Black Mountain Group Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Strategy
1. Forward
As a multinational business, Black Mountain Group is committed to ensuring the way in which our business operates has continuous impact on its people, clients, partners, and environment.
People, and their knowledge, experience and skills are nowadays recognised as the most important asset of any organisation, no matter how small or large. Black Mountain Group owes its success to the people who work for it.
Black Mountain Group also understands the ongoing need to identify and mitigate wider people and business risks impacting us, and to be able to demonstrate and measure our corporate governance responsibility, and how we continually measure our business practices, and importantly how we evolve these.
To do this, we are committed to establishing an evolving Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy and business policy to demonstrate the positive impact our business is having on our society, the countries in which we operate and / or have partners in, our clients and importantly our people.
We have established an initial number of Group ESG objectives. These will remain under review and are intended to evolve as the business grows, external changes dictate and how our approach to ESG matures:
Identify measures to reduce wastage of both paper and power in the conduct of daily operations.
Identify and implement measures to increase staff, happiness, and wellbeing with each of the group locations.
Improve staff communication of group-wide business developments across all locations.
We are not cost prohibited when purchasing new electrical items and actively source products which have the most efficient energy rating.
When purchasing assets and services from third parties, ensure that full account is taken of sustainability, usage of child and slave, labour, and broader ESG goals and selecting the supplier
2. BM Group ESG Strategy
ESG is an effort to reduce the amount of risk, both people and business, by thoroughly assessing the impact of a how a business operates. At Black Mountain Group, we use the term “ESG” to describe a comprehensive set of environmental, social and governance matters impacting our company, and these underpin how we operate through our wider business practices with clients, partners, local community, and our people.
This strategy will inform our ESG efforts moving forward. The purpose of this strategy is to provide information about the Black Mountain Group ESG strategy, and to encourage our people and those we work with to understand how we have embedded ESG within our business.
2.1 Societal Impact, Climate Change & Our Environment
As a group, we are committed to reducing the impact Black Mountain Group has on our energy and carbon use. We believe the societal impact to climate change is one of the greatest risks to our society and this strategy demonstrates our commitment to ongoing and evolving environmentally sustainable initiatives which not only deliver efficiencies and value for our business, but improvements to our peoples’ health and wellbeing, and positive impact to the wider local communities.
Working closely with our clients and partners, we strive to lead from the front with demonstrating our commitment to ESG practices. A core objective of Black Mountain Group is to support our clients and partners in reducing their impact on the environment. For example, Black Mountain Group is a digital-first business operating fully paper-free offices as much as possible, therefore supporting our partners and clients in avoiding printing.
As a multinational business, we will seek to comply with current, and future environmental legislation and work to minimise the impact our business practices have on the environment. Black Mountain Group will support initiatives that benefit the local communities in which we operate.
The impact of climate change on our society is significant, and with the proactive efforts being taken by Governments and Regulators alike demonstrates how important ESG is and why it is important that businesses take more proactive steps and measures.
2.2 Social Responsibility
Black Mountain Group remain committed to engage with our employees to ensure an inclusive and diverse workplace which supports them professionally, as well as promoting work / life harmony and proactive health & wellbeing. Furthermore, creating an attractive and interesting workplace environment for employees to work, improving career opportunities with clearly defined pathways, or a combination of these is a core objective for Black Mountain Group.
We will preserve and promote the protection of human rights and welfare within our own business activities, as well as those of our supply chain, in accordance with our approach to Human Rights, Workplace Health and Safety, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Diversity Equality Equity Inclusion and Belonging (DE(E)IB) and wider policies in place at local and group level.
2.3 Ethical Governance
As a multinational professional services business, we have in place strong oversight, and risk management at all levels. The Board are committed to maintaining transparent and strong corporate governance, group and local management accountability, and proactive risk management across our business.
We operate with high ethical standards through leadership that promotes a culture of integrity, transparency, engagement and listening to our people, clients, and partners. As a business, we are committed to embedding clarity, and robust ESG governance, establish group goals with clear accountability through our leadership teams.
2.4 Our Business & ESG
For Black Mountain Group, we believe ESG is about assessing we have a net positive impact in the world and communities in which we operate, taking concerted, defined and measurable actions to improve it and evolve these practices so they become part of our company DNA.
The bedrock and culture in which Black Mountain Group is built upon:
Rests in our people and ensuring they remain healthy, happy, and engaged.
