BRITAIN’s most socially and environmentally responsible companies are revealed today in the second Corporate Responsibility Index of best business practice published in a special supplement with The Sunday Times.

National Grid tops the league table of “Companies That Count”. It takes the title for having the best impact on areas in which it operates, including the environment, community, workplace and marketplace.

BP, the oil company, came second, with Unilever, the consumer-goods business, Veolia Water, and insurer Aviva following behind.

The 139 companies in this year’s CR Index, compiled by Business in the Community, are committed to measuring and controlling their social and environmental impact.

It is hoped the CR Index will help restore the confidence in corporate Britain. Companies that have taken part said it led to business advantages, including cost savings, improved corporate image, better recruitment and greater efficiencies. But 361 companies declined to take part, suggesting that some of Britain’s biggest businesses still do not take corporate social responsibility seriously.

David Varney, chairman of Business in the Community and MMO2, the telecoms company, said: “The companies that do corporate responsibility — and do it well — have a better sense of innovation and they are more in touch with the communities in which they live.”

David Boyd of Amersham International, the biotech company, said: “Our participation in the inaugural index helped us to identify those areas where we are managing corporate responsibility well, and those areas that we need to work on.”