Sustainable Development Report 2012 - swirepacific.com · Swire Resources Ltd SDR 2012 Scope This Sustainable Development Report provides an overview of Swire Resources Limited’s

Swire Resources Ltd SDR 2012

Sustainable Development

Report 2012


Scope

This Sustainable Development Report provides an overview of Swire Resources Limited’s initiatives with regards to the environment, health and safety, employees, business partners and communities during 2012. It also outlines our targets for 2013. The preparation of this report involved referencing the internationally recognised Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for a coherent style of reporting. There are no significant changes in the scope of reporting compared to last year.

Content 1

Scope 1

Managing Director’s message 2

Governance 3

Economic Performance 4

Environment 5

Health and safety 9

Employees 11

Business Partners 14

Community 15

Appendix 1 Swire Resources Sustainable

Development Policy

Appendix 2 Summary of Statistics Hong

Kong & Mainland

[1] GRI is the world’s most widely adopted sustainable development reporting framework www.globalreporting.org

Content

Swire Resources Ltd SDR 2012 1

http://www.globalreporting.org/


Managing Director’s Message

Swire Resources is committed to acting in a socially responsible manner. We have a strong corporate governance culture and have integrated environmental, safety and social agenda into our business model. I am pleased to present our 2012 sustainable journey in this report. Energy conservation is a fundamental imperative for Swire Resources. In line with the Swire group’s ‘net-zero’ environmental impact goal, we are taking steps to improve our carbon footprint, by increasing energy efficiency. In 2012, we continued to introduce “green” lighting into our retail stores. Our efforts have resulted in a significant improvement in energy efficiency of 21% when compared with our baseline in 2008; we have also achieved a 5% improvement when compared with our 2011 performance. Great emphasis has been placed on the health and wellbeing of staff. We believe that building a positive safety culture is key to motivating employees to take responsibility for themselves and others. In 2012, the focus was on promoting safety within the company via safety slogans together with a cross-check programme, involving active participation from brand retail managers, were our effective tools. To develop a consistent safety culture in our offices in Mainland China, we intend to apply experience gained in Hong Kong. As a first step in this process, we have been sending our Mainland colleagues the monthly Hong Kong safety leaflet to raise their awareness of relevant issues. Our staff are our most valuable asset. We support, develop and motivate our staff to work together towards achieving our business goals. We strive to enhance working conditions and promote an appropriate work-life balance. Swire Resources also provides a wide range of training programmes for the development of management capabilities, language proficiency, customer service skills and to assist staff to assimilate into our corporate culture. We remain mindful of our duty to contribute to the local community. In 2012, we continued to encourage staff to devote their time to volunteering services and achieved a total of 1,489 service hours during the year. We have also extended the idea of community service to our Beijing office. By integrating economic, social and environmental criteria into our long-term strategy, we believe we are building a strong foundation for the company to meet new challenges. We are dedicated to finding sustainable solutions to ensure a successful future for our business.

Laiman Tam Managing Director



Governance

Swire Resources Limited (SRL) developed its Sustainable Development (SD) Policy in 2009 to guide the thinking and management decisions behind all our operations and help to bring sustainable stewardship to life. We have also created an Environment and Health & Safety (EHS) taskforce to oversee adherence to this policy and enhance internal communication of EHS matters. The EHS Committee is chaired by a Director and includes representatives from various business units.

3 Swire Resources Ltd SDR 2012


Economic Performance

Excluding the gain on disposal of the group’s interest in PUMA in 2011, attributable profit decreased by 4% in 2012 to HK$143 million. Swire Resources is an industry leader in the distribution and retailing of sports and lifestyle brands in Hong Kong and Mainland China. At the end of 2012, we were operating 309 retail stores, with 163 located in Hong Kong, 12 in Macau and a further 134 located on the Mainland. These primarily consist of three multi-brand sports and casual wear retail chains: Marathon Sports, which is the largest sportswear retail chain in Hong Kong; GigaSports and Catalog as well as single-brand concept stores for the various brands the company distributes. For Hong Kong, we are also the sole distributor for Columbia, Rockport footwear, Aerosoles, Cath Kidston, Chevignon, Teva, Jockey, Repetto, UGG, Arena and Speedo; whereas in Mainland China, we represent Columbia, Rockport footwear and Chevignon.

