41061 Unite AR22 HI-RES WEB-READY - Flipbook - Page 114
112
THE UNITE GROUP PLC | Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022
BOARD ACTIVITIES continued
Board decision-making during 2022 continued
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE
A RESPONSIBLE AND
RESILIENT BUSINESS
BOARD’S GOVERNANCE ROLE
Sustainability and ESG: as
a listed plc and responsible/
trusted business, our wider
stakeholders demand
we proactively manage
environmental, social and
governance risks. The Board
oversees the setting and
implementation of our
sustainability strategy, which
has the overarching ambition
for Unite to clearly lead the
student housing sector on
sustainability issues and be in
the leading pack of real estate
companies in the wider sector.
Fire safety: proactive Board
oversight of improvements in
fire safety and demonstrating
leadership on cladding
remediation.
LINK TO PRINCIPAL RISK
WHAT THE BOARD DID IN 2022 AND ITS DECISION-MAKING
Sustainability/ESG risk
The Board continued its oversight of our sustainability strategy
and Net Zero Carbon Pathway, built on science-based targets
validated by the SBTi, to achieve our objective of becoming
net zero carbon across both the Company’s operations and
development activities by 2030. Further information can be found
within our Sustainability Report on pages 46–65.
Read more on page 85
The Board also interrogated our ongoing ESG regulatory and
reporting compliance.
The Board considered the Board’s specific climate change risks,
identifying them across: Regulatory risk; Physical risk; Transition
risk; and Stakeholder risk. The Board considered the impact of
these risks and oversees the assurance of the corresponding
risk management.
Operational risk
Major health and safety
incident in a property or
a development site
The Board oversaw the Group being one of the first companies
to take action to remove Aluminium Composite Materials (ACM)
cladding and later High-Pressure Laminate (HPL) cladding on our
properties and the governance of our cladding remedial plan
and the investment to be incurred over the next 12–36 months
implementing this plan.
Read more on page 83
Employee wellbeing:
governance to ensure the
health, safety, wellbeing
and security of our 1,000
employees is paramount.
Operational risk
Major health and safety
incident in a property or
a development site
The Board has designated one of its Non-Executive Directors
(Ilaria del Beato) to help ensure the views and concerns of the
workforce are brought to the Board and taken into account.
The Board continues to monitor our Culture Matters forum which
puts the employee voice front and centre and consulting on
strategic change.
Read more on page 83
Diversity and inclusion
The Board also has oversight of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion,
Belonging (DEIB) and Wellbeing initiatives. We expanded our DEIB
and Wellbeing team following the development of our DEIB and
Wellbeing strategy and embedding diversity, equity, inclusion,
belonging and wellbeing into the culture of the business through
a learning and development programme.
Read more about employee wellbeing and DEIB initiatives
under Workforce engagement on pages 50, 103 and 126
