intu entertains the herd · 2016-08-31 · intu entertains the herd since july 2013 elephants have...

intu entertains the herd Since July 2013 elephants have been marching through intu’s shopping centres in a country-wide, 375 day, tour. Elephant Parade sponsored and hosted by intu has brought artists, celebrities and businesses together to create a herd of vibrant hand-painted elephants. Supporting the Elephant Parade exhibition has allowed us to entertain and enthral our shoppers whilst raising awareness for The Asian Elephant Foundation. Elephant Parade chose to partner with intu as the breadth of our brand offered the opportunity for the parade to reach more people in more locations than any previous tour. And it is not only for our shoppers, 75 schools across the UK are being brought into the herd. Young people are being educated on conservation issues and each school is being given the chance to design an elephant to be displayed at their local intu centre. So far approximately 4,000 designs have been submitted.

Find out more:intugroup.co.uk/ar2013

Intu Properties plc – Annual Report 2013 intugroup.co.uk

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Strategic report Corporate responsibility

Better together 56Communities and economic contribution 59Environmental efficiency 60Relationships 62


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Corporate responsibility

Highlights

Support provided to UK communities

£1.95m2012: £1.92m

Almost 2,500 people directly reached by our community projects

2,500

Waste diverted from landfill

96%2012: 97%

Reduction in CO2 emissions since our 2011 base year

18%

Bringing people and communities together – and helping them flourish – delivers shared benefitsWith two thirds of the UK population within easy reach of one of our centres, we touch the lives of people right across the country. For them we are not just shopping destinations, but places to go with family and friends to enjoy life – meeting, eating, drinking, relaxing, being entertained, sharing secrets, swapping gossip and having a laugh.

So yes, we help build social togetherness, giving people a stronger sense of place and belonging. We also make an important contribution to the economic life within and beyond these communities, providing jobs for local people and community programmes for the young and disadvantaged.

We know, however, that our long-term success is linked not just to the vitality and well-being of the communities on our doorstep, but also to what happens in the wider world. The people who come to our centres expect us to carefully manage our impact on the environment. So, we are committed to measuring how we’re doing and taking the right steps to do things better. This not only saves us money, but protects our reputation.


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Better together

CR governanceThe Intu Board takes responsibility for determining policy and strategic direction on CR topics. The strategic direction of our CR programme is led by the CR Board Committee while the CR Management Committee takes responsibility for progress against our operational objectives. Both Committees met three times in 2013.

Find out more:intugroup.co.uk/cr2013

Our approachAt Intu we believe that corporate responsibility must be driven by the strategic aims of the company and subject to the same types of governance controls as other areas of the business.

Our Corporate Responsibility (CR) approach is based on three key pillars: communities and economic contribution, environmental efficiency and relationships with our stakeholders. This strategic approach to CR allows us to target stakeholder concerns and issues that are most material to our business.

Communities and economiccontribution

Relationships

Environmentalefficiency

Providing the perfect shopping

experience

Generating value for

shareholders

Delivering long-term

growth

Establishing enduring

relationships with retailers

CR governance


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What drives our CR activities?— Securing our licence to operate:

Our centres cannot be developed or marketed without engagement with local stakeholders. Our CR initiatives work to bring partnerships together, including our employees, and foster relationships which contribute to achievement of our longer-term business objectives.

— Protects and enhances our reputation: Many retailers already have their own CR programmes. Many of those who use our shopping centres expect us to operate with a sustainable mindset. By demonstrating a strong commitment to all of our stakeholders we can deepen retailer, shopper and community relationships.

— Helps to manage risk: By working to identify compliance and reputational risks ahead of time our CR programme works to ensure our current business model and operations are managing the issues now that could harm our business in the future.

— Contributing to cost management and protecting shareholder value: Our approach to environmental and facilities management underpins our broader desire to operate in an environmentally responsible manner. It also contributes substantial cost savings.

Understanding our stakeholders viewsIn the autumn of 2013 we conducted a stakeholder review to better understand the corporate responsibility issues that our stakeholders, both internal and external, believe are material to our business. As a result of this work our stakeholder views have been more formally considered in our approach to corporate responsibility reporting. Further details can be found in the 2013 Corporate Responsibility Report.