2012 2011 Change

Turnover HK $ million 3,584 2,914 670

Attributable Profit HK $ million 143 297 (154)



Environment

5

Swire Resources Limited (SRL) is committed to developing our business in a more sustainable way. Great emphasis has been placed on tackling our environmental challenges and identifying areas where we can make improvements. Reduce Carbon Emissions / Enhance Energy Efficiency Retail stores At Swire Resources, more than 90% of our carbon emissions was resulted from electricity consumption, with approximately 80% of these emissions arising from our retail operations. Improving energy efficiency in our retail stores is therefore a key to managing our environmental impact. In addition to promoting the importance of good housekeeping to our staff and regularly monitoring energy efficiency in renovated shops, we are continuously seeking better lighting alternatives and have progressively introduced more efficient lighting in our shops. The light intensity in shops is also monitored to maintain an appropriate balance between ambient lighting effect and electricity consumption. Through implementation of these measures, we have reduced our KWh/sq.m. energy consumption per unit retail store area by 21% since 2008 – exceeding our goal of 17% by 2012. In Mainland China, we have implemented similar energy efficiency improvement programmes, including the installation of energy efficient lighting and encouraging staff to switch off unnecessary lighting, achieving a 21% decrease in energy intensity (kWh/sq.m) in 2012, when compared with our 2011 performance.



Head Office and Warehouse Since 2009, Swire Resources has been offsetting the carbon dioxide emissions generated by our business air travel through the Cathay Pacific Airways’ FLY greener programme. To date, SRL has offset a total of 1,408 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. In our warehouse and transportation operations, we have identified less efficient vehicles that can be replaced with lower emission alternatives over time. There are now two fleets of Euro V trucks and the last Euro III truck is targeted to be replaced next year.

Raising Staff Awareness We continue to provide a wide range of activities to raise staff awareness of green issues. In addition to Earth Hour, the annual electronic device collection programme and moon cake box collection programme, this year, we have introduced a red packet collection programme for staff. All donated materials were sent to our charity partners for further processing and delivery to the needy.



Climate change has captured attention for many years. In order to provide our staff with a clearer idea of its impact, we invited a member of the Antarctic expedition from our sister company, Swire Beverages, to share his insights and personal experiences of his adventure. The luncheon seminar was an overwhelming success and has provided an invaluable opportunity for staff to understand the significance of climate change for all of us. As in previous years, two eco-tours were organised in 2012. Staff were able to experience nocturnal life at Mai Po Marshes and contribute to a reafforestation project on Ping Chau Island. Our eco-tour initiatives have proved a great success in Hong Kong and we have therefore extended this practice to Mainland China. Three eco-tours have been organised by our Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing offices in 2012, providing staff with a chance to relax and learn from the environment.

Raising Customer Awareness SRL has actively participated in a number of initiatives that go beyond our own environmental performance and extend to raising awareness amongst our customers. We believe that encouraging customer participation in environmental campaigns may help promote a better understanding of, and attitude to environmental issues. This year, we invited our customers and the public to join the Hong Kong Coastal Clean Up activity, in which we worked together, hand in hand, to remove waste and debris from our beaches.



2012 Objectives and Targets: Remarks

Hong Kong

Achieve a 17% reduction in electricity consumption in kWh/sq. m. in 2012, compared with baseline year 2008.

√ Carbon emissions from retail stores (per sq m) have been reduced by 21% compared with 2008 baseline which represents an improvement of 5% when compared with our 2011 performance.

Mainland China

Extend “green awareness” to our Mainland China offices by organising eco-tours for our staff.

