Willmott Dixon achieved 92% in Business in the Community’s annual benchmark of how companies engage with their communities, called the Corporate Responsibility Index (CR Index).

The CR Index is a rigorous benchmarking tool which assesses companies against a diverse range of factors, from the way they manage their environmental impact to how well engaged their board and senior managers are with responsible business issues. It also includes how a company treats its employees and supply chain and the link between remuneration and CR performance – plus more.

Paul Smith, director with responsibility for sustainability at Willmott Dixon said: “We're delighted to have achieved 92% – a 4% increase on our 2014 score. It's in our DNA to increase the positive contribution we make to society and BITC’s CR Index is a great tool which helps us measure and improve how we do this.”

Achieving a 3 star rating in the CR Index means that Willmott Dixon:

  • has developed and implemented procedures to ensure that its employees live up to company standards of business behaviour,
  • links remuneration or bonus systems to senior managers and Board members’ CR objectives and targets,
  • takes into account social and environmental issues when making strategic business decisions such as investments, downsizing, research and development, selection of business partners pension fund providers,
  • provides relevant CR training for employees, senior managers and Board members,
  • has developed specific and measurable targets for some performance areas,
  • can demonstrate 1-2 years of performance improvement across several performance impact areas.

The 2015 CR Index is available here

Stephen Howard, Chief Executive, Business in the Community said:

“The 2015 CR Index shows us that we are moving in the right direction and companies are now increasingly integrating responsible business practice into decision making right across the business. To truly change business culture, companies need to engage their people to embrace a different way of doing business with responsible values at the core. So it is especially encouraging this year that we have seen a significant increase in the representation of corporate responsibility, both at board level and amongst the generation of future leaders that will shape the businesses of tomorrow. I congratulate Willmott Dixon for achieving its 3 star ranking and look forward to working together to create a fairer society and a more sustainable future.”