Distributor, Cornelius, received an award for Community Interaction at the Chemical Business Association’s annual lunch held in London in April.
CBA’s Community Interaction Award was won by Cornelius Group for its engagement with a wide range of community initiatives stemming from its formal Corporate Social Responsibility Charter that aims to set standards for its internal and external relationships. Cornelius has a long-standing involvement with education – through governorships, work placements and events. This commitment is carried through to university level – where the company lectures to under-graduate and postgraduate students on topics ranging from employability, to careers in the chemical industry. The company and many of its employees also devote their time to supporting local charities and fund-raising initiatives for a wide range of good causes. Marketing manager, Natalia McDonough, and operations director, Richard Herring, received the award on behalf of the company, from comedian Tony Hawks. Chairman of the Association, Dr Neville Prior, had earlier made his final speech as Chairman, and he touched upon the subject of financial burden as a result of regulatory compliance: “We have now learned that the first round of REACH registrations actually cost the industry around e2.1 billion. This is twice as much as was forecast by the European Commission and almost as much as the original estimate for the total cost of REACH through to and including 2018.” “Just to complete this sorry tale of regulatory over-reach, the European Commission recently asked 1,000 smaller firms throughout Europe to list the most burdensome EU regulations. Guess what came top of the list? Yes, of course, it was REACH.” The successor to Dr Neville Prior as Chairman of the Association will be Steven Cartlidge, managing director of Lake Chemicals and Minerals.
