Introduction
Within the last decade “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) has been gaining
momentum as a growing number of companies formally recognise the impacts they
have on the environment, on society and on the economy. Within the UK public houses
(pubs) play an important and diverse role in the nation’s social and economic life and
the companies and individuals that operate these pubs face a number of challenges that
have been attracting increasing public and political concern and media attention. This
case study offers a preliminary exploration of the CSR issues being addressed by the
UK’s leading pub operators. It includes a brief review of CSR, an outline of the
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CSR in the
hospitality
industry
329
International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality
Management
Vol. 18 No. 4, 2006
pp. 329-340
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0959-6119
DOI 10.1108/09596110610665339
structure of the pub market and of the method of enquiry, an examination of the main
CSR commitments and achievements reported by the top ten pub operators and some
reflections on CSR within the pub industry.