Improvements and targetsWe work together with our stakeholders to improve all areas of our CR performance and set relevant goals and targets in order to allow us to critically monitor progress. For example, our centres continue to roll-out leading technology solutions and supporting energy management plans to optimise efficient energy use and explore new ways to bear down on our energy demands, costs and our corporate carbon footprint.

External recognitionBenchmarking against our peers through indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and CDP ensures that we remain focused on best practice and continuous improvement. We monitor the actions of our UK REIT competitors and work with them on important industry issues through membership of organisations such as the British Council of Shopping Centres (‘BCSC’).


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Strategic report Corporate responsibilityBetter together continued

Why it mattersOur shopping centres are integral to the communities they serve providing places for people to come together to meet, eat, drink and socialise. They support charities and community organisations that address fundamental issues in modern society which are important to the long-term success of our business. Our joint community projects focus on youth, education and the prevention of anti-social behaviour.

What we’re doingWorking together in long-term community partnerships is a key feature of our community strategy. During 2013, we continued to work with 12 community partners delivering 22 projects at our centres. These projects have directly reached almost 2,500 participants.

Since 2011 we have commissioned Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners to analyse the beneficial economic contribution of our shopping centres. We believe that recognising these impacts and outputs will enable us to; better understand, and respond to, our community footprint, help to underpin our planning applications and allow us to demonstrate to investors the strength of our position. According to the report in 2013 Intu and its retailers directly employed over 82,000 people and indirectly supported over 23,000 jobs.

2013 was the fourth year of the Chairman’s CR Prize, open to all directly managed centres to showcase the community projects they have undertaken alongside our corporate projects. Winners receive a financial reward to present to their nominated charity or community group. intu Bromley won First Prize in 2013 for their work with Bromley Mencap.

In support of young people and acknowledging the high percentage of entrants to retail careers aged under 25, we continue to fund projects which support retail education under the banner of our ‘Retail Academy’. In 2013 that included Retail Gold a three-way partnership between intu, our retailers and local Education Business Partnerships to provide retail placements undertaken as a key part of their school/college course learning. We also supported West College Scotland to provide a retail training course at Kirklandneuk Community Centre.

In recognition of our community efforts, we are currently one of only 40 UK companies holding the BitC CommunityMark. Our community activities during 2013 were supported by total donations of £1,951,000 cash equivalent, including facilitated donations, supporting a variety of charities that represent Young People & Education, Arts & Culture, Health, Economic Development, Environment and Emergency Relief.

What we plan to do— increase employee volunteering

across our business

— further our use of the London Benchmarking Group framework and introduce this approach to our community partners

— expand our retail education programmes under the banner of intu’s ‘Retail Academy’

Engaging students in community issues The Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) project works to engage young people with local charities in their communities. In 2013 intu supported YPI across three of our shopping centres; intu Bromley, intu Uxbridge and intu Watford, funding the inclusion of over 600 students at three schools. Students were challenged to work in teams to select a local charity to advocate for with their efforts culminating in a final presentation competition; with the winning team receiving £3,000 for their chosen charity. Students learnt skills including research, communication and how to deliver presentations. Our centre Marketing Managers shared their expertise on how to effectively deliver presentations. Following the YPI course, feedback shows that students continue to engage with charitable causes.


Cash 18% Gifts in kind 47% Time 4% Facilitated donations 31%

2013 Community donations


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Communities and economic contribution

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Why it mattersWe have a responsibility not just to manage and minimise our day-to-day environmental impacts but also to share good practices and influence our delivery partners, retailers and visitors towards more sustainable behaviour. Ultimately, we want to create a more sustainable operating environment.

What we’re doingOur environmental initiatives typically focus on the areas of our shopping centres where we have the greatest ability to implement changes – namely in the common parts that we manage. In 2011 we set challenging targets to reduce our carbon emissions by 30 per cent, to divert 95 per cent of waste from landfill, to recycle 75 per cent of waste and to reduce our water consumption by 10 per cent all by the end of 2014. By the end of 2013, we had reduced our carbon emissions by 18 per cent compared with 2011 (like-for-like portfolio), diverted over 95 per cent of waste away from landfill in 2012 and 2013, recycled 71 per cent of waste in 2013 and had reduced water use intensity by 3 per cent compared with 2011.

Underpinning our commitment to environmental efficiency is a robust monitoring system which tracks our energy, carbon, waste and water performance across each centre. To improve this even further, we have been rolling out portfolio-wide automatic metering to improve our understanding and control of energy use. This year we have reduced our carbon emissions by seven per cent and increased the proportion of waste recycled to 71 per cent.

