Corporate Social Responsibility

The relationships we build with our customers are essential to achieving the high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty which are key to the success of our business. We foster those relationships by going beyond what might normally be expected of a landlord; we help our customers to connect with local communities by participating in our community programmes, to grow their businesses by connecting with other customers, and to improve the environmental performance of our centres by sharing best practice advice with them. Performance highlights

• Achieved a score of 77% in our 2014/15 customer experience survey. This was marginally down on the previous year due to significant price increases. However, we maintained a high score on the components of the survey related to quality of service.
• Worked with our customers to provide work placements in their businesses for 75 students as part of InspiresMe week in conjunction with the GLA and BiTC.
• Workspace surveyed 1,000 customers over the last three years to ascertain the key pillars of sustainable success for London-based new and growing companies. This research was used at the NGC Forum, a parliamentary reception bringing together key stakeholder groups and influencers from the political, NGC and financial spectrum.
• Supported the launch of Informed Funding, which aims to put businesses in touch with finance providers that best match their needs, and provided Workspace customers with premium access to the service, making it easier for them to find the right finance solution to help them grow.
• Launched Workspace Business Insight Dinners to bring together senior Directors from our customer base and industry experts to discuss relevant challenges facing growing businesses.
• In conjunction with the GLA, we promoted National Apprenticeship Week to all centres.
• We launched the pilot survey of our Healthy Buildings study which builds on the 2014 WGBC ‘Health, Productivity and Wellbeing in Offices’ report. We have so far engaged with 50 customers with a view to rolling the full survey out to 450 customers at three centres.

Case study – NGC Forum On Tuesday, 13 January 2015, in the Churchill Room at the House of Commons, Workspace hosted the inaugural NGC Forum, to focus on how new and growing companies are powering the London economy. Our sponsor for the event, Mary McLeod, then the Small Business Ambassador for London, made it clear that ‘NGCs are so essential to what we’re trying to do as UK plc’. The panel focused on the threefold challenge faced by NGCs, namely the availability of finance, premises and skills, with Professor Peter Tyler from Cambridge Economics Associates, who also attended the Forum, commenting that 48% of NGCs reported access to finance as a growth constraint.

Targets for 2015/16

• Build on customer networking and growth opportunities such as Informed Funding, NGC Forum and Business Insight Dinners.
• Increase participation of businesses in InspiresMe week to provide work placements for 100 students.
• Continue to engage with our customers in relation to sustainability and CSR issues.
• Demonstrate how Workspace’s property portfolio contributes to tenant employee productivity.
• Issue Green Leases to our new customers on at least 12 sites.

We aim to make the communities in which we operate better places to live and do business in. We continue to enhance our understanding of the impact that our centres have both socially and economically and our flagship E5 community investment strategy supports education, employment, enjoyment, entrepreneurial and environmental initiatives in the communities in which we operate. Performance highlights

• Our charity committee donated £99,583 in space and cash as part of our E5 community strategy and supported a total of 35 days of staff volunteering.
• In collaboration with BiTC and the GLA, we provided 75 students with work placements at our business and our customers’ businesses as part of InspiresMe week.
• Continued our successful partnership with St Gabriel’s School, Kennington, for the second year, to prepare them to embark on their careers and become entrepreneurs of the future.
• Volunteering at Food Banks and as part of the Tesco food drive collection became an integral part of our employee volunteering opportunities.
• Provided support for XLP, a charity which works with underprivileged young people from inner London, in the form of fundraising, volunteering days, provision of preferred places on InspiresMe week work placements and mentoring during their summer camp.

Case study – Arctic Challenge One of the many highlights of our E5 strategy saw four of our adventurous staff embark on a grueling Arctic Challenge to raise money for KidsCo. KidsCo provide practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable inner-city children, and cover many of the London boroughs in which our business operates. The extreme weekend in Norway saw our staff compete against other teams in dog-sledding, cross-country skiing and fishing. Much fun (and many blisters) were had, all while fundraising for a great charity.

Targets for 2015/16

• Expand delivery of our E5 strategy in collaboration with our community partners to provide more staff volunteering days, space donation and financial support to our nominated charities and community initiatives.
• Support at least 40 staff volunteering days throughout the year.
• Expand InspiresMe week to facilitate a total of 100 students working with our customer base.

We provide a safe and rewarding work environment to ensure we attract, develop, motivate and retain talented and ambitious individuals. Our commitment to diversity encourages innovation and ensures our workforce reflects the diversity of the customers and communities in and around our centres. Performance highlights

• 65% increase in training days completed by our employees (631 training days completed).
• 24% increase in number of employees undertaking training (146 people trained).
• Held Director-led presentations at a number of our centres in 2014. These presentations ensure all employees are aware of the performance of the business, the strategy and the role they play in driving performance.
• 27 long service awards presented to staff for 5, 10, 15 and 20 years’ service, with 20 awards for 10+ years’ service.
• Employees spent a total of 35 days volunteering for our nominated charities: XLP, FareShare and First Love Foundation.

