ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the role of consultancies in the development of companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the United Kingdom. While most interviewees could see the value of using CSR consultants, a high level of importance was placed on maintaining internal staff with CSR knowledge as they were considered to be better placed both to fully understand the organisation and to embed CSR values. Although the advantages of using CSR consultants focused mainly on specialist expertise and an independent point of view, the CSR consultants themselves built on this by providing an idea of what they believed was the advantage for their clients of using their consultancy. Moreover, it should be noted that findings of a growth in CSR consultancy have occurred at a time of growth of CSR middle-management jobs within companies and impressionistic evidence of a circulation of CSR professionals between companies and consultants.
