One of the Big Four UK auditors has promised to do more to ensure that women make it into the higher echelons of its business, after hiring or promoting 52 new partners at its British division. There are now 613 partners at KPMG, of whom 15 per cent are women. That ranks KPMG alongside Deloitte in terms of the percentage of women who have reached partner level. Along with PwC and EY, all four have pledged to increase the number of women partners to ensure that there are more female executives in Britain’s boardrooms. Simon Collins, KPMG’s UK chairman, said: “A third of our newly promoted partners are women, which is a testament to a significant effort to remove any barriers to the best talent coming through”. KPMG will also be putting more pressure on the headhunters and recruitment agencies that it employs to make sure that they promote diversity in the candidates they supply. “While we have seen results internally, there is more work to be done on our external hires,” Collins added. (The Times*)
Inclusive Business
More firms use charitable programmes as a recruiting tool
CFOs are finding that giving away money, time and products to charitable causes is a good way to attract young talent. General Electric’s (GE) fast-track financial-management programme provides young recruits with the option of volunteering in some of the world’s most impoverished countries. Partnering with BuildOn, a charity dedicated to the construction of amenities in the developing world, GE donated funds helping to build over 660 schools. CFOs are finding these programmes to be a key recruiting tool for new employees. “It has completely changed [GE employees’] perspective about our company”, said Jeff Bornstein, chief financial officer. Technology firm Intel, donated an additional $60 million to charitable causes last year. Wendy Hawkins, executive director of the Intel Foundation, believes that the younger generation consider these philanthropic factors when considering a career. “They are coming together to study issues, like water use, energy and education, and they are thinking about what kind of active role they can take”, she said. (Wall Street Journal*)
Ethical bottled water companies are facing an “uphill battle”
Companies who promise to channel revenues from bottled water sales back into water-related projects are finding it hard to make a dent in the world’s water crisis against their bigger rivals. Ethical brands such as One Water and Belu pledge to donate their profits towards providing clean water in the developing world. To date, One Water has given away over £10 million. Whilstthese pro-social business models are generating benefits, their ability to have a major impact is hampered by larger firms producing bottled water. “We’re up against companies like Nestlé and Danone that have global manufacturing capability and that can invest in customers in a way we can’t”, said One Water Founder, Duncan Goose. Whilst Evian’s Water Protection Institute and Nestlé’s donation of water bottles to emergency relief groups starts to address the global water crisis, these efforts have been criticised for not doing enough. Karen Lynch, chief executive at Belu said they are in an “uphill battle” to compete with the big companies. “Why aren’t we leading the market? It’s purely about scale and investment”, she added. (The Guardian)
Renewable Energy
Kyocera announces plan for world’s largest floating solar farm
Japanese technology giant Kyocera has announced it is to move forward with ambitious plans to develop floating solar farms, confirming it is to team up with Century Tokyo Leasing Corp to deliver a 2.9MW project. The company, which has previously argued that floating solar farms would address concerns that large solar projects risk eating into valuable agricultural land, issued a statement revealing it is planning to install two separate floating arrays in Hyogo Prefecture. Kyocera said that in addition to easing land pressure, the floating solar arrays promised to deliver higher levels of conversion efficiency than standard solar farms, thanks to the cooling effect of the water. A spokeswoman for the company, Sanae Iwasaki, said that the two firms were now keen to expand the joint venture through the development of up to 30 floating solar arrays boasting around 60MW of new capacity. The project represents a further boost to the Japanese solar industry, which has enjoyed a surge in new developments in recent years thanks to the government’s feed-in tariff incentives and significant investment from Japanese solar manufacturers. (Business Green)
Corporate Reputation
British activist braced for Thai defamation trial amid cover-up claims
A British labour rights activist will face a Thai court today on defamation charges that could carry an eight-year prison sentence, in a case that human rights groups say is a cover-up of “systematic violations” of labour laws in the Thai export industry. Andy Hall wrote a condemning report on Thai company Natural Fruit – which supplies the EU with drinks products – alleging major human rights and labour abuses within the company. In the report, Cheap has a high price, Hall wrote: “Migrant exploitation by employers, officials and brokers is widespread and systematic”, and described the charges against him as “judicial harassment”. His case has sparked alarm among activists, NGOs, human rights groups and food companies worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed petitions calling for Natural Fruit to drop the case against Hall. By agreeing to prosecute, “the Thai government is complicit in an effort to cover up abuses of migrant workers and shut down external investigations of supply chains of Thai exporters”, warned Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson. (The Guardian)
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