Responsible business practice
Our focus is on the three priority areas where we can make a unique contribution - raising literacy levels, improving learning outcomes and contributing to competitiveness. At the same time we recognise a broader responsible business agenda based on issues which we share with many companies across different industries.
Planet Earth is at a crossroads. October 2010 saw the global population on earth reach 7 billion. Unprecedented population growth is set to continue as some predict that there will be nine billion people on the planet as soon as 2030.
Pearson purchases goods and services valued at over £2bn each year. This total includes our investment in research and development such as our advances to authors and the development of new digital products and services.
Our business purpose is to help people make progress in their lives through learning - or to be 'always learning'. The use of 'people' in describing our business purpose is deliberate in that this applies as much to the people that work at Pearson as it does to the millions of people who benefit from our products and services.
We continue to work hard to earn the trust of the people who buy and use our products and services. Each of our businesses has a precious reputation to defend - Penguin for the quality of its publishing and consistent record of innovation and fearlessness; the FT for its rigorously investigated, unbiased and responsible journalism; and our education businesses' for the efficacy and demonstrable positive outcomes of their learning solutions.
Our company purpose is to help people of all ages to progress through their lives through learning. This is both a social purpose and our core business. Our commercial success provides the investment capacity for us to continue to innovate and expand into new geographic markets and new kinds of learning.