Sustainability strategy and management

We believe that every element of our sustainability strategy contributes to our continuing business success. It focuses on responsible management of our relationships with stakeholders and the environment.

Customers: We aim to be a leader in customer delivery, building trust, encouraging loyalty and protecting the health and safety of everyone who travels with us. For more information, see the Our customers section of this report.

Employees: We aim to recruit and retain people who are proud to work for the company and deliver the best-possible service. We provide a safe working environment, competitive reward packages and supportive training and development programmes. For more information, see the Our employees section of this report.

Suppliers: We encourage our suppliers to adopt sustainable practices and support them in implementing those. For more information, see the Our suppliers section of this report.

Environment: As a priority among our environmental impacts, we aim to reduce our contribution to climate change and decrease our use of natural resources. We are improving our data reporting systems and we comply with all applicable environmental legislation. For more information, see the Our environment section of this report.

Communities: We aim to contribute to the communities in which most of our employees live and work, as well as supporting the destination communities where our customers holiday. In addition to the employment our operations generate, this support includes financial donations and action on specific topics such as the sexual exploitation of children. For more information, see the Our communities section of this report.

Material topics

Within these broad areas there are many individual topics that we could focus our resources on. To be effective, we must prioritise. At the first meeting of our Group Sustainability Working Party, we drew up a list of economic, environmental and social topics relevant to our business. Each issue was then plotted on a matrix by our sustainability team, according to its degree of significance to both the business and our stakeholders. We intend to consult with internal and external stakeholders in the near future to confirm whether our assessment is in line with their priorities. The outcomes of this process will inform our sustainability strategy going forward, as well as shaping our future reporting.

Based on our current understanding and engagement to date with stakeholders, and in the order of this report's sections, we believe the following to be our most material sustainability topics:

• Customer satisfaction: We want our customers to be thrilled with their holidays and without satisfied customers our business would not prosper. See Meeting customers' expectations
• Education: One of the most effective ways in which we can contribute to sustainability is by educating our customers and employees on social and environmental topics. See Engaging with our customers on sustainability and Engaging with our employees on sustainability
• Health and safety: Ensuring that our customers and employees remain healthy and safe is a priority for us. See Customer health and safety and Employee health and safety
• Employee welfare and satisfaction: Happy, fulfilled employees are vital to our ongoing business success and to ensuring our customers enjoy their holidays. See Our employees
• Supply chain management: As a large company with many diverse suppliers around the world, we have the influence to increase social and environmental responsibility throughout our supply chain. See Our suppliers
• Aircraft emissions: Carbon dioxide and other aircraft emissions contribute to climate change. See Aircraft emissions
• Energy consumption: The energy we use to heat our buildings, power electrical equipment and fuel our road vehicles uses valuable fossil fuel resources and creates carbon dioxide emissions. See Energy
• Resource efficiency: Paper and other resources are used in every part of our business. See Resource use
• Water consumption: Water is used in our own hotels and in those in our supply chain, as well as in bathrooms and kitchens across the rest of our operations. See Resource use
• Water scarcity: Some tourist areas suffer from water shortages and it is important that holiday facilities do not use so much water that local communities are left without. See Resource use
• Animal welfare: Many customers want to see animals as part of their holidays and these animals are not always treated as well as we would like. See Conservation
• Bringing wealth: Some holiday destinations are in the world's poorest countries, so tourism can generate a valuable flow of wealth from richer nations to developing nations. See Destination communities
• Child protection: Protecting children from the sex tourism and trafficking that exists around some resorts is essential. See Destination communities
• Impact on home communities: The communities where our businesses are based benefit from the employment we bring, and we invest in good causes. See Home communities
• Investors: We have a duty to manage our finances responsibly and create long-term profitability on behalf of those who have invested in us. See our Annual Report and Accounts

Do you have an opinion on whether we have identified the most material topics for our business? If so, we welcome your feedback.

Policies and procedures

Our sustainability strategy is supported by a range of policies and procedures. These include an overarching Group Sustainability Policy as well as various policies on individual sustainability topics:

• Group Environmental Policy
• Sustainable Tourism Policy
• Child Protection Policy
• Health and Safety Policy
• Animal Welfare Policy
• Code of Ethics
• Fraud and Theft Reporting Policy
• Whistleblower Policy

We also support the United Nations Universal declaration of Human Rights and the core standards of the International Labour Organization.

We are in the process of implementing Group-wide procedures for managing sustainability, building on the pockets of best practice that already exist within the Group.

Roles and responsibilities

Ultimate responsibility for our sustainability strategy lies with the Thomas Cook Group Plc Board of Directors. The Board delegates this responsibility to its Health, Safety and Environmental Committee, chaired by Senior Independent Director Roger Burnell. Sustainability matters are also brought to the Group Board of Directors via the Group Executive Board. Andrew Cooper, our Director of Government and External Affairs, reports to the Group Executive Board and oversees our dedicated sustainability team. This team of five is led by Ruth Holroyd, Group Head of Sustainability.

In 2010, we established a Group Sustainability Working Party. It has far-reaching objectives:

• To create an effective approach to sustainability across the Group
• To develop a sustainability strategy for all areas to follow
• To identify and encourage sustainability leadership within the Group
• To share best practice on sustainability among the business segments and operating companies
• To establish common sustainability reporting methods.

Led by Ruth Holroyd, the Working Party is made up of representatives from all the business segments and operating companies. Each of these representatives now has responsibility for sustainability matters in their part of the business. The creation of the Working Party is a major development in our approach to sustainability; with a more integrated working plan across the Group and named individuals responsible for sustainability in every business segment and operating company, we hope to make significant progress. Already we are seeing some of our companies take a more formal approach to sustainability. Thomas Cook Belgium, for example, is developing various sustainability reporting tools and has established its own working party on sustainability, made up of representatives from every department within the business. Establishing the Working Party has also enhanced our Group sustainability reporting process, with all parts of the Group now inputting into this report.

Risk management

The management of social and environmental risks within Thomas Cook Group is undertaken as part of our broader risk management system. We have Risk Management Committees at Group and business-segment levels.

At the Group level, the Committee is responsible for:

• Supervising a thorough and regular evaluation of the nature and extent of the risks to which the company is exposed
• Reviewing the corporate risk profile and recommending risk management strategies
• Supervising and assessing the overall effectiveness of the risk management process.

Within the Group Risk Management Committee, our Director of Government and External Affairs Andrew Cooper has responsibility for sustainability risks and feeds these in to the Committee's quarterly reviews.

At the business-segment level, committees are chaired by the segment's Chief Financial Officer. They meet at least four times a year to discuss risks that have been identified in the segment's businesses. For each risk, a mitigation strategy is developed, and then implementation of the strategy is monitored regularly and adjusted as necessary. Any risks of significant concern are escalated to the Group Risk Management Committee. For more information on our risk management processes, please see our Annual Report and Accounts.

ˆ back to top