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In order to meet our long-term aspiration of international growth, we recognise that one of our biggest challenges lies in balancing that growth with high standards of environmental, and social performance. A strategic priority, therefore, is to continue to implement robust CR management procedures that can be applied across our global operations as we continue to expand. Indeed, CR is not new to SEGRO, so it is with pleasure that I introduce this, our fourth consecutive annual CR Report.
It is not appropriate for our business to seek full compliance with pan-industry guidelines such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for our CR reporting efforts, preferring instead to focus our communications with investors on those issues that may constitute material risks or opportunities for our business. This report, therefore, reflects that approach, but we have where possible tried to integrate a handful of relevant GRI indicators for broader comparison.
During the year, we have continued to make progress in a number of areas, as illustrated in the pie chart below which summarises the achievements against our 2006 CR targets.
As ever, there are some important challenges ahead in the area of CR. Having made initial efforts to develop a responsible procurement policy within the UK in the past year, we hope to find ways in which this can be more systematically and rigorously implemented in future, particularly in view of our relatively recent decision to outsource all of our construction activities. To this end, we recently joined the CSR and Construction Procurement Group of like-minded peers, as well as the UK Green Building Council to steer us through this challenge amongst others.
We have also set ourselves a further 37 challenging CR targets for 2007, which will constitute our action plan for the coming year, and we look forward to reporting on these once more in the 2007 CR Report. Should you have any questions or suggestions in reading this report, I would be delighted to hear them.
Ian Coull
Chief Executive
19 March 2007
Summary of Progress Against 2006 Targets
(42 targets in total)
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Some of our key highlights have included: |
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A groupwide employee engagement survey*, had a response rate of 73%. This gave rise to an Overall Engagement Score from SEGRO employees of 57%, exceeding a UK average in the same score of 37% and a European average of 46%. Encouragingly, the survey questions covered issues related to diversity and performance management amongst others, both of which were targeted areas of effort in previous years. |
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‘Slough Estates Overall Engagement Study’, Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow, September/October 2006. |
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A redefinition of the composition of the Group Risk and Responsibility Committee, as well as a review of its Terms of Reference. The Committee meets quarterly and is responsible for identifying and managing our economic, environmental, and social performance, including relevant risks and opportunities, and our adherence or compliance with internationally agreed standards, codes of conduct, and principles. |
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A comprehensive review of our corporate environmental management system (EMS) to ensure it includes updated and relevant procedures, as well as a review and update of the EMS we have in place in Belgium, and rolling this out to a further two countries in Europe. In line with our environmental commitments, we have secured further BREEAM ratings of ‘Very Good’ and ‘Excellent’ for some of our major UK developments, including the recently developed Voyager Park in Portsmouth. |
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2006 has been a year of widespread and growing recognition of the challenges posed by global climate change. In this respect we have undertaken significant work in conjunction with the Carbon Trust in the UK, in the first instance to perform an energy audit of our headquarters in Slough. We are keen to continue this relationship in future, and find better ways of calculating our carbon footprint as an organisation. In this regard, our wholly owned subsidiary, Slough Heat and Power continues to strengthen its own reputation as the UK’s largest renewable-fuelled power station. |
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Centralised data capture processes to monitor employee volunteering to further support our efforts in this area, culminating in higher numbers of employee volunteering than before. Externally, we continue to forge close links to relevant organisations and charities in the communities in which we operate. |
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