Corporate responsibility

NWG takes seriously its responsibilities as a company, and our corporate responsibility policies underpin all our activities. They are an integral part of the way NWG does business.

NWG is a business with significant resources – notably employees, water and land. We believe it has a responsibility to use all those resources for the benefit not only of customers and shareholders, but also for the wider community.

NWG uses the well-established model based on the triple bottom line i.e. the economy, the environment and society:

• economic bottom line: the impact we have on the economic circumstances of our stakeholders and on economic systems at local, national and global levels.
• environmental bottom line: the impact we have on natural resources and processes, including ecosystems, land, air and water.
• social bottom line: the impact we have on our stakeholders and the wider social systems.

Our recognised stakeholders include customers, employees, investors, suppliers, Government and the wider local community.  NWG tries to balance social, environmental and economic priorities to ensure that, whilst maintaining economic stability, the environment is protected and society is enhanced.

Stakeholders expect a secure supply of water – a basic necessity for health – and they expect us to protect or enhance the environment when we return waste to that environment.

Stakeholders also expect NWG to:

• behave fairly and responsibly
• use resources wisely
• improve quality of life
• contribute to economic development

The operational, financial and procurement activity is covered by our Code of Conduct and NWL’s Sustainable Development and Environment Policies.  Other activity is covered in the corporate responsibility programme.  Also covered within this section is the corporate responsibility model, which represents what corporate responsibility means to Northumbrian Water.  Built around our five core business themes, it allows the business to focus on corporate responsibility as part of our normal business practice.

This is wide ranging and NWG gives not only money but also time and facilities to help its communities. These activities are mainly targeted to support projects which make the areas served better places in which to live, work or invest. The key elements of the programme include:

• an extensive community involvement programme supporting the work of community foundations and encouraging voluntary time through the ‘Just an hour’ scheme and funding through ‘Cheque it out’.
• health and environmental campaigning, including our innovative ‘Water for health’ initiative.
• educational programmes which range from curriculum support to ‘Back to Business’ where NWL is a lead partner in a pilot scheme to link schools and businesses.
• environmental partnerships and campaigns where, as well as being a member of many environmental organisations, NWL has developed some key partnerships to help the conservation and biodiversity of our sites, for example, with the Essex Wildlife Trust at Hanningfield.
• regional support for local community organisations and support for our adopted charity, WaterAid.

NWG continues to be a member of the FTSE4Good Index and NWL was again ranked as a top 100 company in the BITC Corporate Responsibility (CR) Index and was one of only seven companies nationwide to achieve the new platinum plus standard.  The CR Index is a widely recognised benchmark of performance and is underpinned by a rigorous review process. It has been developed to ensure a systematic approach to managing, measuring and reporting upon the impacts that businesses have upon society and the environment.

NWL has also received numerous awards including being peer nominated as Utility Company of the Year 2008 and in April 2009 was awarded the rare Queens Award for Enterprise in the catergory of Sustainable Development as well as two ‘Big Tick’ Awards for Excellence from BITC for integrating responsible business practice into mainstream operations.

The Queens Award citation reads:

Northumbrian Water Ltd receives The Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its ongoing and impressive commitment to sustainability.

It has actively striven to promote best practice within its sector and is committed to ongoing review and continuous improvement.

With a commendable and ever improving environmental performance in place, it is, however, Northumbrian's extremely impressive social and economic initiatives which elevate it to the status of sector leaders.

A diverse suite of programmes have been implemented, encompassing local procurement, strong apprenticeship programmes, individual up skilling and the continuous leverage of their spending power, employment and wider economic presence to ensure maximum benefit for local communities.

Northumbrian's driving commitment to sustainability governance provides
an example and benchmark across sectors, demonstrating that strong
leadership and ambition can make a tangible difference to communities
both local and more widely.