Chime Communications plc has acquired corporate responsibility consultancy, The Corporate Citizenship Company.� The acquisition strengthens Chime’s presence in this growing market place as it already owns leading consultancy The Smart Company.
The Smart Company provides a business focussed approach to corporate responsibility to clients such as Scottish & Newcastle, Pearson, Go Ahead, BMW and Aviva.� Smart works with clients to develop CR strategies, engage stakeholders, manage environmental risk and impacts and invest in communities.� It also enables clients to evaluate their impacts and communicate with the right people in the right way.
Set up in 1997, The Corporate Citizenship Company is one of the longest standing and most respected CSR consultancies in the world.� With a team of 25 people in London and New York, it advises a global client list including Cadbury Schweppes, Diageo, HSBC, LaFarge, Unilever and Vodafone.� Specialisms include reporting and assurance, strategy and benchmarking, and community relations.� The company also manages the London Benchmarking Group on behalf of its 100+ corporate members and publishes the leading journal, Corporate Citizenship Briefing.
There are many synergies between The Corporate Citizenship Company and The Smart Company and the plan is to bring the two businesses together to create the leading global corporate responsibility consultancy.�
Chris Satterthwaite, CEO of Chime Communications, comments: “This is a dynamic and exciting market place and we believe that increasingly corporate responsibility will lie at the heart of successful businesses.� By bringing The Corporate Citizenship Company together with The Smart Company, we are demonstrating our commitment to creating a globally recognised, market leading corporate responsibility brand.�?�
Amanda Jordan OBE, Chair and Founder of The Smart Company, comments: “We are excited about what lies ahead.� Our combined business brings together some of the most talented people in the CSR field.� By bringing together these two companies we are creating a one-stop consultancy that will offer clients around the world unrivalled depth and breadth of experience.�?
David Logan, Co-Founder of The Corporate Citizenship Company, says “We are passionate about enabling businesses to take on the challenges of corporate citizenship and sustainability.� We believe that by becoming part of the Chime Group and working alongside Smart we will create an international centre of excellence in management practice for forward-thinking companies.�?
In addition to the synergies between the two consultancies in their core CSR and community involvement credentials, each has proprietary offerings that will add value to the combined business.� The Corporate Citizenship Company brings significant global experience as well as respected brands such as the London Benchmarking Group and Corporate Citizenship Briefing. The Smart Company has a successful environmental offering, ClimateSmart, as well as recent work on brand responsibility.
The two businesses will spend the next few months developing their combined business offering and will launch as a single business in the New Year.