Whitbread included in DJSI World for the third year running
Whitbread is the highest ranked UK business in its sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), latest results reveal.
The Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) is the leading global index that evaluates the sustainability performance of over 2,000 companies worldwide.
As the UK’s largest hospitality company, Whitbread is committed to always doing business the right way and this means reporting transparently and honestly so that its teams, customers and investors can easily find out how well the business is performing in achieving its sustainability goals.
Whitbread has been named in the DJSI World Index for three years, and this year moves up from third to second place in its industry, behind only Sodexo. This is a 7% increase from 2017.
Whitbread is marked highest in its industry in the following areas:
Risk and Crisis Management, Brand Management, Tax Strategy, Operational Eco-Efficiency, Climate Strategy, Social Reporting, Corporate citizenship and philanthropy.
The improvement of Whitbread’s DJSI performance highlights its continuous efforts to become a more sustainable business.
This year, its sustainability programme, Force for Good, has gone from strength to strength by delivering some industry-leading initiatives, including a commitment to recycle 500 million takeaway cups by 2020, sourcing 100% renewable energy across its owned estate and a commitment to achieve a 20% reduction in sugar by 2020.
Whitbread’s Director of Sustainability James Pitcher said: “Transparency in the way we report is a key part of our sustainability programme and it helps to ensure we always act as a force for good. As a key indicator of sustainability for our teams, guests and investors, the DJSI provides a fantastic benchmark for our performance against our competitors. We are delighted to be included in the DJSI world index for a third year running – the highest ranked British brand in our sector – and our improvement of 7% highlights our dedication to continuously improve the work we are doing to be a more responsible business.”
About Whitbread
Whitbread PLC is the owner of the UK’s favourite hotel chain, Premier Inn and the UK’s favourite coffee shop, Costa, as well as restaurant brands, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table.
Whitbread employs around 50,000 people in over 2,300 outlets across the UK, serving over 28 million customers every month.
Whitbread has ambitious growth plans to increase the number of Premier Inn UK rooms to around 85,000 and to achieve global system sales of around £2.5bn for Costa by 2020.
Whitbread PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100. It is also a member of the FTSE4Good Index.
Whitbread’s sustainability programme Force for Good lays down the company’s commitment to operating in a way that respects people and the planet, making a meaningful contribution to the communities it serves and creating employment opportunities for all.
Recent Force for Good initiatives include Whitbread becoming the first national partner to the Refill scheme (allowing people to fill up their water bottles for free at 3,000 locations across the UK), Costa Coffee’s announcement that it will replace plastic drinking straws with non-plastic alternatives during 2018 and Premier Inn becoming the world’s largest Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified national hotel chain.
*excludes Costa Franchise stores and Costa Express
