Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Prince Charles urges companies to end short-termism

The Prince of Wales has urged business to undergo “transformational change” to create a sustainable future where the actions of responsible industry leaders benefit everyone in Britain.

Prince Charles misses the Scottish ceremony at which Prince William becomes the third royal Knight of the Thistle so that he can meet a climate-change scientist from Ecuador.

The Prince said companies must find the right balance between short-term commercial requirements and longer-term needs of society. Photo: Getty Garry White By Garry White9:00AM GMT 03 Feb 2013

In a passionate plea to UK businesses, the Prince said companies must find the right balance between short-term commercial requirements and longer-term needs of society.

“One of the greatest challenges of being a leader is the ability to juggle the competing demand of short-term, immediate commercial pressure with the long-term transformational change businesses must address to create a truly sustainable future for all,” the Prince writes in an introduction to today’s Better Business supplement in The Sunday Telegraph.

It is being published in association with Business in the Community, the charitable organisation that supports businesses linking profits with creating a sustainable future. “For the past 28 years I have been heartened to see at first hand the difference that can occur when individuals from business make a determined effort to show leadership and take action to tackle pressing social and environmental problems.”

In the same supplement, Mark Price, the managing director of Waitrose who is chairman of BITC, argues that moral values are important in business.

Mr Price said the concept of good citizenship set out by the founders of John Lewis – which owns Waitrose – 80 years ago had served the organisation well.

“We continue to believe that treating our suppliers fairly and paying fair prices gives us the best quality, and a supply chain with integrity and sustainability,” Mr Price writes.

“More and more customers are appreciating what we set out to achieve and as more shop with us, we are able to improve our value to them by maintaining our quality but lowering our prices. Everyone likes good prices; the less well-off need good prices.”

Stephen Howard, chief executive of BITC, said that business can shed its negative image and regain public trust by doing the right thing.

“The banking industry has rightly been criticised for some reckless behaviour. But satisfaction goes way beyond the financial sector, as falling trust shows,” he writes. “Business is depicted as self-serving, avaricious and unethical; so business leaders’ popularity has taken a big hit.”

He believes capitalism must be harnessed as an inclusive force for good, this depends on understanding future opportunities and risks, not on short-term cost and benefit analysis.