Beneath is a short interview with William Burgess, CEO of Produce World. William’s company won our Innovative Reporting award at the Ethical Corporation Awards in 2010.

London 07/01/2011

Below he shares his thoughts on what it takes to become a sustainable business, best practice techniques and the sense of being recognised independently for all their hard work.

How have you managed to embed sustainable thinking within your company?

We have taken a step by step approach to embedding sustainable thinking within our company by implementing key strategic frameworks (such as ISO 14001) with the view of not just paying lip service to sustainability. It was key that the Executive teams bought in to the sustainability agenda and championed this right throughout the business.

What is the biggest sustainability and CSR challenge you face professionally?

As a business we face the challenge of developing a sustainable supply chain, one that we relish and believe is achievable over time. We are the link between the growers and the supermarkets and understand that we have an extremely important role in ensuring sustainability and CSR practices are embedded at every level.

What is the one piece of advice you would offer to others seeking to become a more responsible business?

This process is nothing new. Businesses have historically been responsible for CSR practices such as HR and Healthy and Safety, it is just now being presented in a different format under the banner of CSR. Do not get bogged down in the jargon and do not just pay lip service to this area by producing reports with no substance. Start with improving simple business practices and put frameworks and techniques in place to ensure actions take place on the ground and that you can back up any claims you make externally. Remember this is a journey not a race.

What one thing have you done at your company to drive sustainability that others could replicate as best practice?

Appoint a management representative to champion, drive and strategies set in this area and create functional teams in each of the core CSR areas including a senior strategic CSR team.

What specific leadership qualities are needed by innovators in the field of sustainability that differ from those of running a traditional business that seeks only to meet the needs of shareholders?

Leaders need to be visionary, passionate and committed to long term success. They need to have the ability to look outside of the business and be open minded to new and innovative business practices.

Why did you and your company decide to enter the Ethical Corporation's Awards last May?

We felt our activities in innovative reporting were worthy of external recognition and that the Ethical Corporation was a credible organisation to be associated with.

How did it feel to be recognised by the Ethical Corporation's Awards for all your hard work in sustainable business practice?

It was a very honourable and proud moment and a real sense of achievement and satisfaction was felt by all. It was also extremely well received by other colleagues back in the business and helped with the continued communication of sustainability and CSR activities.

Finally, did you enjoy the evening itself?

Yes excellent evening with lots of networking opportunities and new contacts made.

For more information on the awards contact:

Harry Rollason
+44 (0)20 7375 7527