Corporate Responsibility
Good corporate citizenship and respect for the communities in which we operate is central to the way in which UBM does business. We believe that this philosophy is good for our business and our profits by contributing to the development of a positive culture and boosting the morale of our employees. Responsibility in demonstrating such values rests with divisional management.
In 2007 we established a steering group bringing together representatives from all UBM businesses, chaired by UBM’s Chief Financial Officer and Deputy CEO, Nigel Wilson, who champions corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity at main Board level. The steering group provided a forum for our business divisions to share information on CSR initiatives and to develop best practice. It also provides the mechanism through which CSR issues are reported to UBM’s board.
At the start of the year we formulated a set of objectives encompassing environmental, community, workplace and marketplace issues. As UBM continued to develop and share knowledge it became apparent that the way in which our divisions approach CSR issues varies from business to business, and accordingly it is inappropriate to seek to develop a standard methodology across the board. Divisions are therefore encouraged to prioritise CSR issues in line with their own business needs and to set their own targets, subject to the underlying principle that their approach to CSR should focus on support for the business strategy and the mitigation of risk.
It continues to be our belief that CSR should be embedded in the business culture rather than managed by a separate department, and accordingly responsibility for development and implementation of CSR initiatives rests with each division.
Through our membership of the Media CSR Forum we are able to engage more fully with stakeholders, sharing ideas on best practice and continuing to monitor and debate issues of particular relevance to the media sector.
UBM has established a ‘Statement of Business Principles’ which governs our relationships with customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, the wider community and the environment. You can read more about this in the Statement of Business Principles section of the site.