In 2012, we began the roll-out of LED lighting to replace inefficient fluorescent lighting in the common parts of 10 of our 12 directly-managed centres. In 2013 we rolled-out phase two of this project focusing on lighting mall areas and back offices at eight of our directly-managed centres. The results of this LUX award-winning programme are expected to save £1 million in energy costs per annum and approximately 8,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions per annum. A new third phase of this project is being rolled out in 2014 and will bring further savings.

As part of our commitment to CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme compliance, we have achieved and renewed the Carbon Trust Standard Certification.

Transport remains a key concern for our business given the reliance of shoppers and retailer employees on public transport and private vehicles to reach our centres. We have appointed a Transport Champion at each centre to work alongside intu’s Sustainable Travel Manager. We continue to partner in six of the Government’s Plugged in Places programmes designed to increase electric vehicle use and required infrastructure. In 2013 we installed the first rapid charging point for electric cars in a Scottish shopping centre at intu Braehead.

2011000MWh

000tonnes

2013

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

Electricity (thousand MWh) Gas (thousand MWh) District heating (thousand MWh) CO2e emissions (thousand tonnes)

Absolute energy use (thousand MWh) and GHG emissions (thousand tonnes) at directly-managed centres

2012

55

50

45

40

35

30

25


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Environmental efficiency

Greenhouse Gas emissions from intu’s directly-managed shopping centres 2013

Emission type

Absolute CO2e

emissions (tonnes)

Tonnes CO2e per £m

net rental income

Scope 1 5,557 17Scope 2 39,762 124

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reported are for our head office and for those shopping centres and leisure facilities under direct management by intu as these are the operations where intu has the opportunity to directly influence emissions levels. As such data from the following centres is excluded: The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, Manchester Arndale, St. David’s, Cardiff and Parque Principado. Emissions have been normalised by net rental income generated by those shopping centres under direct management control. Data for Midsummer Place, which was acquired in late March 2013, is included from April onwards. GHG emissions are calculated based on DECC’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) conversion factors.

Emissions included:Scope 1 – direct emissions – includes gas data, for our 40 Broadway head office and the common parts of our directly-managed shopping centres and leisure facilities. In a small number of cases, where separate meters are not in place, some tenant energy is included in the calculation. Fugitive emissions and company vehicles have not been calculated as they are considered to be negligible for our operations.

Scope 2 – indirect emissions – includes purchased electricity and district heating, for our 40 Broadway head office and landlord-controlled common parts areas of the shopping centres including car parks that are directly-managed by intu. In a small number of cases, where separate meters are not in place, some tenant energy is included in the calculation.

For further details of our approach to carbon emissions management and a breakdown of our emissions per shopping centre please see our 2013 Corporate Responsibility Report.

What we plan to do— reduce absolute carbon emissions by

30 per cent by the end of 2014 from a 2011 base

— reduce absolute water consumption by 10 per cent by end of 2014 from a 2011 base

— maintain diversion of 95 per cent of waste away from landfill

— increase recycling rate to 75 per cent by end 2014

— complete roll-out of phase three of our LED lighting scheme at 10 of our directly-managed centres and at 40 Broadway

— update travel plans for all centres on an ongoing basis

2011 2013

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

Waste recycled (tonnes) Waste to landfill (tonnes) Waste to energy (tonnes) Waste diverted from landfill (%)

Waste disposal at directly-managed centres (tonnes and %)

2012

100

80

60

40

20

tonnes %

2011m3 2013

350,000

340,000

330,000

320,000

310,000

Water used (m3) Waste used (m3/million visits)

Water use at directly-managed centres (m3)

2012 m3/mvisits

1400

1380

1360

1340

1320


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Stakeholder How we engaged in 2013 Outcomes

CustomersTo maintain our competitive edge we must understand what our shoppers are looking for in a perfect shopping experience from retailer mix to customer service expectations.

— Focus group sessions

— Off peak and peak shopper interviews

— Postcode surveys

— intu is well informed of shoppers’ needs and wants

— We are able to evaluate our customer strategy against customer opinion

RetailersMaintaining strong relationships and open dialogue with our retailers and other occupiers is a prime focus of our business. We work to connect with them to ensure that we are providing the high quality service they need.

