AccountAbility

Episode 4, INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE, LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series

14th Jul 2009 by Alex Briggs

In Episode 4 of the 10-part LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series, the importance of independent assurance in restoring consumer trust in organisations and government is highlighted. Featured are Harriet Lamb, Fairtrade Foundation, Helen McTaggart of the Co-operative, Alan Knight and Kate Ives, AccountAbility, Sandy Sutherland, LRQA and Solitaire Townsend, Futerra Communications.

Episode 3 LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series

2nd Jul 2009 by Alex Briggs

Episode 3 LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series In Episode 3 of the 10-part LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series, Solitaire Townsend, co-founder and Chief Executive of Futerra Communications, offers insight into what businesses need to do to rebuild consumer trust, as well as the role that 3rd parties have in consumer decision making. Solitaire is one of the UK’s leading experts on environmental communications. In recognition of her work on environmental and sustainability issues, Solitaire was named as one of the original 15 “London Leaders” by then Mayor Ken Livingstone.

Episode 2 LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series

19th Jun 2009 by Alex Briggs

Episode 2 of the 10 part LRQA Business Assurance “Trust and Transparency” Podcast Series. This episode focuses on the “Accountability Gap” that was highlighted in the What Assures Consumers in an Economic Downturn Report. The research for the report was conducted in the UK by YouGov, commissioned by AccountAbility , sponsored by the Co-operative and supported by LRQA. The “AccountAbility Gap” refers to the difference between what consumers think an organisation’s responsibility is and how well they are at living up to that responsibility.

ISO 14001 and Stakeholder Credibility

16th Jun 2009 by Alex Briggs

ISO 14001, the environmental management systems standard, is increasingly being seen as a tool to help organisations engage with their stakeholders.
VWS has been working since 2006 with a project team drawn from all of the their divisions to implement ISO 14001 and achieve certification. This was awarded following a detailed audit of all five of VWS’s UK sites by Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA).

Episode 1 LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series

9th Jun 2009 by Alex Briggs

The 10 part “Trust and Transparency” podcast series is here! Harriet Lamb of The Fairtrade Foundation starts the series with her insight on what it takes for organisations to rebuild consumer trust. She also talks about Fairtrade and how they have done during the current economic downturn. She also shares her thoughts on the What Assures Consumers in an Economic Downturn report, the latest in a series from AccountAbility, sponsored by the Co-operative and supported by LRQA.

New Report – What Assures Consumers in an Economic Downturn?

28th May 2009

This latest research report ‘What Assures Consumers in an Economic Downturn?’ highlights that consumer attitudes to corporate responsibility have remained fairly stable during the early days of this downturn, comments Barry Clavin, Ethical Policies and Sustainability Reporting Manager, The Co-operative Group. He also says in the foreword of the report that, issues that mattered to consumers back in 2006 remain important today. Download the Full Report.

LRQA Business Assurance “Trust and Transparency” Podcast Series

27th May 2009 by Alex Briggs

The What Assures Consumers in an Economic Downturn report was commissioned by AccountAbility, sponsored by the Co-operative, supported by LRQA, with the online research being conducted by YouGov. In early June, we will be launching a 10-part audio and video podcast series from interviews and presentations from the launch event. Sign up to our subscription updates or our iTunes podcast link at the top right hand corner of www.businessassurance.com .

New ‘What Assures Consumers in an Economic Downturn’ research highlights need for Independent Assurance

23rd Apr 2009

The report ‘What Assures Consumers in an Economic Downturn: Reviewing the agenda in the global economic crisis’ from the think-tank AccountAbility investigates what enables consumers to trust in a business’s integrity and fairness.

World’s best CSR companies? Think again

29th Oct 2008 by Alex Briggs

This Salter-Baxter report on the world’s leading CSR reporting companies has led to increasing debate. With companies such as British-American Tobacco, Nestle and Shell at the top of the rankings, controversy is the order of the day.

Sir Jonathon Porritt, the chairman of the government’s Sustainable Development Commission, and founder of Forum for the Future, led the attack on the report,

When any company is systematically mispricing risks and systematically misallocating capital it makes no sense to talk about corporate responsibility. We’re going to have to face the fact some of the measures used to judge relative CSR performance are useless. They don’t help shareholders. They don’t help citizens. They don’t help the companies themselves.

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AA1000 Assurance Standard launched

27th Oct 2008

AA1000 AS is an international sustainability assurance standard that can be linked to other dominant business audit and assurance standards. Sustainability assurance provides a comprehensive way of holding an organisation to account for its management, performance and reporting on sustainability issues.

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