Making a valuable difference

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an integral part of our business and increasingly important to our stakeholders. Our CSR committee drives activity based around four key areas of responsibility:

workplace: we recognise that the success of our business is a direct result of the quality and commitment of the people we employ

marketplace: we are committed to carrying out business as a responsible member of society

community: we are determined to be a responsible corporate citizen in the communities in which we operate

environment: our aim is to be a leader in sustainability in the built environment.

Workplace

Our people select and stay with us because of our performance across a wide range of criteria. We are committed to developing the diversity of our people in order to both reflect the diversity of our clients and capture the insights of a varied workforce. In South Africa, we were pleased to receive a level 4 accreditation under the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment legislation, a policy introduced by the Government to redress the inequality of apartheid.

We offer our people an e-learning programme to enable them to take control of their own development by accessing a full suite of learning materials at a time and place that suits them. Last year training increased 33 percent over the previous year.

In the UK, we were pleased to retain our Investors in People designation following our 2011 reassessment, giving us confidence that we are continuing to manage our people in a way that will help us meet our business goals. Feedback from last year's global staff survey shows that over 90 percent of our people believe that the firm takes CSR seriously, suggesting that we are successfully demonstrating our commitment globally.