Long before ESG became a framework for corporate responsibility – before ratings agencies, sustainability reports or shareholder resolutions – a small group of British religious dissenters were practising something strikingly similar. The Quakers, or the Religious Society of Friends, built commercial empires from the 18th century onwards that placed values at the heart of enterprise.
Their principles – integrity, fairness, stewardship and accountability – would not be out of place in any modern ESG policy. But theirs was not a response to regulatory pressure. It was a matter of conscience.
Quakers were excluded from many professions due to their refusal to swear oaths, bear arms or conform to the established church. In response, many turned to trade, where their reputation for honesty became a competitive advantage. But more than that, they saw business itself as a moral endeavour – a way to serve society while making a living.
The most visible legacy of Quaker commerce lies in chocolate. Firms such as Cadbury, Fry’s and Rowntree became household names not just because of their products but because of how they treated people. Cadbury’s Bournville estate, built for factory workers near Birmingham, offered decent housing, schools, healthcare and green spaces – a deliberate rejection of the slums that surrounded most industrial sites. Joseph Rowntree went further, establishing charitable trusts to tackle the root causes of poverty. These were not philanthropic add-ons; they were integral to the business model.
Other Quaker-founded firms took a similarly progressive approach. Clarks Shoes, established in Somerset, offered fair pay, safe working conditions and resisted child labour – at a time when such practices were rife. Huntley & Palmers, the biscuit makers of Reading, built a company town with employee education and welfare baked into its structure. Even the world of finance was not immune: the early incarnations of Barclays and Lloyds banks were shaped by Quaker principles of prudence and trust, serving communities before shareholders.
What these firms shared was an instinctive sense of what is now described in ESG terms. Environmental concerns were framed as stewardship – a duty to care for the land and use resources responsibly. Social impact was felt in the way workers were housed, fed and educated. Governance was often collective and transparent, rooted in the Quaker tradition of decision-making by consensus. None of this was encoded in formal policies. It was lived practice, sustained by a belief that business could be a force for good.
Today’s ESG frameworks are more structured and more scrutinised. Investors demand disclosure. Regulators demand compliance. Critics question authenticity. Yet the challenges remain remarkably similar: how to make profit without exploiting people or planet; how to lead with integrity in the face of pressure to grow; how to balance short-term results with long-term consequences.
The Quaker experience offers both inspiration and caution. These were not perfect companies. Some, like Barclays, grew beyond their roots and left their founding values behind. Others were absorbed into larger conglomerates where social purpose became harder to sustain. But their legacy matters. They demonstrate that ethical business is not a new idea, nor a fringe concern. It has deep roots in British commercial history – and it worked.
In an age where ESG is often treated as either a marketing exercise or a compliance burden, the Quaker tradition offers something more radical: a vision of business as a moral enterprise, judged not just by how much it makes, but how it behaves.
If you’d like to learn more about ESG, there are lots of resources on the ESG Foundation’s website to explore:
Keeping Current: https://esgfoundation.org/keeping-current
The ESG Podcast: https://esgfoundation.org/esg-podcast
ESG Reports Showcase: https://esgfoundation.org/reports-showcase
The ESG Reporting App: https://reportingapp.esgfoundation.org/login/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Freportingapp.esgfoundation.org%2F
(Image credit:Pexels.com)