Delivering the highest possible service and, therefore value to our clients.
How we support our local communities.
By doing all of this, how do we protect the society we live in.
The ethical and practical values that make up the different parts of ESG are at the heart of what we as a company stand for. With the growth and increased awareness of ESG, Black Mountain Group can tell the story of how our business makes a positive impact in our society and world.
2.5 our Duty to Our Society & The Wider World
As a business, we also have a duty to our people, our clients, our society, and the wider world. At Black Mountain Group, we pride ourselves in our people-first approach to business, extending our people-values from our internal business practice to our partners and clients. Our teams never stop striving for improvement, and we never forget the importance of a friendly, reliable, and personal approach in business.
ESG gives us an opportunity to bring how we have built Black Mountain Group, our people, and how we do business together. We value investing in our people, and our clients in the same way that we value protecting our environment.
We are a people business, we value our people, and as such we foster a culture of teamwork, openness and treating our people fairly. Our view on ESG is that it is a continuous process of aligning how we do business with our operations, systems, and controls with our values as a company.
Black Mountain Group are committed to improving our social and environmental footprint, which demonstrates a strong, well-informed management attitude and a values-led culture that is both responsive to the challenges and opportunities of doing business responsibly and sustainably.
2.6 ESG & Our Reputation
Black Mountain Group has built its reputation by how we do business. The people we have in our team, the service we deliver and the quality of our work, service and delivery are not only key to our business but remain embedded as group goals. These traits remain key to our reputation and long-term success.
We are a proud business. Our people are proud to be part of our business, our clients value Black Mountain Group as their partner, not just a number, but someone who knows them, understands them and someone who is proud to work with them. Part of that pride is understanding how our business makes a positive contribution to our society and the wider world.
Reputation is a key business risk, and we believe ESG is fundamental to our reputation as a business.
Environmental – Environmental sustainability is an ethical and commercial imperative. Managing our carbon footprint goes hand in hand with the strategic necessity to operate efficiently. Our commitment to tackling climate change at a corporate level is fundamental to our strategic objectives.
Social – Our people make up our business. Intellectual capital is core to our clients, our business model, and our long-term sustainability as a business. We foster an environment that values and nurtures unique talents and contributions from every individual within a culture of inclusivity. While we have progress to make, we are committed to cultivating and empowering change by building an inclusive workplace where all talents can thrive.
Governance – Good governance is foundational to us, and all aspects of ESG. We cannot thrive without paying attention to our compliance obligations. Our business seeks to go beyond the concept of “box-ticking” and embed compliance into the heart of our business.
2.7 Our Responsibility to Clients & Partners
Irrespective of whether a “client” or “partner” is internal or external, a significant part to how Black Mountain Group has built the reputation it has is by delivering outstanding service and continued value to those we work with.
A core commitment to our people, clients and partners is about listening to them, understanding them, responding to and being there for them and regularly reviewing our business practices to ensure they remain sustainable, priced accordingly, fit-for-purpose, and can evolve.
2.8 The Role We Each Plat to Deliver ESG
Environmental – We all have a role to play in reducing carbon emissions and getting to net zero. While as a business we are setting organisation-level targets, our people need to consider the choices they make and the environmental impact. For instance:
When travelling, are there more environmentally friendly options to take?
Can some meetings be done remotely instead of travelling?
Think before we print.
Does the office have recycling and energy saving measures?
Social – Building a diverse and inclusive workforce where everyone feels valued, they belong, their voice can be heard, and they feel included is everyone’s responsibility. From hiring the best talent to encouraging all staff to thrive, we want a workplace where people proactively work to be the best. Our people can help by:
Challenging and reporting discriminatory or offensive behaviour.
Understanding DE(E)IB.
Leading by example in your work.
Governance – Good governance goes beyond having the right policies and procedures in place. It’s about embedding compliance in our day-to-day work. From completing training on time to actively understanding how regulations affect our work, good governance starts from the individual acting ethically. Our people can take governance to heart by:
Refer to policies and procedures instead of shortcuts.
Be aware of red flags for compliance failures and risks in an area of work.
Don’t be afraid to call out poor behaviour or report failures.