√

Three eco-tours have been organised.

Continue to work on EHS frameworks for our Mainland China offices and warehouses.

On-going

EHS fit-out checklists will be established for different brands

2013 Target:

Hong Kong

• Achieve a 23% reduction in electricity consumption in kWh/sq. m., compared with baseline year 2008.

• Extend environmental challenges to community services

Mainland China

• Continue to raise “green awareness” in our Mainland China offices by organising environmental campaigns.



We are committed to improving our safety performance, a crucial component of our sustainability strategy. Through regular reviews of safety performance and various health and safety programmes, we aim to reduce the number of workplace injuries to a minimum. We acknowledge that challenges still exist in integrating safety into every aspect of our working lives. In 2012, Lost Time Injuries (LTIs) increased by 36% to 60 cases. There were 2.92 injuries per 100 employees, which represents an increase of approximately 9%. Further analysis revealed that the majority of injuries were related to housekeeping issues and improper posture during lifting or carrying. This information prompted us to reinforce training on manual handling and implement a compact shop visit programme to educate retail staff and enhance their safety awareness. New staff were also found to be more prone to accidents. To refresh their safety knowledge, we have embedded a safety session in the “New Comer Sharing Programme” after their first month of employment. Safety is a shared responsibility. It is very important to get our brands actively involved in order to create a uniform safety culture. As a starting point, we have established a cross-checking programme that requires brand retail managers to perform safety reviews in other brands’ retail outlets. This approach encourages managers to benchmark their own performance and strive for higher safety standards, as well as promoting greater safety awareness amongst their peers. To ensure consistent EHS measures are being undertaken across our portfolio of shops in Hong Kong, we have also introduced an EHS fit-out checklist for two of our emerging brands, Repetto and Chevignon. In addition, successful practices like monthly shop-safety-day programmes and injury case-sharing were continued throughout 2012.

Health & Safety

In Mainland China, there were three LTIs this year. This represented a LTIR of 0.29 cases per 100 staff employed, an increase of 15% when compared with that in 2011. The three incidents all took place while staff were commuting or during meal times. This has alerted us to the fact that we should not only focus on safety risks in the workplace, but should also raise staff awareness of safety issues when they are on the road. Following our established practice in Hong Kong, we are distributing a safety leaflet to all shops on a monthly basis, with the aim of refreshing their safety knowledge. Targeting safety risks on the road, we have also shared tips and advice on good driving practices through the safety leaflet. In addition, we have also revisited our Health and Safety Guidelines for retail shops and warehouses, in order to provide more comprehensive and clear directions for staff to follow.




Hong Kong

Continue to enhance the positive safety culture within our company.

On-going --

Continue to conduct monthly Shop Safety Days to encourage simple safety self-checks at our stores.

On-going

--

Indoor Air Quality Yearly Review in Hong Kong.

X The review is postponed due to office relocation

Continue working on the Safety Management Framework for retail shops and warehouses.

On-going

2013 Target

Hong Kong

• Conduct a biennial Shop Safety Competition

• Continue to conduct monthly Shop Safety Days to encourage simple safety self-checks at our stores.

• Indoor Air Quality Yearly Review

Mainland China

• Continue working on the Safety Management System

• Continue to enhance the positive safety culture within our company.

• Continue to promote safety awareness through the monthly safety leaflet

10


Employees


We continue to enhance our working conditions and promote an appropriate work-life balance for our staff. In 2012, we further improved the working hours of our multi-brand chains by fully implementing shift-work arrangements. To achieve this objective, we created more part-time working opportunities, not only for students but also for job seekers who prefer to have a more flexible working schedule due to their family needs. Whether our staff are full-time or part time, they are treated with respect from the first day of their employment with Swire Resources. Induction courses and relevant training are provided. Mentors or “buddies” are assigned to make the newcomers feel welcome and assist them to adapt quickly to the new environment. We apply systematic performance appraisal processes to ensure that staff contributions are fairly assessed and recognised. Through this process, staff are encouraged to openly share their career aspirations with supervisors and discuss development needs. Training programmes are provided to guide them on their career path with the company.

