Management Review
Corporate responsibility initiatives have been reported as a central part of our business activities for the last five years. We have formalised our management systems covering social, ethical and environmental issues. We have invested significant management resources in introducing 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.
This year in acknowledgement of the primacy of the web in global communications and to further reduce our reliance on paper-based publications we are publishing the full report on our website. A summary printed version will be produced giving highlights and encouraging follow up of the full story via the website.
Major Achievements in 2007
- Established the carbon footprint of our directly managed shopping centres
- Comprehensive Travel Plans now in place for over half 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.
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.
Energy consumption is the other major environmental impact where we are pleased that the majority of our 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.
For example:
At Braehead the land we own adjacent to our shopping centre continues to be developed to create an integrated residential and business community.
- Social Progress – meeting people’s needs.
Our people are key to the future 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 have become an integral part of community life providing a natural focus for shopping and other leisure activities. Our proactive community programme supports youth, education and the prevention of crime. We do this in a variety of ways designed to improve local amenities and provide wider opportunities for all strands of society. 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 Environmental Index.
The future
We have made good progress towards achieving our plans and objectives for 2006–2008. 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 of delivering long-term shareholder value.
