Introduction
Corporate responsibility (CR) initiatives have been reported as a central part of our business activities for the last six years. We have invested significant management resources in developing programmes to improve our energy consumption efficiencies and waste disposal procedures, as well as extending our engagement with the communities served by all parts of our business.
The full CR Report for 2008 appears on our website and a summary printed version will be available focusing on highlights and encouraging follow up of the full story via the website.
Major Achievements in 2008
- Further work undertaken to assess scope for cutting carbon emissions at our directly managed shopping centres.
- Comprehensive Travel Plans now in place for all but one of our shopping centres.
- Further progress in increasing waste streaming and recycling.
- Majority of our electricity supplies procured from renewable sources.
- Our health and safety record continues to be excellent.
- Active community programmes partnered with national organisations dedicated to supporting youth, education and the prevention of crime with three new charitable partners signed up in 2008 for projects commencing in 2009.
- Came 26 out of 50 in the inaugural Sunday Times Best Green Companies Award.
Sustainable Development
We support the Government’s sustainable development agenda by focusing on the following main areas:
- Protection of the environment by the prudent use of natural resources.
We commit the necessary resources to reduce the environmental impacts of our business where it is practical and commercially viable to so do. We continue to focus our efforts on reducing the proportion of total waste from our shopping centres consigned to landfill by encouraging more recycling. For non-recyclable waste, we endeavour to make greater use of Energy from Waste facilities (”EFW”) where these are commercially available. We are fully engaged with the procedures now in force regulating the issue of Energy Certificates for commercial property.
Energy consumption is the other major environmental impact where we are pleased that the majority of our energy needs continue to be procured from renewable sources. We will continue to work with The Carbon Trust and AEA to prepare plans for each centre which will analyse how carbon emissions can be reduced.
- Economic progress through regeneration.
Our development programme continues to focus on bringing back into economic use previously derelict and brownfield land. We play an active role in the regeneration of the central areas of cities and towns in which we invest and their vitality is crucial to the long-term performance of our assets.
- Social Progress – meeting people’s needs.
Our people are crucial to the success of our business and our policy is to provide remuneration and benefits reflecting their importance. We continue to promote an open culture, encouraging full participation at all levels with short reporting lines for effective management. Our business success is built on teamwork, taking advantage of the multi-disciplinary skills of our employees.
- Community support
Our shopping centres and other assets such as Covent Garden London are an integral part of local community life providing a natural focus for shopping and other leisure activities. Our overall community programme supports youth, education and the prevention of crime and a variety of tailored projects partnering a number of national charities are run in support of these broad aims. We do this in a variety of ways designed to improve local amenities, motivate young people and provide wider opportunities for their engagement with education, training and employment. More information on our major initiatives including partnerships with national organisations is in our Stakeholders section.
External recognition
Our commitment to sound CR principles continues to be recognised by leading CR agencies: FTSE4Good, the JSE SRI Index and Morley, the UK fund manager. We remain a BiTC top 100 company and are sector leader in their Corporate Responsibility Index. In 2008 we successfully applied to be listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes and did well in the inaugural Sunday Times Best Green Companies Award.
The future
2008 has seen the steady development of our CR initiatives on all fronts and we are confident that, with the enthusiasm and commitment of our staff together with the support of our consultants and suppliers, we can drive forward our corporate responsibility agenda as part of our stated aim, as owners of prime property assets, of delivering long-term shareholder value.
