Videos from day two

Ian Cheshire, Kingfisher speaking on day two of the Responsible Business Convention 2011

Ian Cheshire, Group Chief Executive, Kingfisher plc

Ian Cheshire is leading the business of Kingfisher to take on the challenge of reducing carbon emissions from UK’s households, which account for around 25% of all of the UK’s carbon emissions.

Speaking at the launch of BITC’s Visioning the Future project, he thinks that business needs to use techniques that allow them to step into the future, and find new models of doing business. “If we keep consuming resources at a 3-planet rate, the pressure on our one planet will rapidly build up.” Referring to the more than 3 million customers per week who shop at Kingfisher stores, he pointed to the challenge of reducing business pressure for more consumption and more customers, highlighting businesses that are looking to life-cycle analysis and leasing of products as a possible new future. “Many of the power tools we sell are used only twice per year. What would our business look like if they merely licensed tools and started to think of products as modular inputs to production?” In answering that question he referred to the difficulty of imagining future business models but the importance of creating sustainable business models and then engineering current businesses to meet those models. In the future there will be winners and losers, and the winners will be the ones that can imagine the future and make changes to avoid the pressures that are already building.

Mark Price, Chairman, BITC and Managing Director, Waitrose

Mark Price, current Chairman of BITC and MD of Waitrose, stressed the importance of the role of “business connectors” in helping business to collaborate with government and community actors. He said “The challenges on environmental and social issues are as great as they have ever been”. Programmes such as those instituted by Barclays on the issue of homelessness and UBS in working with deprived schools in Hackney are essential if business is going to continue to operate profitably and responsibly. Mr Price identified the importance of individuals acting to connect business, “Business connectors help [business] to deliver on the types of partnerships that deliver the best and the quickest results”.

He also identified the importance of understanding that challenges are much greater than just carbon emissions. The issues of water distribution, fish stock depletion, deforestation and energy use are all present issues that indicate the challenges of business future.