AGENDA IS very saddened to hear of the untimely death last week of Joanna Davidson (50), head of corporate responsibility at RBS. Recruited by Sir Fred Goodwin in 2003 to launch the new CSR division, Joanna is said by colleagues to have combined forcefulness of character and commercial good sense with charm and good humour.
Being the daughter of former chairman George Younger made her unfazed by the internal politics and personalities of the Royal, though working with her - or knowing Goodwin - would quickly dispel any mutterings of special favours. The department she nurtured was not, like some, a shop window of corporate PC-ness but a rigorous internal consultancy that always kept sight of the long-term commercial benefits of ethical investment and corporate best practice. Andrew Cave, her deputy, told the Sunday Herald: "With great energy and enthusiasm, Joanna oversaw the development of a programme of work and external reporting that gained broad recognition across the industry, the legacy of which will continue.
"RBS won the 2008 Scotland Plc Sustainability Award for its work in this area, and as recently as this week, RBS was included in a newly published list of best practice corporate responsibility reporting.
"Even more so than these important achievements, it was the manner in which she carried out her work and the relationships that she formed along the way that really distinguished her.
"Her charm, sense of humour and genuine interest in people ensured that her department's work was always conducted in an enjoyable manner by a committed team, and meant that she quickly established a broad network of friends and colleagues across the company who would constantly drop by her office to share news or seek advice.
"She will be greatly missed."
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ALEX SALMOND gets down with the (business) kids this week when he kicks off the Youth Business International (YBI) forum on youth entrepreneurship in Edinburgh on Thursday. Delegates from 38 countries will gather to discuss fomenting business enthusiasm to the young, topping off the organisation's week‑long biennial conference. The forum, which also boasts Clydesdale Bank chief operating officer David Thorburn and Commonwealth deputy secretary general Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, will be followed by the YBI Entrepreneur of the Year finals at the city's Prestonfield House hotel. Let's hope everyone's in bed by 10 o'clock.
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