E.ON UK, the UK's largest
integrated power and gas
company, is part of the E.ON
group, the world's largest
investor-owned power and gas
company, headquartered in
Germany. In 2007, E.ON UK
recorded $25 billion in sales. The
company, which has the second
largest distribution network in
the UK, employs 20,000 people,
at 75 offi ces across the country. It
features centralised procurement
which makes purchases of some
$2 billion a year. Approximately
80% of the spending goes to
250 suppliers.
One of the company's fi ve
core values is corporate social
responsibility (CSR). Yet it
did not have a standardised
approach to monitor whether
its suppliers were behaving
in a socially responsible way.
The company was running the
risk of negative publicity that
could damage the brand. So
in 2005, E.ON UK launched
its Responsible Procurement
Initiative. The goal was to
structure a procurement policy
which could ensure that social
responsibility was embedded in
the inbound section of the supply
chain. Joanna Kinson, who had
worked for a company known for
its CSR processes, was recruited
as the strategy & analysis
manager for the procurement
team, with responsibility to
oversee the change process and
ensure successful execution of
the initiative. She now needed a
place to incubate the initiative.