European Supplier DiversityThe European Supplier Diversity Business Forum was an initiative that promotes Supplier Diversity in Europe. Supplier Diversity is concerned with ensuring that under-represented businesses, including but not limited to race, disability and gender, have the same opportunities to compete for the supply of goods and services as other suppliers.
Supplier Diversity often forms part of a company's approach to diversity and equality, and can be an integral part of a Corporate Social Responsibility programme. The concept of Supplier Diversity is well established in the US, where it is also backed by legislation. The aim of this European programme is to develop the concept within a European context. The Forum is membership driven and European based. In its first phase it focuses on five countries - the UK, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and France.
The Forum builds on the work of the European Supplier Diversity Project, a ground-breaking two-year pilot project that ended in November 2004. The aim of the project was to test whether the time was right for employers to pursue a Supplier Diversity agenda in Europe.
The impressive results signalled that the time was right to continue the work on Supplier Diversity in Europe and establish the Forum.
|