Purpose
24 years on from our foundation, the purpose of Tomorrow’s Company remains:
to inspire and enable business to be a force for good in society.
Since then there has been a notable shift in the attitude of business leaders, investors, influencers and the public in the UK and beyond. There is wider recognition that no part of the system wins if we only focus on short-term financial value. Long-term wealth creation is the goal, and wealth is measured in much more than money. This change has been helped by changes in law and regulation, and huge amounts of guidance given to practitioners and to business. ‘Purpose-led’ has even become a fashionable label.
We believe that intent matters. There are many businesses and leaders who run organisations with a purpose beyond profit, and are determined to be good stewards. We see just as many who pay lip service to ‘purpose-led business’ and don’t reflect this commitment in what they do and how they do it. Too often their heads disappear beneath the parapet at the first sound of shots from extractive investors or owners. Companies have frequently been confronted with the choice between maximising profit in the short term and doing the right thing for the long term.
The best boards and the best owners see themselves as stewards - custodians of the company and its relationships and impacts, now and into the future; these instincts become embedded and people who work with or for the organisation flourish because of it. It is these observations which inform our priorities as Tomorrow’s Company emerges from its transition and seeks to inspire and enable an emerging generation of leaders and businesses.
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