WHEN Nestlé announced it was planning to launch a fair-trade coffee brand, it surprised many of the activists who campaign for the developing world. They see Nestlé as a company with a far-from-flawless ethical record, writes Andrew Stone.

However, its move shows how far corporate and social responsibility have moved up the agenda.

And this is not just a matter for the multinationals. Many smaller players should be setting ethical, environmental and social goals as well as financial ones, according to David Grayson, chairman of Business in the Community’s Small Business Consortium.

“Large businesses are usually seen as the ones that should embrace corporate and social responsibility,” he said. “But there’s no reason why smaller firms should not be involved as well.”

In March The Sunday Times launched its Companies that Count campaign, a corporate- responsibility index devised by Business in the Community.

It aims to encourage firms to measure and control their impact on society and the environment in which they operate.

There is plenty that small and medium-sized players can do. And given that they are more adaptable than the multinationals, they are probably best placed to give back more to staff, the local community and the wider world, said Grayson.

This can often be done at little cost and can even bring financial benefits. One simple, practical source of ideas is Small Business Journey, a website launched this month to help small and mid-sized firms to improve the contribution they make to staff, the environment, clients and suppliers. Its advice is easy to download and inexpensive to implement, said Grayson.

Another way to make an ethical contribution is to source your energy, stock or raw materials from ethically sound suppliers, said Neil Crofts, founder of Authentic Business, a website dedicated to companies that pursue more than profit. Websites such as ethicaljunction. co.uk make it easier to source goods that have been ethically produced or traded, he said.

“One thing that’s easy to do is for people to change their buying patterns. Buying renewable energy, for example, makes such a minor difference to your business costs and it’s dead easy.

“It’s a simple first step. The good news is that it’s not necessarily about the cost to business; it is in many ways about efficient business.”

More small firms are making the effort, and this can be sound business sense, according to Charles Middleton, managing director of Triodos Bank, which invests exclusively in businesses with social, environmental and cultural aims.

The Co-op’s annual ethical consumerism report can be a good place to start, he said. “There are very few industries in which there is no possibility of bringing some environmental and social ethics to bear.”

Andrew Wilson, director of the Ashridge Centre for Business and Society, said: “You need to have a clear mission. Ask questions like: What happens to our products? Who is responsible for disposing of them at the end of their life? Where are we doing our traditional recruitment, and what does that mean for the diversity of the business? “Identify your key stakeholders — all the people affected by your business — and engage with them. What are you doing in terms of customer and supplier relations? Are you paying them fairly? Are you paying them on time? Is your advertising honest?” As well as making yours a more ethical business, measures such as these could make it more attractive, said Wilson. It might appeal to a better quality of recruits — leading to lower staff turnover — and give you a reputation as a good company to do business with.

www.authenticbusiness.co.uk

www.ethicalbusiness.com

www.ethicaljunction.co.uk

www.smallbusinessjourney.com

www.triodos.co.uk