The recent Achilles Corporate Responsibility in the Supply Chain conference in Birmingham, was a valuable and informative day. The conference was heralded as a very successful insight into CR a current key industry topic and worthwhile for all delegates. Achilles collected together a set of leading speakers in their field to cover a broad range of key issues including interactive sessions where the delegates got involved. Howard Dawson from Office Depot stated the conference was “very informative and very good for networking.” The conference included a number of presentations and workshops covering the implementation of CR in the supply chain, what utilities expect of suppliers who are looking to work with them and how companies should be reporting and communicating their CR activities, along with carbon footprinting and its increasing importance for the utilities sector.
The conference opened with a presentation from Chris Jones, Director of Procurement at EDF Energy where he gave a well received presentation outlining how the Utilities are addressing corporate responsibility in the supply chain. Chris highlighted the importance that EDF place on working with suppliers who share their values when it comes to corporate responsibility saying ‘we only want to work with suppliers who operate in a similar way to us and who share our values’.
There was a first-rate presentation by Ian Gearing, Corporate Responsibility Manager from National Grid, where he spoke about the issues of a migrant workforce and the challenges of the 2012 Olympics and beyond for companies.
One of the workshops run by Maria Hastie (Scottish and Southern Energy) and Carl Millington (Achilles), examined three elements around getting started with a CR programme. These were a common understanding, developing a business case and developing a plan to embed CR into our businesses. It concluded that keeping things simple and focused is a great place to start and most businesses are already tackling CR issues as part of their H&S and environmental activities. Hanging it all together is the next step to take.
As part of the conference, a case study was presented by Boss Design on how they have already implemented a successful CR programme. The feedback from this session was excellent with one delegate stating that “Virginia Seawards presentation was very inspirational and just shows what can be done when someone has a great passion.” Gary Lines, ABS Wastewater Technology Ltd.
Carbon footprinting presentation - delivered by Jo Horton, United Utilities and Angela Needle, Anglian Water both of whom outlined the approaches that their companies are taking in dealing with the challenge of climate change. The presentation outlined how United Utilities and Anglian Water are engaging with their suppliers on CEMARS (Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme) in collaboration with a number of other key Utilities with an aim to reduce emissions across the supply chain. This session included a breakout discussion where delegates debated in groups the global, company and stakeholder drivers in addressing climate change and carbon emissions.
The conference attracted people from many different organisations and disciplines, not just the utility industry, but also construction, with both large and small companies. Liz Coles from Carillion Utility Services said that the event was a “good mix of companies and expertise”. The feedback from the event was positive with the plenary sessions well received and the breakout sessions being worthwhile and the delegates commented how they enjoyed the interaction, and networking opportunities. Tony Askins from Integrated Utility Services Ltd stated that “the conference was very educational and both relevant and worthwhile to my organisation”.
For further information about this event, please contact:
Laura Clarke
Marketing & Event Executive
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 820813
Email: conferences@achilles.com