— Intu Senior Management met with key directors of many top retailers in 2013

— Merchants association meetings

— Feedback from shopper engagement provided to all retailers

— Corporately as well as at centre level we are well informed of retailer wants and needs and so are able to consider this in any planning

— Retailers are kept well informed of the opinions of shoppers in each of our centres and are able to tailor their approach to that

InvestorsConstructive engagement with our shareholders and potential investors, bankers and other organisations on socially responsible investment matters helps to raise awareness of how we’re managing material environmental and social risks.

— Active engagement with all investor enquiries including a number of enquiries from ethical funds

— Active participation in responsible investor indices and tools such as CDP climate change survey

— Inclusion in FTSE4Good and Dow Jones Sustainability Global Index

— Business in the Community CR Index Gold Status

— Increased our CDP score for the fourth year running

— For an outline of our approach to managing relations with shareholders, see page 78

Our peopleOur employees are fundamental to the success of our business and to the delivery of a high quality service. We believe that employee engagement is key to maintaining a motivated workforce.

— Comprehensive induction programme for new employees including specific CR module

— Feedback from 2012 employee survey provided and 2013 employee survey conducted

— Presentations of annual and interim results

— Annual CR presentation

— Employee recognition fund 44 per cent utilised

— Increased understanding of employee views on workplace and company issues

— Employees are kept informed of all key business developments

— For further details of our approach to people see page 40

We need to understand the needs and expectations of a wide range of stakeholders in order to provide a business that offers a great shopping experience with informed investors, passionate employees and well supported communities. A key part of our Corporate Responsibility is managing and developing relationships with key stakeholders and engaging on relevant issues.

Broadening our support for The Passageintu employees have continued to support The Passage, which is a charity dedicated to helping homeless people in Westminster. For several years we have co-ordinated a quarterly work clothes collection amongst intu employees for clients of The Passage who are seeking to re-enter work and are applying for jobs. In 2013 intu has offered further support in a variety of ways including being sponsors of The Passage’s annual fundraising event ‘A Night Under the Stars’, holding internal fundraising events and donating almost £9,000 of printers and toners to the charity.

In 2014 we will be offering a range of volunteering opportunities to intu employees at The Passage’s day centre.


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Stakeholder How we engaged in 2013 Outcomes

Local authorities and governmentLocal authorities grant us permission to grow our portfolio. Fostering strong relationships with local authorities, town centre management bodies and other community business partnerships is therefore vital to our centres continued success.

— We conduct government engagement through industry-wide organisations

— General managers and others within the business maintain and develop links with local stakeholders

— Work with local authorities on updating of travel plans

— Included a council leader in our CR stakeholder review

— A Group-wide database supports a co-ordinated programme of engagement on issues of relevance to our business such as business rates and national/regional planning policy issues

— We publish details of our policy positions on our website

SuppliersWe recognise the wide range of potential impacts arising from our supply chain and therefore the need to engage with our suppliers across a range of issues.

— In March 2013 we announced our plans to launch a new venture with Europa Support Services, who we were working with as part of the Facilities Alliance. The new venture Intu Retail Services Ltd was created to deliver total facilities management services to all intu shopping centres across the UK

— Included key suppliers in relevant internal meetings such as CR Management Committee and Energy Champions Forum

— Suppliers have greater understanding of intu’s approach to CR

— Further developed relationships between key suppliers and relevant colleagues

CommunitiesIt is imperative that we maintain good links with our communities and that we undertake significant community consultations as part of our process for any planned developments.

— During 2013 we conducted formal community consultations regarding planned developments at our centres

— For further details of our approach to communities see page 59 and the 2013 CR Report

— We are able to include community feedback in our planning process

— We are one of only 40 UK companies to hold the BitC CommunityMark

Lights, camera, actionTyneside Cinema worked with intu Eldon Square and intu Metrocentre to engage a diverse group of 15–18 year olds from Newcastle and Gateshead in documentary filmmaking. The Northern Stars Documentary Academy enabled 17 young people from around the region to work with professional filmmakers, gain training and experience in documentary film production, and to shoot their own short films about people and places in local areas of importance to them. Based in the Pop Up Film School at intu Eldon Square, participants also travelled around Newcastle, Gateshead and the wider region to create their short films. The participants edited and produced their films which received a special screening at the Tyneside Cinema.



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intu entertains the herd · 2016-08-31 · intu entertains the herd since july 2013 elephants have...

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