providers that shared the same values.

The pioneering initiative will cover key business areas such as stakeholder strategy, people strategy - including leadership, diversity, development and socially responsible recruitment - performance management, health and safety, environmental management, organisational change and supply chain management. It will also focus on community engagement and regeneration and customer service.

Media agencies with a keen involvement in the CSR agenda have been also brought on board to ensure that clients' messages are communicated responsibly.

Fifteen of the management consultancies are from the Yorkshire region and are joined by experts from County Durham, East Lancashire and North Derbyshire.

Mervin said: ""This unique marketing initiative will help us to demystify CSR and assist companies in integrating the relevant strands into their operations and culture. Through this process, companies can realise and reap the powerful benefits such as improved recruitment, retention - and profitability.

“The CSR Consortium draws on a vast array of private, public and voluntary sector experience and, as a result, should help decision makers understand the breadth of the CSR agenda and how it goes hand in hand with improved business performance.”

“We know that there are consultancies providing some of the CSR-related services but we believe that the number of companies involved in the consortium and the breadth and depth of service probably makes us unique.

"There isn't a week goes by without some business research emerging about the impact of a responsible approach, often warning that businesses that fail to recognise and act on the opportunities will be caught out."

A web site has been set up – www.csrconsortium.co.uk – to help guide businesses through the myriad aspects of the responsible business agenda.


Further information about this press release is available from:

Sharon Cain, MD, Quest Public Relations 01423 564192
Mervin Straughan, StraughanConsulting 01423 750304