To maintain a stable source of staff supply and minimise staff turnover is crucial to sustainable development. Manpower supply has become a critical concern for companies in the retail and service sectors. At Swire Resources, about 2/3 of staff are frontline operational staff and school-leavers have been our major source of manpower supply. However, the reform of the educational system and the availability of more opportunities for continuing education have increased the average age of youngsters entering the labour market. We are therefore having to adjust our strategies in terms of recruitment, staff relations and retention, in order to maintain a stable workforce. We have participated in a range of recruitment activities, designed to promote career opportunities in our company to the pool of recent graduates from secondary and technical schools. In Hong Kong and Mainland China, we collaborated with educational institutes and a number of technical colleges to run career talks and internship programmes. The opportunity to participate in these work-experience programmes has been valued by students, who have been able to gain a pre-graduation insight into the retail industry and career opportunities at Swire Resources.


Staff Development and Education In 2012, our training efforts focussed on enhancing the technical skills of staff members, with the aim of growing and sustaining the company’s chain-of-command. The “Love the New Star” programme continues to be a key training tool for our newly joined staff members. In addition to full-time staff, the company also provided training to seasonal part-timers, with a simplified version of this orientation programme, to assist them to adapt to their duties. A total of seven sessions were run during peak seasons in 2012. The “Elite Programme” targets staff with the potential to be promoted to supervisory and assistant manager roles. The programme is a five-month course, during which participants are trained to become more effective leaders. Managing younger generation staff has been a continuing challenge for senior shop and office managers.. We have organised training, workshops and team-building activities to enhance leadership skills and at the same time have established platforms for mutual communication and understanding amongst staff of different generations. The programmes, including “Leading Across Generations”; “Engaging New Generations”, “Aim High Fly High” and “Train-the-Trainer”, are all serving this objective. To cope with SRL’s increasingly complex brand profile, tailor-made programmes have been developed to cater to the needs of new brands such as Cath Kidston, Repetto and Chevignon. Customer service and product training were modified to suit the different brand characteristics. French and Putonghua language classes were provided for office staff who need to contact business partners using a different language. Swire Resources strives to promote the highest levels of customer service in its retail chains. The company has participated in various competitions organised by the Hong Kong Retail Management Association. Columbia won the “Mystery Shopper Programme 2012” in Fashion & Accessories (Sports & Outdoor) category for two quarters, and the team also won awards in the “Service and Courtesy Awards 2012”. They are: • Columbia – Champion, Supervisory level in Fashion &

Accessories (Sports & Outdoor ) Category • Columbia – Champion, Junior Frontline level in Fashion

& Accessories (Sports & Outdoor ) Category



2013 Targets:


Explore different channels and networks to support the workforce supply.

√ Recruitment activities with NGOs and educational institutions have been coordinated.

Continue leadership development programmes to sustain the leadership supply.

√

Classroom training, workshops and on-site coaching were provided to senior level shop assistants. Managerial training was conducted for Office Managers and Assistant Managers.

Identify opportunities to further enhance employee’s wellbeing.

√

Working hours of multi-brand retail chains have been improved by the implementation of shift-working systems.

Diversify the sources of recruitment to ensure stable and sufficient manpower supply

Further enhance staff engagement practices in order to cope with the emerging new generations’ style.

Actively manage staff performance and define skills development needs for all staff levels



Business Partners

We favour suppliers and contractors who share our commitment to Sustainable Development. Currently, around 70% of stock purchases come from international brands such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma and Columbia, all of whom comply with international manufacturing practice standards. To ensure all our suppliers meet Swire Resources Limited’s standard requirements, all 29 factories from which we source products have signed up to our code of conduct and 20 of the 29 have been audited by third parties to ensure compliance.

