About Us
Ethical Consumer Research Association
The ECIS Corporate Critic Research Database is a project of ECRA (the Ethical Consumer Research Association/ECRA Publishing Ltd).
ECRA was founded in 1988 as a not-for-profit workers' co-operative to 'provide information on the companies behind the brand names
and to promote the ethical use of consumer power.' It has published Ethical Consumer magazine since 1989, and now offers a range
of other products designed to encourage purchasers to take environmental and social issues into account in the market place.
Production of the magazine required the compilation of a database which collected data on company behaviour. In 1995,
an on-line version of this database, called Corporate Critic, was launched and began to be used by campaign groups and
ethical investors as an additional research tool. Since then it has become a key element in decision-making processes for
organisations around the world. In October 2001 ECRA spun off a new company, Ethical Consumer Information Systems
(ECIS - pronounced ee-kiss), to help finance and manage the development of a new database for this growing market.
Ethical Consumer Information Systems (ECIS) Limited
ECIS was established to promote social change by:
- acting as a stimulus to the wider practice of ethical purchasing
- producing corporate ethical rating systems based primarily on public domain information and publications by citizens' groups
- developing rating systems for companies and products that are both adaptable to changing ethical norms and wholly transparent to users for critical review
- building an information centre on corporate activities which is useful to a wide range of other organisations around the world
ECIS Ltd is a company limited by shares, but whose shares are intended to be owned predominantly by not-for-profit organisations. 96% of its shares are currently owned by ECRA.
Early financing for developing the business plan and re-writing the core database was provided by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Further funding for the project was provided by a loanstock issue for supporters of ECRA.
Other partners
Key partners in the development of the Corporate Critic project have been:
Idonix Ltd, Web and Database Programming
7 Sheinton Street, Much Wenlock,
Shropshire TF13 6HT
01952 728 651
www.idonix.co.uk