The City of London Corporation’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) network, the Heart of the City, is encouraging businesses to feed into a piece of research which will shed light on how small businesses engage with the voluntary sector and broader themes of CSR.

The white paper will be officially launched in July 2015 by the Heart of the City’s co-presidents, Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, and the Lord Mayor Alan Yarrow. Anecdotal evidence shows that Small and Medium Sized Enterprise’s (SMEs) CSR programmes are impacted by internal business factors such as limited budgets, lack of time and resources.

In response to limited research into small businesses’ corporate responsibility methods, Heart of The City has created several models for consultation, which look at how small businesses embark on CSR programmes, how they are implemented, the level of senior management buy-in, and the nearby social economic environment.

SMEs are being asked to provide their feedback on the models proposed in a consultation paper, and in addition encouraged to share the challenges they face, because of their size, when it comes to CSR involvement. Responses will be used to create effective and representative models which will better support SMEs who want to adopt a culture of responsibility and improve links with their local communities.

Carolyn Housman, Director of Heart of the City, said: “We have been working with SMEs for over 10 years, and it is evident that there is no one size fits all when it comes to corporate social responsibility. We want to launch an important piece of research that provides a deep insight into how businesses in the capital conduct their CSR programmes and the support they need to strengthen them. Business involvement with the third sector is essential in building a more inclusive society, and I would urge organisations to make sure their voices are heard in this debate.”

For more information on research visit http://www.theheartofthecity.com/whats-on/news/2015/03/27/towards-a-responsible-business-community-new-approaches-for-small-businesses-a-consultation and send feedback to consultation to HOTCExecutiveBoard@cityoflondon.gov.uk by Friday 1^st May 2015