Waitrose chief to chair Business in the Community
Business in the Community (BITC) has announced the appointment of Mark Price, Managing Director of Waitrose, as its new chairman.
Mark Price has been chairman of BITC’s The Prince’s Rural Action Programme for two years. During that time his greatest achievement has been to bring together a unique collaboration of food manufacturers and retail brands to work together on the development and launch of The Prince’s Countryside Fund. The Fund is helping to secure the future of the countryside by enabling businesses and their consumers to contribute to projects supporting the sustainability of British farming and rural communities.
Mark Price, managing director, Waitrose said: ‘It has been my good fortune to be associated with BITC over the past couple of years and so it is a particular pleasure and honour to be given this opportunity. I very much look forward to working with Stephen, other Board members and the rest of the team.’
Waitrose and its parent company the John Lewis Partnership, is recognised as a leader in the field of responsible business; relationships with its people, customers and suppliers form the backbone of its operations. The retailer is a long-standing member of BITC and their ethos fits with our own aims to support companies to embed responsibility into everyday business practice.
Stephen Howard, chief executive, BITC said: ‘We are delighted to welcome Mark Price as chairman of BITC and I’m confident our movement will continue to grow under his leadership. Mark has an impressive track record for innovative developments in sustainable and ethical retailing and has demonstrated time and again that responsible business can result in profitable business. I look forward to working with him.’
Business in the Community stands for responsible business. We have a growing membership of 850 companies working with us to define what responsibility looks like in the workplace, marketplace, environment and the community. And we share what we learn about driving performance through responsible business practice through the campaigns, products and services we offer our members.
Mr Price will officially take over from BITC’s current chairman, Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Marks and Spencer, on 1 January 2011 and will remain in post for three years. In addition he will remain chairman of The Prince’s Countryside Fund, but will step down from his post as chair of the Rural Action Programme.
