Annesley interviewed Rob Harrison from Ethical Consumer, the longest standing organisation in this area. Their expert researchers draw on 3rd party journalistic sources combined with primary research. Although they publish a magazine for consumers, they also concentrate on directly changing companies through their reputation and links with many other NGOs. They are also looking in to opening up their database for invited NGOs and charities to contribute. As they charge for the data currently they do not feel that a fully open free system is the right path. The primary users of their fully-transparent service are NGOs rather than individuals.
Ethical Consumer magazine covers an area of products each month, distilled and elaborated on from the database of scored articles. It has a circulation of around 5 thousand and the website has around 40 thousand visits per month.
Listen to the interview on Youtube or download the Mp3 audio.