Bitc challenged on ‘inclusive’ approach

The chairman of the UK brewing company Adnams, which has left Business in the Community on the grounds that the organization is failing to challenge its members, says other companies privately support his stance.

Simon Loftus told EP there was ‘fairly widespread concern’ about Bitc’s direction among companies actively engaged in CSR. ‘We’ve had quite a lot of letters and emails expressing support.
Bitc’s approach is very inclusive and based on the idea that it’s better to have everybody in membership and then work with them. But they have tried that and it’s not entirely working.

‘They need to be more publicly challenging to their members, especially in the context of growing public distrust of CSR.’

Senior executives holding the CSR brief within large companies told EP they share some of Loftus’s concerns, but the likelihood of other high-profile departures appears slim. One said: ‘They [Bitc] have their faults and there are rumblings, but Simon is the head of a small company where there are lots of easy wins. Larger companies move more like a supertanker. For them, Bitc is more relevant.’