Launch of Sustainability Working Group Helps CHH turn strategy into action

At CHH, we know sustainability must be embedded across the business if it is going to deliver meaningful and lasting change. It cannot sit with one person or one function. It needs clear ownership, regular attention and active involvement from people across the organisation. That is why we have established our Sustainability Working Group.

 

The group brings together 10 colleagues from across CHH, reflecting both the scale of the agenda and the importance we are placing on it as a business. It includes representatives from different areas and levels of the organisation, from warehousing and procurement through to senior leadership, including Paul Turner. That breadth is important. Sustainability influences how we gather data, how we work with suppliers, how we improve performance and how we deliver against the commitments in our sustainability strategy. Bringing together people from across the organisation helps ensure sustainability remains visible, practical and tied to day to day decision making.

 

This sits firmly within the direction set by our sustainability strategy. Our plan makes clear that embedding sustainability across the business will require coordinated action, stronger internal engagement and consistent progress against the roadmap and action plan. The working group gives us a structure for maintaining momentum, reviewing priorities and addressing key action items.

 

We have already had our first two meetings, and the group will get together once a month. It allows us to keep sustainability on the agenda, check progress against key actions and respond quickly where additional support or decisions are needed.

 

Driving delivery across the action plan

 

One of the strongest roles of the Sustainability Working Group is turning strategic priorities into coordinated action. A sustainability strategy is only effective if it is backed by clear ownership, practical follow through and regular review. The group gives us the mechanism to do that. It creates accountability across functions, supports collaboration and helps connect the action plan to the realities of how the business operates.

 

CHH’s sustainability strategy is built around continuous improvement across environmental, social and governance issues. It reflects the need to strengthen reporting, improve supply chain engagement, reduce emissions and embed sustainability into the way we work. Our materiality assessment identified areas such as supply chain due diligence, sustainable supply chain management, health and safety, compliance, reporting transparency and greenhouse gas emissions as significant priorities for the business. The working group is helping us keep those priorities active and moving forward.

 

Two key areas of focus have already emerged from the first meetings. The first is improving the quantity and quality of the data we collect so that we can measure emissions more accurately and track sustainability performance with greater confidence. Having established our greenhouse gas emissions baseline, we now need to strengthen the supporting data, improve consistency in how it is gathered and put processes in place that make reporting more reliable over time.

 

This focus is essential because stronger data supports better decisions. Our sustainability strategy already recognises that purchased goods and services make up much of our emissions profile, and that there is a need to improve the quality and scope of information in areas such as transport and wider value chain activity. Better data will help us identify hotspots, measure progress more effectively and build a stronger basis for carbon reduction planning and wider sustainability reporting.

 

Building a supply chain aligned with our values

 

The second major area of focus is our commitment to building a sustainable supply chain and ensuring it is aligned with our values, expectations and long term direction. This is a particularly important area for improving Scope 3 reporting and managing impacts across the value chain. Our strategy highlights supplier due diligence as a priority and sets out the need to engage suppliers more effectively on social and environmental issues. It also links this directly to procurement, supplier expectations and emissions reduction across the wider supply chain.

 

The working group is already reviewing the current Supplier Code of Conduct and pre-qualification questionnaire to ensure they are aligned with our wider objectives. It is important that we bring our suppliers with us on our sustainability journey. We are in the process of updating requirements and extending the scope of information requested.

 

By improving supply chain engagement and ensuring partners are more closely aligned with our values and sustainability credentials, we can improve due diligence and create a firmer basis for gathering the information needed to improve Scope 3 reporting. We are also looking at how parts of this process can be automated so that supplier engagement becomes easier to manage, easier to track and more effective over time. That will support better oversight internally while making it easier for suppliers to engage with us in a clear and consistent way.

 

Strong leadership with shared ownership

 

A key part of the group’s effectiveness is the leadership behind it. Sarah Sherwood, CHH’s sustainability lead, is chairing the meetings and playing a central role in guiding the agenda and maintaining progress. Sarah’s role was already identified in our sustainability strategy as critical to implementing the action plan, working with leadership and external support, and helping embed sustainability more deeply across the organisation.

 

The support of the working group will help Sarah turn that leadership into greater impact. She now has a committed internal forum that can bring insight from across the business, help drive actions, remove barriers and keep sustainability connected to the wider organisation. That shared ownership is vital. It helps ensure sustainability is understood as a business wide priority and gives us the structure needed to maintain momentum and meet our objectives.

 

The Sustainability Working Group is already proving its value. It is helping us keep on top of action items, stay focused on the roadmap and involve people from across CHH in delivering our sustainability commitments. By creating a regular forum with broad representation and clear areas of focus, we are strengthening our ability to embed sustainability into how we operate as we continue on our growth trajectory.