Corporate responsibility

At MITIE, we are committed to the operation of a responsible business model and to the delivery of our CR strategy. For us, it makes sound business sense.

We have consciously structured our programme with an emphasis on the development of skills and the environment. As an employer of over 49,000 people working in the built environment, these two areas are particularly important to us, and have helped to shape our activities and business model to meet the ever changing demands of our markets and our stakeholders.

Every year we set challenging targets to drive our business forward. Our ambitions in CR are no different. We have the same passionate commitment to protecting our people, enhancing our workplaces, our communities, our marketplaces and the environments in which we all work.

MITIE endorses the Business for Social Responsibility definition of Corporate Responsibility as; ‘achieving commercial success in ways that honour ethical values and respect people, communities, and the natural environment’. This year, by working closely with our stakeholders to improve our CR policies, practices and procedures, we managed to continue our success in improving our CR performance and achieved an overall score of 81.5% (2007: 70.0%) in the Business in the Community (BiTC) CR Index. For the second year in a row, we are featured as one of the Top 100 ‘Companies that Count’ for companies who completed the BiTC CR Index. We’re pleased to announce that this year, MITIE has improved on its bronze award last year and is now listed in the ‘silver’ section of the ‘Companies that Count’ survey published in the Sunday Times in May 2008.

This year we have again published a separate CR Report which will be issued to all of our shareholders. The report provides more detail on our CR activity and related performance measures during the year.

Health and safety

The health and safety of our people is of principal importance for us at MITIE. We set high standards and we expect everyone to play their part in maintaining them. MITIE has a team of over 60 dedicated health and safety professionals working in our business, engaged in formal programmes to improve our health and safety performance across our business on an ongoing basis.

As a Company of world-class people delivering world-class services, we have an extensive range of training programmes available to all our people, including over 25 health and safety training courses. In the year over 2,000 people successfully completed these courses that included; Working Safely, Managing Safely, Management of Work at Height and Safe Driving.

The results of our efforts are there to see. In addition to the positive feedback we have had from our employee surveys, we achieved a 23% reduction in major injuries during the year, with a 22% reduction in the reportable incident rate. Regrettably we received four enforcement notices during the year and we have put in place remedial actions to address the issues raised and learn the lessons across the Group.

We have now held four Health Awareness Days at our offices across the UK, giving our people access to medical information and advice at work. They can have a full check-up on-site during working hours, including body mass index, cholesterol checks, diabetes test, and lung capacity testing.

During the year we increased our focus on teleconferencing, car pooling and public transport as ways to cut down our fleet’s carbon emissions, and reduce the risks to our people from driving related incidents. That said, driving will always be a necessary part of our business, especially for our emergency response vehicles. However, there is still a great deal we can do to make it as safe and efficient as possible.

One way we’re doing this is through the government-backed safe and fuel efficient driving scheme, or SAFED. Some of our people have now attended this course, which gives them tips on safer and more environmentally friendly driving.

Workplace

As a people business, we treat every one of our 49,505 people who work for us with respect. We’re passionate about helping our people reach their full potential, because the more successful they are, the more successful we are. We ensure they have the skills, training and support they need to excel, and a fair, equal and responsible environment to work in.

Training is important for everyone, at every stage of their career. We offer an integrated career and personal development programme to all levels of our workforce. Last year over 21,000 MITIE people undertook one or more of our wide range of training courses. Furthermore, since the start of our relationship with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) in April 2006, almost 1,000 MITIE people have completed ILM courses, including ILM Level 2 in Team Leading, ILM Level 3 in First Line Management and ILM Level 5 in Management.

We have also developed our inhouse Navigator men’s personal development programme and SpringBoard women’s personal development programme which were launched in April 2007. These programmes have been specifically developed for non-managerial people and give advice on a wide range of issues both in and out of the workplace, from getting a promotion to building self-confidence. Coming out of the programme, candidates moved forward with their action plans and were offered individual trained mentors to support their future development.

On 14 June 2007 MITIE became one of the first employers to make the UK government Skills Pledge – a specific and voluntary promise, made by an employer to its employees, that every eligible member of staff will be helped to gain basic literacy and numeracy skills and a full Level 2 qualification, equal to five GCSEs at A*– C. Speaking at the launch last year Gordon Brown said: ‘In the future, skills will be the only route to prosperity and jobs.’ Our commitment to the Skills Pledge is a key part of our strategy: we will only deliver world-class services if we have skilled, competent and able people who can seize all the opportunities offered to them.

Signing up to the Skills Pledge gives us the opportunity to demonstrate publicly the importance MITIE places on investing in the skills of our people. MITIE’s commitment to developing a better skilled and qualified workforce benefits our business’ competitive advantage, as well as aiding the training, development and employability requirements of our people.

Our award-winning Real Apprentice scheme is now in its third year and we’re pleased to announce that it’s just received Big Tick reaccreditation for 2008. In the last three years the scheme has won prestigious Big Tick Excellence Awards, the 2006 PFM Partners with People Award and the Greater London Training Award. The 59th apprentice to go through the programme has recently been offered a full-time job with us, and 29 young people found work with MITIE in London last year, the highest number so far.

Marketplace

We know that selecting the right suppliers and subcontractors is a key way to reduce business risk and improve performance. In fact we see our suppliers as partners in our own success, and we demand the same standards from those partners that we observe ourselves.

