Social enterprises need to be unideological and work with market leaders when forming partnerships with big businesses, delegates at the Skoll World Forum were told today.
Rupert Howes, chief executive of the Marine Stewardship Council told a session entitled 'David and Goliath revisited: partnerships between social entrepreneurs and big business' that social enterprises had to "cut the herd and work with the leaders, those who will draw others behind them." The Marine Stewardship Council has formed a partnership with McDonald's restaurants to promote sustainable fishing.
Howes told delegates at the forum in Oxford that successful partnerships with corporate partners required a high degree of trust and understanding. He said that the McDonald's partnership emerged after a long series of conversations over several years.
Howes said that the partnership was helping the Marine Stewardship Council to scale up their impact, as McDonald's were both raising awareness among their customers and driving seafood certification in their supply chains.
Howes said that the partnership was sealed when he met Keith Kenny, a senior director at McDonald's Europe and a fellow Briton, at a conference in the United States. Both men agreed that discussions over partnerships were made easier when they took place outside the everyday business environment.
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