We recognise that our future success depends on our taking into account the interests of our stakeholders, including our employees, clients, shareholders and the wider community and environment. We are committed to the operation of a responsible business model and to the development of ways to contribute to and engage with the communities and environment in which we work. In 2009, we further developed the Corporate Responsibility strategy, first launched in 2008, across our businesses.
The strategy is developed and implemented by a dedicated Corporate Responsibility Team, with strategic oversight from the Corporate Responsibility Steering Group, which meets eight times a year. Its remit is to set the Group’s global Corporate Responsibility strategy and monitor its implementation. Overall responsibility for Corporate Strategy rests with the Board.
Aegis’s Corporate Responsibility strategy is designed to be flexible, respecting the international and diverse nature of the markets in which Aegis Media operates and to harness the entrepreneurial spirit of our businesses and employees. The strategy also recognises that corporate responsibility means different things in different places. A common approach, a global policy framework, centralised programme management and standardised tools help our businesses to focus on the overall purpose but we encourage our businesses to deliver the strategy in the way that best complements their local market, business sector and employees’ skills.
Country and office champions have been appointed to drive initiatives locally, with central support from the Corporate Responsibility Manager. This network of champions also measures and reports Aegis’s environmental and community impacts on a yearly basis. A consistent and comprehensive internal reporting survey has been developed to measure community initiatives. We measured our environmental impacts in the European Union using the Guidelines to Defra/DECC’s GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting (Version 2.0, September 2009) and using the WRI GHG Emission Factors Protocol for countries outside of the European Union. Our calculations are based on the number of full-time equivalent employees of year end (31 December 2009).