Heathrow Airport has been recognised for its outstanding Corporate Responsibility as part of two Business in the Community (BITC) initiatives.
The airport has achieved Gold status in BITC’s 2011 Corporate Responsibility Index (CRI), the UK’s leading voluntary measure of how responsibly organisations work in their local communities and the world around them.
The accolade demonstrates Heathrow’s good practice when it comes to the measuring and reporting of environmental and social performance and targets.
In addition, two Heathrow initiatives have received coveted ‘Big Ticks’ in the BITC’s annual Excellence Awards. The Heathrow Commuter team, which encourages staff working at the airport to choose a more sustainable and cheaper way to travel to work, were awarded their first ‘Big Tick’. Heathrow’s Retail Academy, which aims to help local unemployed residents access retail jobs and further training, were awarded their third ‘Big Tick’ in recognition of the positive impact the schemes have had on Heathrow’s community, environment, marketplace and workplace.
Stephen Howard, chief executive, Business in the Community, said: “I congratulate Heathrow Airport on achieving Gold in the 2011 BITC Corporate Responsibility Index. It is a challenging time, but the results of this year’s Index demonstrate that companies are still focused on transforming their businesses in order to have a positive impact on society. All the companies who participated this year are at different stages in their responsible business journey, but they are all taking these issues seriously and are prepared to lead by example.”
Allan Gregory, Heathrow’s director of surface access, said “It’s fantastic to receive our very first ‘Big Tick’ which demonstrates what a difference we’re making to the lives of airport staff. We’re taking cars off the road and helping Heathrow workers save money by switching to more sustainable modes of travel.”
Karima Sakhi, Heathrow’s retail academy manager, said: “We’re thrilled to be awarded the ‘Big Tick’. This is the second year in a row, recognising the contribution the Retail Academy has made to local employment and raising skills levels in Heathrow’s neighbouring communities.”
The full results of the 2011 CRI, including commentary and analysis, are published in the Financial Times Responsible Business supplement today (8th June 2011). The supplement also gives details of ‘Big Tick’ award winners. The best ‘Big Tick’ winners will go forward to judging panels to identify an overall Example of Excellence award in each category. The overall winners will be announced in London at the Awards for Excellence Gala Event sponsored by Unilever on 5th July.
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For more information, please contact the Heathrow Airport media team on 020 8757 3190, sharon_bange@baa.com or stuart_butchers@baa.com
About the CR Index
Please note: This year’s Index is called the CR Index 2011, rather than the CR Index 2010, which would have followed on from last year’s survey. This decision brings the CR Index cycle and ranking in line with the year of publication, rather than the year of survey submission.
Business in the Community's CR Index is the UK’s leading voluntary benchmark of corporate responsibility (CR) . It helps companies to integrate and improve CR throughout their operations by providing a systematic approach to managing, measuring and reporting on business impacts in society and on the environment
For the past seven years the CR Index has inspired and challenged over 350 companies to continuously improve their impact on society and the environment. This year it is anticipated that more than 100 companies will participate publicly and use the tool to both improve the management practices and communicate to stakeholders how seriously they take their CR agenda.
About the Awards for Excellence
Business in the Community’s Awards for Excellence identify and celebrate companies having a positive impact on the community, environment, marketplace and workplace.
The Big Tick winners demonstrate significant impact and high quality management of their responsible business practices and can show a positive impact both on society and on the business. Now in their 14th year, they are the UK’s leading awards for responsible business practice. BITC received over 370 entries for the national Awards for Excellence.
About Business in the Community
BITC stands for responsible business. It is a business-led charity with a growing membership of 850 companies, from large multinational household names to small local businesses and public sector organisations.
BITC advises, supports and challenges members to create a sustainable future for society and to improve business performance.
Members work with BITC to define what responsibility looks like in the workplace, marketplace, community and the environment - and share learnings about driving performance through responsible business practice.