2.9 ESG & Our Value Chain – How We Deal with Clients & Partners
This is an important part of our business; value is created through collaboration and partnerships. Similarly, risks can come from not anticipating problems, gatekeeping, and hiding critical information. Seen through an ESG lens, the holistic nature of dealing with external partners, from how they source raw materials to how they treat workers and comply with accepted standards are just as vital.
Ethical procurement gets to the heart of the value chain. When we consider the entire value chain, from raw material supplier to end use customer, we can better understand the needs and impacts of our business’s decisions within those relationships. Ethical procurement within the context of ESG means paying attention to the carbon impacts of a supplier, and the labour practises of an end-user.
Considering these impacts doesn’t always mean refusing to work with someone in the value chain where there are concerns. Sometimes suppliers are limited, and customers have every right to access our services. It’s about understanding the risks within each relationship and taking concerted action to reduce those risks.
For example, if there are concerns about a supplier’s labour practises, we can ensure clauses are inserted into contracts to maintain an adequate standard of employment for those working for the supplier. Sometimes, Black Mountain Group will decide to not work with a client or partner due to their approach, or lack of, to ESG.
2.10 How Black Mountain Group will Procure Ethically
Risk assessments: We will carry out a risk assessment of the value chain to identify key vulnerabilities based on requirements and needs.
Screening, risk-ranking & monitoring: We will undertake ESG due diligence on suppliers to evaluate and rank them based on their ESG profile and track record, and monitoring for ESG breaches. Much in the same way that we operate Anti-Money Laundering checks.
Incident response: We will build robust internal governance frameworks to respond to ESG issues in the value chain.
2.11 Engagement
Active participation and engagement at all levels of the business is of great importance to ensure ownership of ESG by all people within Black Mountain Group. As a minimum, we endeavour to maintain compliance with legislative requirements, and ensure the group are making a positive difference and impact in the workplace, our people, the local communities, our society and world we live in.
3. ESG & Our Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
Businesses need to establish strong foundations to ensure that they can deliver against their ESG goals, considering aspects such as DE(E)IB, Organisational Design, and Employee Value Proposition.
3.1 Our People
Black Mountain Group recognises the need to create an environment in which employees are motivated, maintain a high attendance level, are reluctant to leave and produce consistently high-quality results. These traits, in turn, deliver maximum value to the bottom line but also represent a significant challenge to the business. This represents a significant challenge with the backdrop of a fast-moving and competitive labour-market, and the “war for talent”.
ESG principles will also influence the design of the future Black Mountain Group health and wellness programmes. We will begin to integrate initiatives that promote physical and mental Wellbeing, such as gym memberships, mindfulness training, and access to healthy food options, while also emphasising sustainability and community engagement.
Additionally, by embracing a proactive ESG strategy, Black Mountain Group will offer more inclusive benefits that address the diverse needs of our employees. This will depend on location, and may include enhanced parental leave, childcare support, eldercare assistance, access to fertility treatments and gender reassignment surgery and healthcare coverage for alternative medicine or mental health services.
3.2 Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
To support how Black Mountain Group attract, motivate, and retain talent, we will be reshaping our Employee Value Proposition, EVP, to ensure it is evolving and reflects both a changing world and our workforce demographics.
3.3 DE(E)IB
DE(E)IB touches all parts of our society and in the Black Mountain Group workplace. But there is a key part of DE(E)IB which is often overlooked and that is how Equality and Equity are frequently interchanged but there is a key difference between the two. Black Mountain Group aims to address this by “owning” this as part of our group objectives to ensure we have an inclusive workplace.
Black Mountain Group already offers flexible working. It not only supports the broader DE(E)IB business goals, particularly around Inclusivity, Equity, and Equality by making it easier for parents, especially mothers, to stay in the workforce but the group recognise this is important for our people.
With the increased multigenerational and generational diverse workforce of today, Black Mountain Group will continue to monitor, plan, and respond. As a business we are committed to this.
4. Establishing Our ESG Goals
Following changes in compliance, employer and employee trends, and global legislation (example, the UK Environment Act 2021) and legally binding Net Zero commitments, ESG is a top priority for Black Mountain Group, and will be a permanent agenda item on our agenda moving forward.
4.1 Our Group Goals
Environmental
Black Mountain Group commit to using greener products in all offices, identifying how we purchase and use more recycled stationary items, reducing our day-to-day waste, and cutting carbon emissions by being more responsible with business travel.
