ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (ESRC) AND ACCA SIGN JOINT AGREEMENT

　　ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL （ESRC） AND ACCA SIGN JOINT AGREEMENT

　　A Memorandum of Concordat （MoC） has been signed by the Economic and Social Research Council （ESRC） and ACCA （the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants）

　　The strategic agreement seals a relationship where the two organisations have worked in partnership over several years on a number of initiatives - such as diversity, pensions, social responsible investment and climate change - which have generated impact among a range of stakeholders within academia and business.

　　Ewan Willars, director of policy at ACCA, says: 'Our partnership is based on high quality research that strongly supports both knowledge exchange and impact to policy, business strategy and the wider accounting profession. We have already built a compelling case about the issue of diversity in global business, and we are looking to develop this important concern in the future.'

　　Adrian Alsop, director of research, partnerships and international, ESRC says: 'ESRC and ACCA will continue to collaborate, as appropriate, on seminars, workshops, reviews and consultations in relation to areas of common interest. Together, we share a commitment to encouraging independent, high quality research that informs and impacts business, the third and public sectors as well as governments.'

　　The concordat will be three years, commencing on the 1 April 2013 and terminating on the 31 March 2016. To support the delivery of the Concordat, each organisation will make a sum of ?50,000 available, annually. This will be used, by mutual agreement, to sponsor joint initiatives, provide research grant funding, and internship programmes, as well as other activities, under the terms and spirit of the Concordat.