For every company in the development sector there is a wide range of environmental, social and economic risks and opportunities. We have identified these impacts in the ESE objectives that we have set and we continue to refine them to ensure they meet evolving Government policy. Our commitment to continuous improvement assists us to manage the impacts, meet stakeholder expectations and help sustain our differential within the industry.
The recent Walker Report highlights that the key to improving trust in business is transparency. It states that open reporting of impacts and public benchmarking of performance will help meet increasingly sophisticated stakeholder expectations. Our commitment to transparency has been borne out by NextGeneration recognising that we have the leading publicly available ESE information in our sector.
New Government Policy
As outlined in the Chairman’s Introduction there has been a swathe of new policy emanating from Government in recent years. The Code for Sustainable Homes in particular sets out a timeframe for all new homes to meet the highest levels of sustainability in Europe. We are embracing this policy and are working to fully understand its requirements, as well as the opportunities, costs and risks to the business of meeting each of the levels of the Code, in advance of the Government’s requirements, before 2016.
Our ESE objectives apply to all aspects of our business and our people are committed to sustainable development. Our Board is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, accountability and corporate governance.
Risk Management
The Group maintains a risk management strategy and systems to ensure that the risks to which it is exposed are clearly understood and regularly considered. This also ensures that adequate controls relating to operational, financial and compliance matters are in place to effectively alleviate their impact. This is overseen by the Risk Management Committee, which is in turn reviewed by the Audit Committee. Each Committee reports to the Board regularly throughout the year.
In addition, our Health, Safety and Environmental Committee, which meets regularly and which is chaired by the Chief Executive, is supported by issue specific Forums such as Sustainability and Technical which are focussing on the development of solutions to the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Policies and Management Practices
We have continued to update and embed key corporate policies into our business including environmental , health and safety, social and ethical, training and development, and equal opportunities.
We also have a reputation for good management practices certificated to internationally recognised standards, as well as Investors in People. Indeed, during the reporting period, all our management systems have been re-certified, including Quality Management, Environmental Management and Health and Safety Management.
We are therefore:
Management Systems
Our management systems apply to all roles and responsibilities throughout the Group and in so doing cover the total development process from site viability to customer care. This ensures that sustainability issues are being systematically applied into the Group’s practices and risk management procedures.
We are continuing to see the financial and operational benefits of our management systems. We are also regularly reviewing where added value is being delivered most effectively to help improve the efficiency of our business.
Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Overall best performance in the strategy, governance and risk management section of the NextGeneration benchmarking