Sustainability Policy Statement

Transcription

1 Sustainability Policy Statement

2 1. Definitions Sustainability is the ability of a system, or in Grainger Trust s case, an organisation to maintain its activity over the long term without endangering the environment in which it operates. An endangered environment would hinder the ability of the organisation to continue to operate. As defined by the United Nations (Agenda 21 1 ) sustainability operates across four domains - economic, ecological, political and cultural. 2. Objective This policy sets out Grainger and any other subsidiary company of Grainger, including Grainger Trust s approach to sustainability to provide clarity for internal and external stakeholders and in particular to clarify the relationship between this policy and related policies such as Corporate Responsibility and Environmental Management Systems. 3. Our Approach Sustainability is at the heart of our business. Our objective is to be a leader in the residential market, delivering sustainable long-term returns to our investors and our partners 2. To achieve this objective Grainger must be a sustainable business. Sustainable returns are a feature of the economic domain, but we must plan and manage our activities across each of the four domains of sustainability and be aware of future changes in these domains. Our efforts in each domain are reinforced by a drive for continuous improvement in the way that we do business. Economic Domain We focus on the long term in preference to the short term in our investment policies and seek to ensure that the returns we deliver are sustainable through maintaining a balance between our three sources of income, sales, rents and fees. Our strategy and our business reflect the changing dynamics of the residential market but we manage our sources of income so that they are predictable and derived from long term activities as we have done throughout our 100 year history. 1 Agenda 21 is a non-binding, voluntarily implemented action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in Grainger Annual Report and Accounts 2014

3 Ecological Domain - We recognise and seek to manage the impact that our activities have upon the ecological environment through a variety of policies and processes. These include our Sustainable Investment Policy, Environmental Policy and Environmental Management System. We seek also to organise our own activities as efficiently as possible and with minimal impact through polices such as Green Travel and cycle to work schemes. Political Domain Our market leadership position provides us with the credibility, and responsibility, to have a meaningful input into government policy. We seek to have a positive influence upon the political environment and a stable relationship with government and other relevant organisations so that decisions on key issues that affect the housing market are made with the best available information, including that produced from academic and market research which we have undertaken or sponsored. Cultural Domain We recognise that our impact is significantly determined by our behaviours as an organisation and as individuals. Accordingly our business and our behaviours are underpinned by a set of corporate values (Long-term, Improving, Expertise, Confidence and Mutual Respect) and ethical principles. We not only comply with all relevant legislation but foster a compliant culture that seeks to operate in accordance with the spirit as well as the letter of the law. These principles are implemented through a range of relevant policies ranging from Anti-Bribery to Corporate Responsibility and modelled by senior management. We seek long term mutually beneficial relationships with our partners and other stakeholders and maintaining and developing these relationships is a major focus. Place making is at the core of our activities in the communities in which we operate, creating sustainable places for people to live and recognising that the properties that we own are our tenants homes. This is reinforced by activities such as community investment, support for industry charities such as LandAid, and work experience schemes. Our research efforts are also focussed on understanding and meeting the needs and aspirations of current and future tenants. Finally we recognise that the welfare and development of our staff is vital to a sustainable business and invest significantly in these areas both through the range of benefits that we provide and the opportunities for training and learning that we encourage our staff to undertake.

4 External Environment and Strategy Our strategy development process takes as one of its starting points an assessment of the external environment and potential future changes to this environment that could impact our ability to operate opportunities and risks.. Our strategy is therefore focussed on ensuring that we are able to continue to deliver returns and achieve our other objectives, whilst taking account of these opportunities and threats. We articulate our sustainability strategy through 4 key themes: Leadership We will maintain a position of leadership in the field of sustainability, as measured against our peers in the property industry and more generally. Alignment Our sustainability and business strategies are aligned. Nothing in our sustainability strategy is there for its own sake, but for the long term development of our business and nothing in our business strategy contradicts our sustainability strategy. Balance we will seek to balance the interests of all our stakeholders investors, staff, tenants / customers, partners and others so as to create a resilient business. Optimisation we will make the best of the assets in our care and will exercise stewardship in the discharge of our obligations to all our stakeholders. We will leverage relationships with our partners to align our resources and to maximise our impact across the relevant domain. We deliver this strategy through our Sustainability Committee and Corporate and Individual performance targets and supporting policies. We measure the success through KPIs, external assessment of target achievement and third party benchmarking surveys. 4. Scope This policy is applicable to all of Grainger s business activities. We expect our partners in a wide range of areas to share or take account of our policy, particularly in areas such as supply chain, which have an impact upon our ability to achieve our sustainability objectives. 5. Communication of policy This policy will be cascaded to all staff through an from the CEO 3 and through regular team meetings. It will also be placed on the Grainger intranet (Source) and on our website. 3 We generally issue policies through Echosign. This could be supported by a communication from ARC as well.

5 It will also be communicated, in summary form, as part of our 2015 Annual Report and Accounts and included in our annual CR report. 6. Personal commitments Grainger management and staff at all levels are responsible for the implementation of this policy through their daily decision making and activities. 7. Responsibilities Grainger s Sustainability Committee is responsible for monitoring and initiating action to respond to external factors related to this policy. The Director of Strategy and Change is responsible for maintaining this policy as part of the process of review and maintenance of Grainger s strategy.

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