2013 Target: The nine factories will continue performing self-audits in 2013 to monitor their compliance with our code of conduct. Third-party audits will be considered at a future date. Those factories found to be non-compliant will be given a three-month grace period for rectification. If they have any areas of non-compliance after the grace period, we will invite them to participate in an improvement programme (and engage external consultants if necessary) to ensure that they comply with our code of conduct.


Request factories that have not performed third-party audits to perform self-audits in 2012, to monitor their compliance with our code of conduct.

√ The nine factories have performed self-audits



Community We contribute to our communities in the way we run our businesses, through sponsorship, charitable funding and through encouraging our staff to contribute their time and talent to community services. In 2012, we donated over HK$770,000 in cash and kind to more than eight non-governmental organisations(NGOs) and social services organisations, to fund various types of community engagement activity. In addition, employee volunteering has enabled us to connect with our local communities. Through partnerships with different NGOs, such as HK Family Welfare Society, St. James’ Settlement and Benji’s centre, our staff have gained a wide range of opportunities to understand and contribute their time to help vulnerable members of our society. In 2012, our volunteer team participated in more than 10 volunteering activities, rendering a total of 1,489 service hours, an increase of 24% when compared to the service hours provided to the community in 2011. We are also excited to note that the enthusiasm has spread from our own colleagues to their friends and relatives, who account for 35 of our total number of volunteers this year - double the number in 2011. While most of our volunteering activities to date have taken place at weekends, this limited the participation of our retail staff. To cater to their desire to help the community, we have set up our first weekday volunteering programme particularly for them. We understand that serving the community is a personal choice. To encourage our staff becoming more involved, we have set up a “Community Service Award” for staff with the highest number of service hours in a year.



This year, the Hong Kong Council of Social Services has extended the Caring Company Award 2011/2012 to early 2014. Swire Resources will strive to win the 2013/2014 award by contributing to three main areas of corporate social responsibility: caring for the community, employees and the environment. Since our business is expanding in Mainland China, we believe we also have a duty to contribute to the communities on the Mainland. In Beijing, we have already given our staff an opportunity to sample community service.


Hong Kong

Organise 10 activities in partnership with NGOs

√ --

China

Organise/Join community services in Mainland China

√ Participated in community services organised by Swire Properties in Beijing

2013 Targets:

Hong Kong

• Organise 10 activities in partnership with NGOs

• Extend environmental challenges to community service

• Further promote volunteering activities to retail staff

• Explore new NGO partners so as to extend our service coverage

China

• Promote community service in Mainland China



CONTACT US If you have any comments or questions, please contact: Cathy Cheng or Catherine Po Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Published in July 2013. Copyright Swire Resources 2012



Swire Pacific Limited has established a formal Sustainable Development Policy which provides a policy direction and oversight to all group companies. In line with SPL’s policy, Swire Resources adopts this policy because we recognise our long-term value creation depends on the sustainable development of our businesses and the communities in which we operate. We also wish to excel as corporate citizens. Our policy: Industry leadership: We will work with others to promote sustainable development in the industries in which we operate. In our operation: We will meet or exceed all legal requirements and:

• Be a good steward of the natural resources and biodiversity under our influence and ensure that all potential adverse impacts of our operations on the environment are identified and appropriately managed.

• Operate as far as is reasonably practicable in a manner which safeguards the health and

safety of all our stakeholders. • Strive to be an employer of choice by providing an environment in which all employees

are treated fairly and with respect and can realise their full potential. • Favour supplies and contractors who promote sustainable development and encourage

the responsible use of our products and services by our customers and consumers. • Promote good relationships with the communities of which we are a part and enhance

their capabilities while respecting people’s culture and heritage.

Appendix 1

Sustainable Development Policy


Appendix 2

Summary of Statistic (Hong Kong)


Summary of Statistic (China)

Appendix 2

Sustainable Development Report 2012 - swirepacific.com · Swire Resources Ltd SDR 2012 Scope This Sustainable Development Report provides an overview of Swire Resources Limited’s

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