Funding for further studies We are committed to developing the skills of our staff and will fund courses for employees who wish to gain professional qualifications and undertake studies that will enhance their careers. A new process was introduced to ensure that any qualifications or studies employees want to undertake are in line with the strategy of the business. Employees must put a business case together covering rationale, fees, how the course will enhance their skills and how the Company will benefit. Case study – Investing in our people Tim Balsom, Senior Building Surveyor, recently completed his MBA in Real Estate and Construction Management. The course was undertaken in two and a half years and was fully funded by Workspace. The course has enabled Tim to expand on his knowledge of property and construction, improved his construction management skills, allowing him to manage larger design teams, and helped him to better understand how the Company chooses its development projects. Following the course, redevelopment will now become part of his role. The Company supported Tim financially but also gave him the necessary time off to complete his studies and provided additional support in the form of colleagues sharing their expert knowledge. Tim’s completion of the course benefits Workspace as well, as he will be able to make a greater contribution to the continued expansion of the development programme, which is a major driver of asset value and income. Targets for 2015/16

• Introduce a digital platform showing all staff benefits and total reward statements.
• Continue to facilitate and encourage further training and development.
• Increase staff participation in E5 strategy and deliver at least 40 days of staff volunteering.

We believe that continually improving our environmental performance creates value for our business. Not only is it essential if we are to meet the changing expectations of our customers, but as a property company we play an important role in supporting the achievement of UK environmental targets and fulfilling our role as a responsible business. Performance highlights

• Completed an updated portfolio risk review which identified that only 3% of our total gross lettable area has F or G rated Energy Performance Certificates, compared to 18% of the total Landmark EPC database which are F or G rated.
• Achieved a 9% reduction in absolute energy consumption between March 2013 and March 2015.
• Implemented several energy reduction measures including: voltage optimisation at four key business centres, boiler optimisation at 22 centres, and LED retrofit at three centres.
• Introduced water efficiency initiatives at four sites.
• Achieved a recycling rate of 57%, driven by the waste audits undertaken at 12 business centres which aimed to engage customers on recycling.
• Commissioned a portfolio viability analysis to install photovoltaics at our sites, identifying 10 suitable buildings.
• Improved our Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) submission considerably this year, achieving a rating of B and a score of 86.

Case study – Reducing environmental impact of our properties This year Clerkenwell Workshops was identified as a target site to focus on reducing its environmental impact. Gas and electricity consumption were a key area of focus; by installing AMR smart metering for both we were able to identify areas of wastage throughout the year. We also installed several retrofit measures including boiler and voltage optimisation. Through these measures, we achieved a total energy reduction of 13% compared to the previous year. We also improved recycling levels from 56% to 61%, well above our portfolio target. In addition, measures such as site engagement with our customers and the provision of information, newsletters and posters, have made environmental impact a key area of focus for them. Our action plan will continue into next year with the roll-out of LED lighting, Green Leases and energy dashboards to further reduce the building’s impact. Targets for 2015/16

• Set energy reduction targets and action plan for our 10 buildings that consume the most energy.
• Reduce landlord controlled (communal) energy consumption by 10% by April 2017.
• Reduce overall carbon intensity by 20% by 2020.
• Reduce portfolio like-for-like water intensity to 0.50m³ by April 2017.
• Achieve 62% average recycling rate across all existing assets where we manage waste by March 2016.

We aim to build long-term relationships with our suppliers by being a responsible purchaser of goods and services. We also work closely with our partners to integrate sustainability into the design, construction and redevelopment of Workspace centres. Performance highlights

• Approved signatory of prompt payment code.
• Procured over 90% of our total electricity consumption from renewable tariffs.
• The Light Bulb and Grand Union Studios contractors have been awarded ‘Performance Beyond Compliance’ certification for Considerate Constructors Scheme.
• The Light Bulb and ScreenWorks schemes achieved BREEAM Very Good certification.

Case study – Working with our partners to reduce environmental impact A requirement on all Workspace construction projects over 2,000m2 is that principal contractors divert at least 75% of the weight of non-hazardous demolition waste and 90% of construction waste from landfill. In the past year we have had three schemes exceed this requirement, with ScreenWorks in Islington, The Light Bulb in Wandsworth, and Grand Union Studios in Kensal Rise, all achieving more than 99% non-hazardous waste and materials landfill diversion. We also require Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) registration on all major development and refurbishment sites, targeting a score of at least 34/50. We achieved a score of 41/50 at The Light Bulb scheme (excellent exceptional) and 43/50 at Grand Union Studios (exceptional), with both schemes receiving ‘Performance Beyond Compliance’ certification from CCS. We also aim for BREEAM certification, with the ScreenWorks and The Light Bulb schemes achieving BREEAM Very Good. We have three schemes in development also targeting BREEAM, with Grand Union Studios and Barley Mow designed to Very Good, and Hatton Square Business Centre designed to Excellent.

Targets for 2015/16

• Achieve a Considerate Constructors score of at least 40/50 for all relevant projects.
• Continue to divert at least 90% (weight) of non-hazardous demolition waste and 75% of construction waste from landfill for all developments and refurbishments.
• Suppliers to demonstrate that a minimum of 80% of timber is procured from certified sustainable source (FSC) equivalent.
• Refresh and recirculate ‘The Signpost’, our supplier engagement document.