THE GO-AHEAD GROUP PLC ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL REPORT 2006 www.go-ahead.com/corporateresponsibility CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S STATEMENT We believe that public transport is an essential element of any successful economy. We are committed to meeting what our communities need – integrated, accessible and efficient transport systems. We believe that all companies should take a responsible approach to business. This report is part of our commitment to that principle.We are proud of our performance and our aim is to lead our sector in meeting our responsibilities. 02 06 14 22 28 Group overview Bus operations Rail operations Aviation support Performance data - About Go Ahead Our buses carried over We operate the Southern and parking - CR performance - Our operations 500 million people this and Southeastern rail We offer ground handling data from Go-Ahead year, playing a vital role in franchises connecting and parking services at companies - What corporate reducing congestion and London with the South 17 airports in the UK responsibility means - Verification and tackling social exclusion. Coast. Southern has and Ireland. Our parking Audit statement for our business We report on our transformed the service management company performance in the since taking over the also provides specialist - Business in the following areas of failing South Central security advice.We report Community CR 04 responsibility for a franchise.We explain how our companies Index ranking Introduction bus operator: how meeting our key performed in meeting responsibilities influenced their following key - Our responsibilities Marketplace 6 that transformation: responsibilities: - Our approach Workplace 8 Marketplace 14 Marketplace 22 to reporting Environment 10 Workplace 16 Workplace 24 - Stakeholder consultation Community 12 Environment 18 Environment 26 Community 20 Community 27 We are dedicated to protecting our passengers, employees and customers. We involve local communities The photograph on the front cover is owned by in improving our performance. Keolis (UK) Limited and is subject to copyright protection. All rights reserved. Used by permission. > See page 27 Go-Ahead Environmental & Social Report 2006 1 Environmental and social responsibility is fundamental to the success of Climate change is one of the most important issues we face. Attracting the Go-Ahead Group. people to get out of their cars and onto buses and trains for some or Some say that companies must make a choice between profits or all of their journey has an immediate beneficial impact, but we believe responsibility. As a public transport company, we have long taken a this is not enough.We have a longstanding programme to reduce our different view: our long-term profitability absolutely depends on a emissions footprint and pride ourselves on leading our industry both responsible approach to business.This is not altruism, but recognition in what we do and the openness with which we report our progress. that we will only achieve our business goals by working in partnership The central ingredient to the Go-Ahead Group ethos is our devolved with the stakeholders in each of our businesses. management structure. Each of our operating companies make local Public transport plays a central role in the competitiveness of the UK. decisions within a shared framework for managing responsibility; We believe that towns and cities where the traffic moves easily and this structure allows local companies to respond to the needs of quickly will do better than those blighted by traffic congestion.The UK local communities. Last year Go-Ahead pioneered individual company has particular challenges in that much of its transport infrastructure reporting to reflect the Group’s devolved philosophy.This is being was shaped by conditions of over a century ago.We believe that our repeated this year. services can play a vital part in the solution. We believe that we have the right policies and programmes in place. Our primary responsibility is to attract more people onto our buses We have also enjoyed external recognition, rising 15 places in the and trains.We are particularly proud of our success in increasing our Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index to be 54th bus passenger numbers against a backdrop of falling passenger in the top 100 companies.This is a major achievement for a company numbers outside London in the industry as a whole.We have achieved of our size. this through increasing service frequency, offering high standards of I am delighted to promote Go-Ahead initiatives in this area. comfort, making our fares easy to understand and affordable and I am committed to ensuring our businesses are both profitable investing in easy to board carriages and vehicles.We partner with City and sustainable. Councils and Network Rail to help focus infrastructure investment in Please also see www.go-ahead.com/corporateresponsibility areas that improve the reliability and accessibility of our