There's a growing global impulse to do 'sustainable' (socially aware, environmentally sound or energy-efficient) business. Sustainability is, at heart, a conservative impulse, and is often accompanied by an equally strong nurturing programme (energy must be renewable, biology diverse and industry participative). In short, we're seeing a groundswell of the pragmatic value-based enterprise. It's on encountering just such a business, one that protects and nurtures, that it's possible to reflect on the surprising fact that conservatism can be a real breath of fresh air.

It may seem unflattering to introduce Autumn Leaf as a conservative company, guided by 'dour' principles of forethought and decency. We could have gone for more hoopla, saying it has made the coveted list of IBM Premier Business Partners, otherwise the exclusive domain of big household names like T-Systems, Business Connexion and so on.

But, while making IBM PBP is certainly a distinction of note, in truth, it's merely an outcome of the kind of business practised by Autumn Leaf and others like it. To define the company merely as the little IBM consultancy that now runs with the big dogs is, in our view, under-selling it. Autumn Leaf is less about exploiting opportunity than about creating it; it offers its people an astoundingly flexible, free and inspired environment. In the final analysis, success cannot help but follow.

Extract from "Finding value under every leaf", an article by Brainstrom on Autumn Leaf