Ethical issues score badly in poll of small businesses

Ethical issues, human rights and environmental concerns are low priorities for the UK's small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) - according to a survey published this month.

The research, which was commissioned by business consultancy SGS Consulting, found that firms employing less than 500

Just 15% of SMEs think that ethical sourcing and human rights are factors, which concern their businesses while only one in seven (14%) thought environmental concerns were an influence. The research, which was conducted by Template Surveys, found that employee retention (53%), new product development (51%) and competitive advantage (49%) are issues which top the agenda of SMEs in the UK.

Commenting on the survey Toby Webb, Editor of Ethical Corporation magazine said, "Key drivers of social, environmental and financial responsibility are institutional investor pressure, corporate reputation & brand, and risk management strategies. SME's, often being private companies, are not subject to these pressures to the same extent. Hence they have less of a willingness to engage as deeply as large companies with these issues. It's not often that an SME has a global brand at risk of reputation damage. However, by not taking the issue of corporate social, environmental and financial responsibility seriously, SME's are missing out on an important benefit of responsible company behaviour - gaining trust and loyalty from employees and customers. All companies, no matter their size, are in business because of their staff and customers. By not working on being a more responsible company, an SME is potentially missing an important business opportunity."

The survey also found that two thirds of small and medium sized firms feel that Equal Opportunities legislation has no impact on their business. These findings relate to data collected from responses to an online questionnaire posted on the Internet and circulated in January 2002 by email to 5000 Managing Directors of UK firms which employ less than 500 staff.

The survey was also sponsored by Internet portal the-sme.co.uk and trade publisher, the Business Magazine Group. The full report will be published on the Internet and be available in hard copy later this month. For further information or to request a FREE copy of the report please contact SGS Consulting on 0151 350 6688 or Template Surveys on 020 7265 9174.