Press Release

Embargoed until 00:01 hrs

Wednesday 4 December 2002

IoD members support CSR activities

The Institute of Directors said today that their members were verysupportive of, and actively engaged in, implementing Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) policies. An NOP survey of 500 IoD members showed that themajority of directors discussed social and environmental issues in theirboardrooms and sizeable minorities of directors from the larger companiesreported that their companies had a board member with specific remits forsocial and environmental issues.

Ruth Lea, Head of the Policy Unit at the IoD, said:

"We were pleasantly surprised by the results of this survey. Giventhat most of our members are from SMEs and that CSR policies are veryfrequently implemented as integral parts of company culture and not as'stand-alones' to be discussed separately at boards, we are impressed thatnearly 50% of members actively discussed social issues and nearly 60% activelydiscussed environmental issues at board level. These figures are significantlyhigher for the larger companies, as expected. Many businesses, especiallysmaller businesses, take the view that social and environmental issues are everyone'sconcern. Equally we were encouraged that significant proportions of the largercompanies having board members with specific remits for social (36%) andenvironmental (48%) issues.

"It is also gratifying to note that our members are concerned abouthow the people they deal with, whether suppliers or customers, treat theirstaff (67%) and respect the environment (62%).

"It is clear that IoD members take their employment andenvironmental policies seriously and, moreover, they believe that the successfulimplementation of these policies helps their businesses. 'Good' business is'good business'. Much of this is done on a voluntary basis, following theprinciples of best practice, and this is how it should stay. Of course, thereis always scope for improvement but there is nothing at all in this survey thatjustifies specific CSR regulation and legislation. The burden of regulations isalready damaging business competitiveness and is particularly painful for smallbusinesses; it must not be added to."

Ends

3.12.02 No.135

Notes to Editors

1. Copiesof the full survey are available from the IoD Press Office.

2. The Institute of Directors is a non-partypolitical independent organisation with some 55,000 members. In addition to itswide range of business services, the IoD provides an effective voice torepresent the interests of its members to government and key opinion-formers.It also brings the experience of business leaders to bear on the conduct ofpublic affairs.

Contact points:

Ruth Lea, Head of the Policy Unit, tel: 020 7451 3291

David Marshall, Director of PublicAffairs, tel: 020 7451 3263

mobileand out of hours: 07764 883420

Richard Taylor, Press Officer, tel:020 7451 3264

mobileand out of hours: 07721 734886

e-mail:press@iod.com

web:www.iod.com