Sustainability reporting services

Overview

Companies are required by law to produce annual, audited, financial reports which cover the financial performance of the company, present financial information and provide an overview of forthcoming risks to business and financial performance.

Recent years have seen the development of a parallel process, the production of non-financial reports (the reporting of environmental and social performance issues). These present an increasingly wide range of content, from the social impacts of economic activity to ecological footprinting, issues of stakeholder engagement, social and environmental business risk and business strategy.

The production of such reports has grown rapidly in Europe and globally in response to demands from stakeholders including investors, NGOs and employees in addition to the desire of organisations to communicate their sustainability activities.

The development and increasing complexity of approaches to reporting such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has raised both the expectations of stakeholders for completeness, transparency and accountability through reporting and also the challenge for organisations in reporting their own practice.

Our approach, built upon experience advising a number of leading companies, involvement in a range of best practice approaches and in the judging of sustainability reporting awards, is to distil the essence of best practice reporting into clear and simple checklists and guidance. This allows us to present a simple, complete assessment of your current reporting, support new reporters in starting their journeys and advise on how to respond to the increasing demands of reporting initiatives and stakeholder concerns.

Products & services

Reporting strategy and guidance

Helping you to define what you wish to report and what you need to report. We work with you to develop and drive your strategic approach to reporting and can demystify critical aspects of reporting such as materiality identification (identifying and prioritising significant environmental and social impacts), stakeholder issue mapping and specifying third party assurance.

Reporting reviews, assessment and benchmarking

Building upon our best practice guidance and checklists, we deliver constructive assessment of your current reporting strategy, structure and approach.

We then provide recommendations for future development and where approriate we compare your activities with your peers and competitors.

Experience

Reporting best practice

For 8 years Joss was a judge of the ACCA (Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants) Sustainability Reporting Awards, the oldest and best respected non-financial reporting Awards in the UK (see more >> ). He also worked with ACCA to develop best practice in non-financial reporting, and is a member of ACCA's Reporting Forum.

Joss was a judge (2004-2007) of the Charities Aid Foundation Corporate Community Investment Hallmark Awards, which rewards innovative practice in the reporting of community investment and philanthropic activities in non-financial reports (see more >> ).

Joss is Vice Chair of the Environmental Industries Commission's Carbon Trading and Environmental Management Working Group and played a lead role in developing their position on the Assurance of non-financial reports. He was also EIC's lead for Defra's Carbon Reporting Guidance (October 2009).

Reporting consultancy in practice

Joss has developed a number of best practice checklists and assessment criteria for the evaluation of CR and sustainability reports. He has worked with a number of FTSE100 companies to assist and advise on their reporting strategies and in the production of reports, these include:

• Advisor (1999-2006) to Aviva plc on the development of their approach to CSR reporting and as a consultant on the content, structure and approach of their reporting, on an annual basis.
• As a consultee to Barclay's Bank on the ongoing development of their CSR reporting.
• In association with Black Sun Plc, Joss has worked on strategic approach, critique and content development for: BG Group, Centrica, Compass Group, Standard Chartered, United Utilities.
• Development of strategy, structure and content of Costain plc's first Corporate Responsibility Review.

Reporting reviews

Joss reviews sustainability reports for CorporateRegister.com, the world’s largest source of non-financial reports (see more >> )