Is it possible to make money and help the world at the same time? David Grayson believes so. Howard Walker talks to the Project North-East co-founder about his latest mission - to use business as a force for good.

Watching anti-capitalist demonstrators hurl missiles at massed ranks of riot police whenever the world's biggest countries meet, it's hard to think of business as a positive influence on the world's affairs.

In the eyes of many people - and not just those throwing the bricks and stones - commerce and capitalism are the biggest threats to global stability and are only there to make money for a select few at the expense of millions.

David Grayson is not one of those. In fact, he believes exactly the opposite.

"In many respects, business is a hugely important force in the world and at its best, it is an incredibly powerful force for good," he declares.

"That's not to suggest that governments have ceased to be important, but I do think that for many issues, business has got a hugely powerful opportunity to make a positive difference.

"One of the most valuable contributions business can make in a dangerous world is by promoting diversity and encouraging opportunity.

"One of the greatest recruiting sergeants for terrorism is people not having a stake in the system - employing people from different groups is a massive contribution to improving understanding between people."

In case you were in doubt, this isn't some naive idealist talking. Over the past 25 years, Grayson has backed up his beliefs with real results ranging from pioneering work fostering new businesses in the region during the nadir of the 1980s recession with Project North-East in Newcastle to getting a better deal for disabled people through the National Disabilities Council.

Along the way, he has also been an instrumental figure in the establishment of business support organisations including Business Link and The Prince's Youth Business Trust.
Grayson's latest mission combines many of the ideas underpinning his work in a philosophy which he believes can pull off an enviable trick - boosting profits by helping the community and the world at large.

He calls it "Corporate Social Opportunity", expounding the idea in a book he has co-written and taking the message to companies across the country.

The Journal caught up with him following a presentation to a 50-strong audience of business people at the new Hilton on the banks of the Tyne, an event he says was "very well received".
Without wishing to burst his bubble, the first question has to be "does this really work?" Corporate Social Responsibility has been around as a concept for a few years now and seems to the more cynically-minded to be something to make the company look good in its annual report.

"Corporate Social Responsibility in some instances is just simply for PR's sake," Grayson admits with disarming honesty.

"I think in some instances, why it's not as widespread as it can be is because it's seen as a bolt-on to business operations rather than built-in to a business purpose and strategy.
"What we are arguing for is quite an important shift and it's not a play on words, changing `responsibility' to `opportunity', it's about how you treat people, the environment, your supply chain and making CSR an integral part of the business culture."

There are also cautionary words for big companies who think bunging a few quid to their local charity will mask some of their less charitable behaviour.

"There is a danger of too much emphasis on CSR as a risk management strategy to defend corporate reputation," warns Grayson.

"If you are not practising in one area of your business what you preach in another then someone will come along and point out you are being hypocritical - you need to be consistent in what you are doing in the community and your own corporate practice."

And, crucially, Grayson believes this approach can reap big dividends for the bottom line.

"If CSR just becomes risk management, companies are missing out on huge opportunities of using a genuine commitment to responsible business to get new insights, stimulate creativity and innovation and find new products, new services and new routes to market, which we think is the exciting thing."

As examples, he cites the experiences of consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble and computer group IBM, both of whom were helped by taking the CSO approach.
P&G pioneered water purification tablets which have been used to great effect in developing countries across the world.

The company distributed the product via street vendors in developing countries and partnering with different countries around the world, giving it access to a whole new range of distributors for its products all over the globe.

In a similar vein, IBM has been able to improve its product offering to older customers after bringing in one of the community groups, Senior Net, which it works with to advise the company's research and development people on older people's needs and priorities.
While both companies have done something which helps the wider community, both have also helped improve their own businesses.

"This is very much an achievable win-win situation," says Grayson.

That may be all well and good but as huge multi-nationals, IBM and Procter & Gamble can afford to do such things. How can this work for a small business which is battling to even survive?

"If you believe in the argument - and I passionately do - that really integrating corporate social responsibility into the way you do business is good for your long-term business, it should work whether you're a multi-national or a two-person company," he says.

Grayson says research conducted two years ago found many small businesses were already going down the CSR/CSO route without realising it and that their experiences did not bear out the fears of small businesses who had not carried out CSR activities - that it was too hard and too expensive to do. Sceptics were also concerned they had to do everything all at once, whereas Grayson says companies can pick and choose what's right for them and he just wants them to "dip a toe in the water".