Black Mountain Group commit to providing proactive Wellness benefits, such as time off for “wellness” activities once per month, and eco-friendly initiatives including environmental schemes, subsidies from public transport like electric vehicles (EV) or cycling (C2W).
Social
Black Mountain Group are committed to embed group-wide practices in securing client data and be able to demonstrate how we are doing this.
We will establish a clear workplace Health & Wellbeing programme promoting health and wellness and ensure we are supporting our people by implementing appropriate Benefits focussing on employee Wellbeing.
Black Mountain Group will proactively promote health and wellness benefits to our employees, including Menopause support, Eldercare, Mental Health Counselling.
Black Mountain Group will implement annual surveys to our clients and internally to our people so we can truly understand client experiences and our working practices to better deliver on our promises to both clients and our people.
Black Mountain Group already operate a robust data and privacy framework safeguarding all client and employee information remains and as we grow as a multinational business, we remain committed to regularly review our processes.
Across our group, we will embed a more proactive DE(E)IB approach. We will fostering an inclusive workplace, supporting equal opportunities and representation across all genders and diverse groups, and ensuring fair and ethical treatment of all individuals, both within and outside of our business.
Black Mountain Group will become involved within community project work supporting and reinforcing our CSR commitment by building and maintaining relationships with local communities through engagement and relevant activities. We will do this at corporate level but also locally, by giving all employees up to three-days per year where they can complete relevant activities within their communities.
Governance
Black Mountain Group ensures accurate financial reporting, accountable leadership throughout the business, ethical conduct from all including those we do business with, and as we grow as a multinational business, we will regularly review Internal controls and processes.
We will continue to work towards maintaining a diverse management team.
Black Mountain Group will ensure a robust Governance process around our Employee Benefits to ensure transparency, accountability, and ethics, including DE(E)IB. We will establish a Black Mountain Group framework of benefits which will create a more equitable, equal, belonging, and inclusive and respectful workplace. We will create a corporate aim, with group objectives underpinning a framework where countries in which we have owned offices can operate within to ensure local compliance, and culturally appropriate benefits are operated.
Black Mountain Group already have in place group-wide policies concerning Anti-Bribery and Corruption and Whistleblowing. These policies are regularly reviewed and updated and will evolve as needed. These policies set out measures to ensure, we as a group, can prevent and address bribery and corruption, and ensure employees can report unethical or illegal activities within the business.
Black Mountain Group are committed to recruiting fairly and aim to have in place a diverse team and offer an inclusive working environment. The Group will establish a robust and evolving DE(E)IB policy which demonstrates our commitment to an inclusive workplace our understanding of the changing multigenerational and generational diverse workforce of today, tomorrow and the future.
An effective ESG strategy demonstrates that a company firstly understands its impact on society but is also prepared to address its risks and prepares for how it will operate tomorrow and into the future. As a business, we will commit to internally publishing an ESG update on how we have worked towards and impacted the above commitments.
4.2 Black Mountain Group ESG Committee
We have assigned the overall responsibility for ESG to Steve Fedor, Nick Campbell, Adam Riley, and Stephanie Slade. ESG will be a fixed agenda topic at the Black Mountain Group Board meetings, which Steve Fedor will be responsible for this, and updating the Board with progress.
We believe it is important to ensure our operational ESG activities are updated to the wider business, changes made to reflect local requirements and communicating ESG progress. This will be done every six-months in a formal Senior Managers meeting across each of our owned locations, and Nick Campbell, Adam Riley, and Stephanie Slade will be responsible for this.
The purpose of the ESG committee is to gather and review data from broad parts of the business, then filter and summarise it in respective meetings. The aim of the committee is to establish a unified view of ESG, increasing understanding of all three aspects (Environmental, Social and Governance), and to promote robust standards.
The key objectives of the committee are to:
Emphasise the importance of environmental measures, sustainability goals and performance, at all levels of the business.
Provide best practice on the structure, policies and regulations that impact the business.
Increase understanding and awareness of corporate governance and social aspects that impact the business.
Implement and promote common and workable standards of corporate governance for the business.
At the heart of this strategy is a corporate and people-first culture that has sustainability at the core of all our business practices and corporate values. Black Mountain Group’s ESG strategy and commitment to it will demonstrate how as a business we are committed to sustainability, equality, and ethical practices, as well as focussing on ways we will reduce waste and energy, and therefore creating a positive societal impact for our people, clients, and the community.