services. for a full web based report. Keith Ludeman Group Chief Executive We are dedicated to minimising the environmental impact of our buses. Independent research confirmed we have the most environmentally friendly bus fleets in Britain. < See page 11 Engaged and committed employees who care about the satisfaction of our customers is vital to our success. > See page 16 2 Go-Ahead Environmental & Social Report 2006 GROUP OVERVIEW The Go-Ahead Group is a major provider of transport services across the UK employing over 24,000 people and carrying around 800 million passengers journeys annually. Our operations span the following: Bus services in the South and North East of England, Benchmarking our performance the West Midlands and London In order to benchmark and strengthen our corporate responsibility Commuter rail networks in London and the performance, we participate in the Business in the Community (BITC) Corporate Responsibility Index, the Business in the Environment Survey South East of England and FTSE4Good. Parking services at airports, railway stations, shopping For the second year, we came top of the public transport companies that centres and hospitals across the country participated in Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index.We scored 89%, a further significant improvement, and were Aviation ground handling services across the UK ranked 54th out of the top 100 ‘Companies that Count’, up from 69th and the Republic of Ireland last year. In the environment index, we did even better, improving our score to 91.5% including maximum marks for our performance on emissions management. Our business strategy is to focus on cities and communities where there is economic growth and strong local authority support for public Our listing on the FTSE4Good series of indices demonstrates that we transport. Our companies operate within a shared vision of their meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards. responsibilities towards local communities and the environment; however, within this framework we believe in empowering local people to make local decisions about local services.This approach is distinctive within the UK’s public transport sector. The business case for a responsible approach Adopting a responsible approach delivers the following competitive advantages for Go-Ahead: • A reputation as a responsible company amongst both local Go-Ahead BITC score in CR index (%) 06 89 communities and transport policy makers 05 81 • Increased access to capital from investors, particularly Socially 04 64.5 Responsible Investment (SRI) funds Go-Ahead BITC score in Environment index (%) 06 91.5 • The ability to recruit and retain good people. 05 85.2 04 81.3 We believe that a modern transport system should be comfortable and reliable for all and have the minimum environmental impact possible. Demonstrating our ability to fulfil this vision will help us to grow our business. Revenue (£m) Dividend (p) 05-06 1,463 05-06 56 04-05 1,302 04-05 48 03-04 1,244 03-04 38 02-03 1,102 02-03 25 01-02 949 01-02 17 Cash flow (£m) Operating profit before tax (£m)* 05-06 116.9 05-06 91.9 04-05 131.7 04-05 95.5 03-04 150.3 03-04 91.3 02-03 94.6 02-03 65.5 01-02 93.0 01-02 49.4 *Before exceptional items and amortisation. Go-Ahead Environmental & Social Report 2006 3 NATIONAL OPERATIONS BUS BUS NORTH EAST OPERATIONS WEST MIDLANDS OPERATIONS AVIATION SUPPORT AND PARKING: AVIANCE ABERDEEN METEOR PLANE HANDLING GLASGOW EDINBURGH NEWCASTLE BELFAST CITY BELFAST DURHAM TEESSIDE INTERNATIONAL BLACKBURN LEEDS/BRADFORD DUBLIN MANCHESTER BOSTON NORWICH KINGS LYNN BIRMINGHAM LOWESTOFT BANBURY ROYSTON CHELMSFORD LEAGRAVE IPSWICH OXFORD LONDON STANSTED CARDIFF LONDON LUTON HATFIELD SWINDON LONDON HEATHROW DARTFORD SALISBURY CROYDON MAIDSTONE PURLEY ASHFORD LONDON GATWICK SOUTHAMPTON POOLE BRIGHTON BOURNEMOUTH ISLE OF WIGHT RAIL JERSEY Operations in the South T S E S E WATFORD O S R R T C R S E OXFORD JUNCTION IA G IA G R N F ID R IN O R O R K N T C B A A N IC H L A N V C B C O D A N E O WOOLWICH -S L N -O S ELTHAM S E WATERLOO E N N R CLAPHAM EAST R U SIDCUP E JUNCTION M E O A H B H S G T IN HEATHROW A T DARTFORD H IT SWINDON AIRPORT C S FAVERSHAM BROMLEY SOUTH MARGATE ORPINGTON RAMSGATE AVIATION SUPPORT AND PARKING MAIDSTONE SEVENOAKS CANTERBURY SUTTON EAST CROYDON PURLEY REDHILL ASHFORD TONBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL GATWICK TUNBRIDGE CRAWLEY AIRPORT WELLS THREE BRIDGES DOVER HORSHAM RYE EAST FOLKSTONE GRINSTED HASTINGS HAYWARDS HEATH UCKFIELD SALISBURY EASTBOURNE SOUTHAMPTON G S N E BOURNEMOUTH I W H IS H E POOLE T N T N L D G O R O R U E T T O O R P O F W H A M R M G E S O A I S T N H R R E B O G L P O T B IT L ISLE OF WIGHT SOUTHERN BRIGHTON & HOVE OXFORD BUS COMPANY AVIANCE SOUTHEASTERN METROBUS SOLENT BLUE LINE METEOR EXPRESS COACH LONDON CENTRAL & SOUTHERN VECTIS PLANE HANDLING SERVICE LONDON GENERAL WILTS & DORSET 4 Go-Ahead Environmental & Social Report 2006 INTRODUCTION Our responsibilities This report describes our performance for the 12 months to 1 July 2006.