To that end, he has helped to set up a web portal - smallbusinessjourney.com - offering practical steps on how small businesses can integrate CSR into their companies.

The portal, which is backed by the Federation of Small Businesses, the British Chambers of Commerce and the Institute of Directors, also contains a host of case studies on companies who have prospered as a result.

One of them - Ormiston Wire in Middlesex - started off by installing energy-efficient lightbulbs. After a series of other environmentally-friendly initiatives, the £1.4m turnover company now saves £10,000 a year, avoids the £1,100 Climate Change levy, has cut its water bill to £150 a year and been awarded the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development.

"As someone who's been trying to campaign on small business development for almost 25 years, I think in many ways, it will be easier for lots of small businesses to integrate CSR than large companies because in many cases, they are much more in touch with their entrepreneurial self," says Grayson.

Little in the 49-year-old's background suggests he would turn out to be such a crusader for small businesses.

Born in Eckington, a mining village between Chesterfield and Sheffield, his father worked as a salesman for an insurance company while his mother was a primary school teacher.
At Cambridge, where he studied law, Grayson was "quite active politically" and had ambitions of going into politics.

"It took some time to realise there were lots of different ways to make a positive impact on society," he recalls.

After a master's degree in politics and economics of the European Community, his first job took him to Newcastle where he worked in brand management for Procter & Gamble on Fairy liquid.

Grayson says his first impressions of the city and the area have stood the test of time.
"It was and remains an incredibly friendly place with a strong sense of solidarity and community where people really got involved in things and it's the same today," he says.

Nevertheless, those values were about to be severely tested as the region's traditional bedrock of coal mining, shipbuilding and heavy industry were virtually swept away.

It was then that Grayson, in partnership with fellow 25-year-old David Irwin, left his job and decided to set up a company aimed at helping to create new businesses, expanding employment opportunities and building a better future for the North-East.

Project North-East was one of the early pioneers of business support, putting in place practical projects to grow the region's indigenous business base - now an idea which is mainstream thinking but at the time was fairly new and not universally popular.

"At the time, my family all thought I had flipped!" laughs Grayson. "They were saying `why is he giving up a great job with a multi-national company to start something up with no money?', but it was just a passion to try to make a difference."

That passion led to an operation which has helped to create countless businesses and employment opportunities.

The work has been taken to almost 50 countries across the world - little wonder Grayson says he is "very proud" about what Project North-East has achieved.

Seven years after setting up PNE in 1980, Grayson became joint managing director of the Prince's Youth Business Trust, bringing some of his ideas to a national stage.

From there it was on to Business In The Community, while still keeping an eye on Project North-East, and in the early 1990s he was asked to chair the national task force which set up the Business Link network.

He became chairman of the National Disabilities Council in 1995 where he worked to get a better deal for people with disabilities in the UK. Grayson is himself disabled, having suffered from bone disease osteomyelitis as a child.

"It all happened on my 11th birthday so birthdays have always been quite interesting ever since. It was the day I was born and the day I apparently nearly died," he says.

"I am sure it had some kind of impact somewhere on my career, but I'm not quite sure how."
At the National Disabilities Council, Grayson believes headway was made through co-operation rather than confrontation.

"I think we made a big difference because we emphasised the idea of partnership and building links with businesses."

After a moment's reflection, Grayson comes up with the kind of statement that seems to typify his business philosophy.

"That's one of the common threads in what I've done - I think people can achieve much more by working together than they can working on their own."

What is your favourite book?
The Dove - about a teenager who successfully sails round the world single-handed.

What is your favourite film?
I have just been to Auschwitz, so I guess Schindler's List.

What is your favourite piece of music?
It depends on my mood - I love classical - Mozart, Puccini especially; but also the latest compilations from Café del Mar or Hed Kandi.

What is your ideal job (other than your present one)?
A bigger and more intense version of my current portfolio - getting to more businesses, more business schools, more media.

What's the best piece of business advice you've been given?
Build a fantastic team of people around you.

And what's the worst?
To invest in a certain business.

Who or what would you put into Room 101?
Racists, xenophobes, homophobes and all who stir up intolerance and hatred.

What car do you drive?
A BMW.

What gadget do you never leave home without?
I'm afraid it is the mobile phone!

What is your favourite restaurant?
I prefer to experiment and to try new places.

Have you ever broken the law?
As a motorist, I'm afraid - as the Americans say "I plead the fifth!"

Who or what makes you laugh?
Good friends.

To download the interview with David on PDF please click here.