We have set up an SRE committee to underpin our basic principles and views on socially responsible entrepreneurship and ensure they receive ongoing attention within our organisation. This committee consists of a number of key officers to whom we have delegated partial responsibility for specific issues that are relevant to their day-to-day work and reflect their individual levels of expertise.

The primary focus in 2008 was on awareness. The SRE committee has been instructed to promote and maintain a process of awareness among group employees. During the year the committee arranged meetings (‘SRE lunches’) with various groups of representatives from our range of activities. The purpose of these meetings was not to present abstract policy in the form of a tutorial, but instead to encourage participants to think about their individual roles and what they can contribute to our group from an SRE perspective. The committee challenged them to think of some areas where they could have a meaningful impact. This approach is very much in line with our corporate culture and has generated some simple, but very tangible SRE ideas that employees can put into practice.

Alongside awareness, another important issue that comes up time and time again is the need for balance. After all, we have to achieve a proper and appropriate balance between our business-related goals on the one hand and our SRE objectives on the other.