Construction firms Costain, Carillion, Wates, Kier and Mitie are among the top performers in a list of the UK’s most responsibly managed businesses.
The five firms achieved the highest Platinum Big Tick ranking in this year’s Corporate Responsibility Index run by the charity Business In The Community, which assesses how well firms have embedded corporate responsibility throughout their organisations.
The construction sector performed well as a whole, with an average 89% rating, just 7% behind the top-performing sector, professional services.
However, the industry scored slightly below other sectors on supply chain performance. Construction companies’ sector average for marketplace management is 88%, while the index average is 90%.
Trailing slightly behind the leading five contractors were BAM, Laing O’Rourke and construction equipment supplier Speedy Hire, which each achieved a Platinum rank of 95% and above.
Construction came within the top five sectors for environmental responsibility, with an average 96% score for environmental management, 90% for environmental impacts related to climate change and 85% for waste management.
“Construction has improved more than any other sector over the past four years, rising continually from less than 70% in 2008,” said Blanca Palos, senior CR Index manager at BITC.
The CR Index evaluates all aspects of companies’ social and environmental performance and includes a total 107 firms. It is carried out on a voluntary basis via an online questionnaire covering four areas: corporate strategy, integration, management and impact – which includes six environmental and social impact areas with questions on subjects from diversity policies to carbon emissions reduction goals. Points are awarded for each answer and companies are given percentage scores for each area.
