On Tuesday 19th July we were delighted to launch our new Corporate Social Responsibility Seminar Series organised in partnership with Phillida Purvis of Links Japan. This first event took the topic of From Philanthropy to Essential Business Investment - the evolution of CSR in the UK. Following Phillida's introduction, our first speaker, Takeshi Shimotaya, Managing Director of SustainaVision Ltd, gave a broad outline of the concept of CSR including the differences between approaches in the UK and Japan. Then our second speaker, Ian Blythe, Head of CSR for Boots UK, built upon this background by giving an account of the development of CSR within the historical story of the Boots company before looking at how these priorities are put into practice today. These lectures were followed by an engaging Q&A session and then a drinks reception throughout which these discussions continued.

You can download the Powerpoint Presentations of the two speakers via the links to the attachments below.

This series is also supported by the Embassy of Japan, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) in the UK, the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO, London and the Japan Europe Entrepreneurs Forum. Further details will be available soon about the next event in the series at the end of September.