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Obama: BP responsible for costs of oil spill
The Seattle Times, 2 May 2010
"President Obama took a firsthand look Sunday at the response effort to an oil spill that he called a 'potentially unprecedented environmental disaster.' Officials for BP, meanwhile, for the first time detailed their desperate efforts to seal the gushing well."
For the full article go to the New York Times and Washington Post here:
MPs to launch inquiry into Kraft takeover of Cadbury
The Scotsman, 15 February 2010
The House of Commons' business select committee will interrogate senior Kraft officials early next month following the revelation that it plans to shut down Cadbury's Somerdale plant near Bristol, shedding 400 jobs.
The factory had already been earmarked for closure by Cadbury but Kraft had promised to maintain employment at the base as one of its key pledges in its takeover bid. Campaigners discovered that the US giant planned to renege on its promise after the £11.5 billion takeover had already received the go-ahead from shareholders.
Social enterprise charter mark launches
Philanthropy UK, 10 February 2010
A social enterprise charter mark has been launched nationally by the Social Enterprise Coalition to allow people to identify enterprises that use at least 50% of its profits for a social purpose and comply with other socially focussed criteria.
Peter Holbrook, chief executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition, said, "Social enterprises are businesses doing really extraordinary things in new and innovative ways, but they have until now been hard to recognise, partly because they work in practically every industry imaginable and range from community enterprises to international companies. The time is right for the introduction of a visually powerful mark that indicates, at a glance, the integrity of an organisation and around which we can drive awareness and understanding." For the article in full, here:
Richard Curtis and Bill Nighy team up in new film urging Tobin tax on bankers
The Guardian, 9 February 2010
The powerful new coalition of domestic and overseas charities, unions and church groups argue that a Robin Hood tax could generate $700bn (£450bn) worldwide. The tax would see 0.05% levied on each bank trade ranging from shares to foreign exchange and derivatives, creating a cash pile to be spent on measures to combat domestic and international poverty as well as fight climate change.
Read the full article here.
NEWS ARCHIVE
Website aims for £1m for good causes
Affinity shopping portal will raise cash for consumers' chosen charities
A new shopping website could raise more than £1m for UK charities in its first year, according to its creator.
Netfundraising.org.uk is similar to other 'cashback' sites, through which registered retailers pay the website and shoppers a percentage of any items purchased.
Should Today's Companies Be Doing More To Make Society Better?
The Financial Times looks at how corporate philanthropy has changed since the dawn of the industrial age.
Firms’ secret tax avoidance scheme cost UK billions
British taxpayers are being left to plug a multibillion-pound hole in the public finances as hundreds of the country's biggest companies increasingly employ complex and secretive tax arrangements to limit the amount they hand over to the exchequer.
An extensive Guardian investigation has examined the accounts of the UK's biggest companies - many of them household names - and discovered a series of sophisticated tax strategies which, critics say, amount to an almost unstoppable tide of perfectly legal corporate tax avoidance.
New edition of DSC’s Guide to UK Company Giving shows majority of corporate community support comes from just 50 companies
The latest (7th) edition of The Guide to UK Company Giving, just published by the Directory of Social Change, reveals that of the 490 companies covered in the guide, a mere 50 accounted for over three-quarters of the total cash donations given in support of charitable causes. Of the £500 million donated in total in 2007/08, nearly 77% (£384 million) was accounted for by this small group.
For more information or to purchase the guide click here.
