I am delighted to report that we are continuing to build on very strong foundations to improve our responsible business performance.
For the fourth successive year, we have retained our world-class ranking in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In addition, we maintained Platinum Plus status in Business in the Community’s CR index, having been its Company of the Year in 2009-10. We are members of FTSE 4 Good and we are in the Carbon Disclosure Project Leadership Index. I am very pleased that our efforts to embed responsible business behaviour in day-to-day business activity are externally recognised.
Challenges however remain. Climate change is a key issue, especially for a business whose core activities of supplying water and wastewater services are so impacted by changing weather patterns; the availability of talent and skills is another as we need to ensure we can meet the challenges of this century; and we also need to embrace the opportunities that can be found in working with our local communities to deliver shared objectives.
The breadth of our CR programme and commitments remain strong and I am proud of the leadership shown across our organisation to improve CR performance. Having included the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in our company-wide performance measures this year, I am confident this provides the platform upon which to meet the existing and emerging challenges.
About this report
As a result of feedback from our stakeholders we have made some changes to our report this year. We have created a section that draws out the significant issues we have tackled in the past twelve months. As I look back over the last year, we have dealt with the impact of the devastating floods that hit Cumbria in November 2009; and, as a result of the driest start to any year since our records began over 70 years ago, we introduced our first hosepipe ban in 14 years to help conserve supplies.
It is important we take stock and look at what has been achieved and it is absolutely vital that we report how we are planning to deal with future sustainability issues. In response, we explain in this year’s report how our business strategy links to sustainability. We also include a section to show how we assess and prioritise issues which are material to us.
We have introduced some new case studies illustrating how we are making strides to communicate more effectively with our customers. The introduction of the hosepipe ban prompted a huge co-ordinated effort to communicate with our 7 million customers to explain why the ban was necessary and the important role they could play to conserve water supplies. Our What Not To Flush campaign has broken the mould in the way we engage with our customers. Using social media such as Facebook, You Tube and Twitter, alongside traditional media, we have been encouraging our customers to change their behaviour relating to what they flush down their toilet.
In line with our commitment to act more sustainably this is the second year that our report has been exclusively online. I hope you find this report engaging and informative – we would very much welcome your feedback.
Philip Green, Chief Executive Officer