In 2007 we set up a new Supplier Improvement Programme to ensure that our main suppliers are aligned with our CR principles and apply ‘downstream accountability’ in their own supply chains. Our partnering relationship with national building products supplier Wolseley has proven to be particularly rewarding. We see each other not just as trading partners and exchange CR knowledge and practice by participating in each other’s CR and Environment Forums. Wolseley generously support our Construction Skills Centres by providing materials and employment opportunities for the student apprentices. Wolseley also participate in our employee volunteering events.

Last year, our catering business managed to drive costs down and profits up while at the same time improving our own sustainability performance, and satisfying clients’ demands for more sustainable products. By simply changing our confectionery supplier to a main grocery chain, our catering business saved approximately 64,000 food miles of deliveries to our sites. Likewise, by sourcing our bakery products locally, we’re investing in the surrounding communities and getting the freshest food available.

It doesn’t stop there though, over 70% of our 57,000 black waste sacks are now made from bio-degradable materials as are the 4.5m napkins we use in our restaurants, and the 50,000 disposable takeaway bags we give out with our deli-food. Additionally, our 160,000 fruit and yoghurt pots are now packaged in plastic cups made from polylactic acid.

MITIE also endorses the International Labour Organisation’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the Ethical Trading Initiative ‘Base Code’. We ensure that employment with us is always freely chosen, freedom of association is respected, working conditions are safe and hygienic, child labour is not used, pay is not lower than the minimum wage, working hours are not excessive, regular employment is provided, and no harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed.

Environment

We know our business can have an impact on the natural environment, and we do what we can to minimise and mitigate this by using environmentally-friendly materials and practices. We have developed our products and services to meet the environmental demands of our clients and are proud to help them achieve their environmental targets.

In November 2007 our work in energy management and sustainability with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was recognised at the Premises and Facilities Management annual awards, where we picked up the Partners in Sustainability Award 2007. We were also awarded a Green Apple Award for our work on the same contract. At the beginning of the year we implemented an energy action plan and a number of other sustainability initiatives, helping to support the department in its drive to achieve its environmental targets. To date the plan has identified savings of £83,000 per year and the equivalent of 546 tonnes of CO₂.

Our work has also helped them become the first Whitehall government department to be accredited by the Carbon Trust’s Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme.

Last year we won a highly commended certificate in the FM Excellence Awards for Sustainability, to recognise our partnership with Castle Vale School in Birmingham, home to one of our Skills Centres. The award was for our support for their entry in the ‘Go Green’ challenge on Teachers TV. One of MITIE’s energy managers, voted NEMEX Energy Manager of the Year 2007, worked closely with both staff and pupils to help them reduce their electricity and gas use by 10% in a single term. The total amount saved came to 51 tonnes of CO₂, and over £8,000 per year.

As part of the government’s renewable energy drive every major new building in the UK must now generate at least 10% of its power on-site from renewable sources. Faced with this challenge Standard Life Investments came to us to help them install a geothermal energy system at their new Guildford offices. The project is due for completion in October 2008, and we will also be carrying out the mechanical and electrical elements of the design and build.

In addition to this, we have now made quietrevolution turbines a key component of many of our low carbon schemes, and an integral part of the engineering services team’s new microgeneration offering. A single turbine can generate 10,000kWh a year, equivalent to 10% of the energy requirements of a 600m² office building. The first project to go live was at Merton Abbey Mills in London which is used to power The Colour House Children’s Theatre.

Community

We believe in giving something back to the many communities we work in: building links with local businesses, supporting our people in their own neighbourhoods, and reinforcing our reputation as a responsible Company. The value of our community investment during the year amounted to nearly £600,000. We will continue to give our skills and our time, as well as money to supporting employee volunteering and fundraising. We play our part in communities across the world, as well as at home in the UK.

Our Skills Centres are particularly close to our hearts, and are our most important and visible commitment to supporting the development of young people. The first Skills Centre was opened in Portsmouth in 2001 and was hailed at the time as a revolutionary new way to tackle the vocational skills shortage facing the UK by bridging the gap between education and employment. The centres give school children an introduction to construction and building skills. Over 500 students are currently studying on nationally recognised construction vocational courses in the MITIE Skills Centres.

During the year we opened a further Skills Centre at Caldervale High School in Airdrie – the first of its kind in Scotland.

MITIE’s people have a wealth of skills and experience that we can share with the community. Since 2005, over 1,000 students have benefited from our ‘World of Work’ days, which are designed to increase their employability skills.

We are keen to expand the understanding of opportunities within the workplace to more young people, and in 2008/09 we’ll build upon the ‘World of Work’ programme. This initiative will be designed to help young people to understand the roles that could be available to them when they leave school.

Our work with the Bansang Saving Lives Appeal continued. From its base in a remote area of the African bush, Bansang Hospital looks after the healthcare needs of some 600,000 people from the Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry and refugees from Sierra Leone.

The most recent work with the hospital was a complete refit of the old colonial building to create twelve single bedrooms and two selfcontained units for married medical staff. Our mechanical and electrical engineers worked alongside local workers on the new ‘MITIE House’, which opened in early 2008. The project used local materials wherever possible, as well as other items donated by our UK suppliers.

As we continue to grow into a worldclass Company delivering worldclass services, our commitment, responsibility and levels of investment to our communities grows with us.

"Over 1,000 students have benefited from our ‘World of Work’ days."