Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) has been named the world's ‘most ethical' water company for the tenth time.
The water company is one of only five UK companies, and the only water and sewerage company in the world to be named in this year's World's Most Ethical Company® list.
NWG provides water and wastewater services to 2.7 million customers in the North East, and water services to 1.8 million customers in Essex and Suffolk.
The list gives world-wide recognition from the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.
NWG has achieved this having demonstrated strong ethical performance, supporting its customers, communities, the environment and its people in the last year.
During this time, 553 employees used work time to support 230 organisations, through the company's employee volunteering scheme, Just An Hour.
This included supporting events such as Mission Christmas which saw NWG transport presents to be sorted and delivered to children living in poverty. More than 160 of the water company's people signed up to a volunteer programme to support charities such as The Trussell Trust, Age UK and Essex Voluntary Blood Service during COVID-19.
It also included continuing its support for environmental projects in the community and the company have donated £165,000 to environmental groups in its operating areas to help sustain their hard work.
NWG also played a fantastic part in the Laptops for Kids campaign to support children learning from home throughout the pandemic. The company has donated hundreds of laptops and computers to children in its operating and earlier this month donated 100 4G dongles to support the Northern Powerhouse campaign.
The challenges of a changing climate are at the forefront of Northumbrian Water Group's plans, and the company is working towards an ambitious goal of being operationally carbon neutral by 2027 - with over 1,800 of its sites already being powered by renewable energy.
The company is also working to eliminate water poverty within its operating areas by 2030.
From around the world, only 135 companies across 47 industries in 22 countries were recognised and made honourees on the Ethisphere Institute ‘most ethical' list.
These companies have illustrated their driving force for improving communities, building capable and empowered workforces, and champion corporate cultures focused on ethics and a strong sense of purpose.
Northumbrian Water Group′s Chief Executive Officer, Heidi Mottram, said: "To be recognised globally as one of most ethical companies and to be the only water and sewerage company in the world to make the list is a fantastic achievement.
"I feel incredibly proud and honoured that our people have received this honour for the tenth time. This recognition would not be possible without our amazing teams, who put this passion into their work every day, caring for our customers, for the environment, our communities and our people, delivering services that people simply couldn't imagine life without.
"It's a privilege that our customers put their trust and confidence in us and the work we do every day. We are committed to providing the best possible service for our customers at the best value and doing this in the right way for the environment, our communities and our people. Being included in this list is a wonderful recognition of this."
Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich, added: "While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, we saw companies lead - above all other institutions - on earning the trust of stakeholders through resilience and a commitment to ethics and integrity."
"The World's Most Ethical Companies honourees continue to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the highest values and positively impacting the communities they serve. Congratulations to everyone at Northumbrian Water Group for earning the World's Most Ethical Companies designation."