UK: Peter Rosen, Commercial director, Bovince

Peter Rosen, 55, is Commercial director at Bovice, a family run business and one of the largest screen process and digital printers in Europe that has made a name for itself especially for its commitment to environmental and social values. Since 1997 when Bovince was awarded the PRISM award for Environmental Improvement Company of the Year the company has continued to win high profile awards including the Queens Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category. Bovince is also a member of the UK based CORE, the Corporate Responsibility Coalition.

How would you define Csr?
From my point of view I think that Csr is basically about a companies total impact on society.

Since when has Bovince had an interest in Csr?
I think that Bovince has always had an interest in Csr as it has always had an interest in quality, and the two are inextricably linked. Csr is really a lot of issues that we?ve been involved in over the years relabelled: we are very heavily involved in quality in environmental issues and in people issues and Csr we see as an umbrella term that is used today for dealing with these issues. At Bovince we certainly feel that we always were, and are, a step ahead of the rest in terms of Csr.

Who takes care of Csr at Bovince?
Formally I suppose it would come under the quality and environmental manager, but in reality Csr is imbedded within our thinking, within our systems, our procedures and processes.

What achievements in the field of Csr are you particularly proud of?
We have worked with many programmes and projects, but I suppose you could say I am particularly proud of winning the city of London Environmental award this year, as well as all of the other awards we have won over the years?

What other social projects do you work with?
One we are particularly involved in is the regeneration and sustainability of creative industries in London through a community interest company called the Print and Design Network.

Do you think that the practice of Csr is on the increase in companies around you?
No I don?t actually. Probably about 5 years ago the term was very much a buzz word, and many companies said they were going to ?get into it? and ?do it? but the buzz seems to have worn off, except for the big companies of course, but then they have a whole set of different reasons to be involved in Csr?

What are, according to you the main challenges that civil society faces today?
First of all there?s the whole climate change agenda, which we have to, as a planet, address quite quickly. Bearing in mind that the UK is 98% small to medium size enterprises, I am hoping that small business will be able to rise to the challenge and help the issue.

And how realistic do you think that sustainable development is?
I think it?s realistic, but whether we can pick up and run with it is another matter, as we have found as a company there is a huge case for doing so.

By this do you mean that as a business you have a lot to gain from working for social and environmental goals?
Yes, tremendously. There is just so much leverage that we can make, especially in terms of surplus resource, to assist the non profit sector in achieving these goals. One of our biggest projects, for example, is the London Children?s Scrap Project at Homerton. They take in all of our surplus materials, paper board and plastic and have it used in 600 schools in East London. Our waste becomes their gain, as well as our own.

So there?s an economic gain there for you as well?
Exactly, there?s a business case for every bit of Csr practise that we do.

And you think that there is potential for partnerships to be developed between the profit and the not for profit sectors?
Yes, certainly. We actively work with the non profit sector, and it is not a difficult thing to do and again, there is a lot of value to be gained.

On a personal note, what would you say that you have learned from working closely with Csr?
It?s hard to pinpoint exactly ? but certainly I have learned about the value of assisting communities, the value of assisting the environment, the supply chain and the work force with very minimum leverage.

Do you have any particularly interesting website to suggest to our readers?
www.hmcinternational.com ? a company that provides analysis, advice, auditing and educational services to businesses and multinational organisations in the field of Csr.

To contact Peter Rosen please contact staff@vitaeurope.org

More info about Bovince:
www.bovince.com