External Stakeholder Assessment

As it was our first CSR Report we were keen to seek external stakeholder feedback on our 2009 CSR report. We recognise the value and credibility that stakeholders add to informing strategy and reporting; as well as in the identification and prioritisation of material issues. We commissioned URS Corporation Ltd. (URS) to independently source stakeholder opinions of our CSR programme and reporting. The organisations that participated in the assessment are shown below:

The key findings from the stakeholder feedback were:

• Our 2009 CSR report provides a good foundation for future reporting. It is a good, well written first report, with a clear structure and straightforward language;
• We demonstrate leadership in climate change, a topical issue which is material to our business;
• The elements of risk/opportunity, identification and prioritisation of material issues, and link to our overall business strategy were not well addressed
• Social issues, e.g. stakeholder engagement, diversity and workplace were not as well covered as environmental issues.

There were also some key recommendations for us from the feedback, for us to consider in developing our future strategy, including:

• Strengthening the link between our CSR strategy and our overall business strategy
• Formalising our process to determine and prioritise material issues
• Undertaking a stakeholder mapping exercise and engaging these stakeholders on CSR issues
• Setting more aggressive targets and introducing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).