ESG at Green & Partners LLP
Introduction
Green & Partners is a partnership that is recognised for its ability to evolve and adapt. Since the business was founded in 1992, our partnership has evolved in response to external and internal influences, moving into new sectors, improving our offer for clients and developing a better working environment for our team.
In the past few years, ESG factors have become an increasingly important influence on our business in two ways. Firstly, as younger partners have joined our leadership team, the importance of environmental, societal, and ethical issues to our business have increased. Secondly, ESG factors have now become a priority for our clients, and particularly our institutional investor clients who represent 70% of our turnover. We recognise the importance for the current and future iterations of our business that we are innovative in our approach to support our clients in their ESG integration goals, whilst also understanding, responding to and mitigating any risks to our business that are associated with ESG factors.
Environmental
We actively seek to minimise the use of natural resources and our impact on the environment. Our 2020 office move to our current premises on Beak Street, Soho offered us an opportunity to change the way we work, become more efficient and dramatically reduce our environmental impact whilst improving the working environment for our team.
One of the greatest changes was the move to becoming a paperless office to reduce our daily paper usage and improve how efficiently we work. In 2022, we are now 95% paperless and our printing has reduced 90% in comparison to 2019. Any paper we do use is 100% recycled paper and all paper and cardboard used in our office is recycled using our recycling bins.
Our current office space also offers communal showers and bathrooms, instead of private, reducing the number of bathrooms, heating systems and cleaning required. The office benefits from an abundance of natural light from large windows on three sides, reducing our dependence on electrical lighting. All lighting within our office is LED lighting on timers and PIR sensors, reducing energy and heat wastage.
Due to our reduced requirement for storage and private bathroom space, we reduced our square footage by 35% when we moved to Beak Street. This has positively impacted our electrical consumption and encouraged us all to work more efficiently with the space we have.
We operate a no plastic water bottle policy within our office; every team member is given a Chillys bottle on joining the team to use and re-use every day.
We purposefully chose our location on Beak Street, Soho for its proximity to transport connections across the South East. This has meant that 100% of our team can travel to and from the office by public transport, whether that be by train, bus, underground or by TfL’s ‘Santander’ cycles. We also take part in the government’s cycle to work scheme and 50% of our team (5 people) have taken advantage of the salary sacrifice scheme to purchase bicycles that they use for travelling to and from work.
Social
Our business has a very high reliance on our team members and the quality of the advice and service they give to clients. Due to this, we naturally invest heavily in the retention, development and support of our team in the years that they spend with us.
Pre-qualification, Green & Partners invests in specific APC courses for its graduates to attend and supplements this with mentoring in preparation for their APC assessment. For all team members, we cover the costs of RICS membership, and the courses and seminars required to achieve the RICS annual CPD requirement.
Many of our team members joined the business as a graduate or on a work experience placement and we have become adept at being flexible with team members as they progress through the business and as their lives change in the years that they spend with us.
One benefit of being a smaller business is that we work very closely together, and it was clear to see how our team members’ lives were impacted – both positively and negatively – by working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We now operate a hybrid work model, giving our team the flexibility to get work done when and where they're most productive. This has also been particularly beneficial in reducing travel time and costs for the team, affording them a better work life balance and greater opportunity for economic growth.
Our investment in people extends further into the wider property sector where we actively support those studying or training within real estate. We offer between two and three work experience placements per year to students studying property and other related subjects. Applications are sought from students of all backgrounds and ethnic groups. Alongside this, our senior team members undertake mock APC interviews for people studying real estate and working at other real estate companies.
Green & Partners supports the Reading Real Estate Foundation (RREF) (charity number: 1092627) with mentoring and guidance for their students with the aim of equipping them with practical, real-world skills so they can make a positive impact in the workplace. Our team are experienced in mentoring people through their real estate qualification process, guiding them on job applications, advising on internships and providing mock interviews for their APC assessment. Often the relationships formed through the RREF continue long beyond qualification.
Financial donations are made regularly to charities of our choosing.
Governmental
We aim to protect the interests of important stakeholders such as our team, clients and the environment. We actively seek the best way to take care of all our stakeholders and promote good practice and a long term perspective that considers local, social and environmental concerns.
The business is led by six designated member Partners who each hold specific responsibilities for our People, Data & IT, Office, ESG, Marketing and Finance & Reporting.
The six member Partners have a balance of skills, backgrounds, experience and knowledge and have sufficient capacity to make a valuable contribution. Monthly member meetings are structured and supported by policies and procedures that assist effective decision-making and independent challenge. Complaints handling policies and procedures for both internal and external stakeholders are in place and reviewed annually with a designated member responsible for management of any complaints.
Due diligence is undertaken on all clients, customers and certain transactions to ensure the business is protected and compliant with our Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) policies and procedures. Our team are given training and guidance on our AML and KYC policies and systems.
Green & Partners has no political affiliations.