Research & Ratings

Company Groups

Most corporate responsibility rating organisations 'rate' company groups as single organisations. Corporate Critic database is different in that it is structured to map complex company groups.

This means that extracts on specific companies generally appear with ownership information.

For example:

British Sugar is owned by a holding company called Wittington Investments. It is important to note that the ethical ratings represent those of the company group as a whole.

Therefore, where British Sugar is rated, the ratings refer not just to British Sugar but to Wittington and/or other companies owned by Wittington Investments.

The exception to this is under the policy categories: "Environmental Reporting", "Supply Chain Policy" and "Animal Testing Policy"categories, where ratings can refer to the specific subsidiary's environmental report or Supply Chain Policy if this is better.

When one company buys another, the new company is deemed to have inherited the past record of the other, unless there is clear evidence that the take-over has seen a change in policy and practice.

Significant effort is made with Corporate Critic to maintain the integrity and accuracy of information. Each company is assigned to its UHC (Ultimate Holding Company) but frequent global mergers, takeovers and acquisitions mean that company group information can be of an advisory nature only. Therefore, if a particular piece of information is to play a significant role in a campaigning or investment decision, we recommend making additional ownership checks. See Screenings.

Of course, accurate ownership information is of the utmost importance to us at ECRA, and we make every effort to monitor significant changes. If you discover information which you believe is incorrect, please contact us and we can make changes within 24 hours if necessary.

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