Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Sustainability

Environmental Achievements

• Achieved 41 ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very Good’ BREEAM ratings for buildings designed by the group.
• Achieved a Ska ‘Silver’ environmental assessment rating for a recent office fit-out.

Social Achievements

• Not disclosed

Governance Achievements

• Not disclosed

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Continuing decline in construction activity in the markets in which we operate.
• Reduction in property development activities posing a risk to revenue and profits.
• Pricing pressure through increased competition for projects.
• Economic situation of clients creating pressure for non-fee paying work.
• Risk of actual sub consultant costs varying from those anticipated.
• Exposure to economic environments of overseas locations.
• Difficulties in obtaining debt funding and concerns about future demand for property.
• Delays to existing projects and deferral of new projects.
• Claims of professional negligence from clients.

Mitigation Strategies

• Focus on developments being planned and undertaken by larger and more established developers and owner occupiers.
• Matching staff resources to fee-paying projects and varying headcount and other costs where necessary.
• Fee proposals prepared by experienced directors, based on due diligence and estimates of resources.
• Fee proposals for larger projects subject to review and approval by senior group management.
• Seeking sub consultants with an established track record for projects outside the UK.
• Structuring contractual arrangements with clients and sub consultants to minimise risks.
• Ensuring the group retains appropriate headroom within its funding arrangements.
• Operating quality assurance systems, including maintaining quality assurance standards and spreading best practice.
• Maintaining professional indemnity insurance in respect of professional negligence claims.
• Promoting a ‘green’ and ecologically sound policy in all its work.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Not disclosed

Responsible Procurement

• Not disclosed

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Not disclosed

Transition Risks

• Not disclosed

Opportunities

• Not disclosed

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: Null

Certifications: ISO 9001

Third-party Assurance: Not disclosed

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Not disclosed

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Not disclosed

Awards & Recognition

• Not disclosed

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Sustainability

Environmental Achievements

• Achieved 70 ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very Good’ BREEAM ratings, 1 Ska ‘Gold’ and 2 Ska ‘Silver’ environmental assessment ratings, and 6 LEED ‘Gold’ and 5 ‘Silver’ awards.
• Incorporating passive design principles that mitigate solar gain and heat loss; reducing energy demand through active and passive renewable energy sources; the use of energy and resource efficient materials, methods and forms; the re-use of existing buildings and materials and flexibility for future change.

Social Achievements

• Inaugural sponsors for the Loughborough School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering’s First Year Prize for model making.
• Promoting health and safety at work; employment policies do not discriminate; encouraging continuing professional development; giving fair consideration to applications for employment for disabled persons.

Governance Achievements

• Adopted the QCA Corporate Governance Code (2018) for Small and Mid-Size Quoted Companies.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Delayed projects and significant fee competition in the UK due to Brexit uncertainty.
• Intermittent instructions, reduced order book, and debtor provisions in the UAE.
• Lower oil price impacting Russia and the Middle East.
• State of emergency in Turkey.
• Downward pricing pressures in mature markets.

Mitigation Strategies

• Relocation of UK office to achieve cost savings.
• Property consolidation in the UAE to reduce costs.
• Focus on optimizing current platform, not pursuing acquisitions.
• Careful cost management, incurring little non-essential expenditure.
• Staff reductions in UK and UAE.
• Flexible workforce to react to market changes.
• Focus on markets with strong skills and avoiding price reductions.

Supply Chain Management

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: QCA Corporate Governance Code (2018)

Certifications: ISO 9001

Awards & Recognition

• AA Hotel of the Year London 2018-19
• 2018 Best Overall UK Restaurant (Mei Ume Restaurant)
• OAS award for best West End refurbishment / regeneration (Verde)
• BCO London refurbished / recycled awards (Adelphi)

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Sustainability

Environmental Achievements

• Achieved 79 ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very Good’ BREEAM ratings, 1 Ska ‘Gold’ and 2 Ska ‘Silver’ environmental assessment ratings, and 9 LEED ‘Gold’ and 5 ‘Silver’ awards.
• Incorporating passive design principles that mitigate solar gain and heat loss from the outset; reducing energy demand through active and passive renewable energy sources; the use of energy and resource efficient materials, methods and forms; the re-use of existing buildings and materials and flexibility for future change; and importantly the careful consideration of the experience and wellbeing of the end user in our buildings.

Social Achievements

• Not disclosed

Governance Achievements

• Not disclosed

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Market conditions, cyclical and other economic and political influences in the geographies in which we operate, which gives rise to peaks and troughs in our financial performance. The pandemic, which affected all our operations, is an event that has required specific responses. Similarly, the current conflict in Ukraine creates an uncertain outlook in terms of both continuity of project instructions and new business activity.
• Downward pricing pressures as a result of the wide spectrum of available suppliers to each project.
• Operational gearing and funding: high level of operational gearing, through staffing, IT and property costs, which makes it difficult to reduce costs sufficiently quickly to immediately avoid losses and associated cash outflows when faced with sharp and unpredicted falls in revenue.
• Staff skills and retention
• Quality of technical delivery
• Underperforming acquisitions

Mitigation Strategies

• Focusing on markets and clients with strong financial covenants to avoid delays and deferrals of projects.
• Maintaining a balance in the mix of permanent vs. contract and agency staff to give flexibility to respond to fluctuation in revenue.
• Sharing knowledge and skills among staff, conducting external surveys to ensure appropriate salaries and benefits, providing training programs, career appraisals, and education assistance.
• Retaining skilled professionals at all levels and operating quality assurance systems, including ISO 9001 registration and annual quality control assessments.
• Focusing on markets where it has clear skills that are well above average, or avoids it by not lowering prices.
• Investing senior management time and Group resources into both pre- and post-acquisition work, including due diligence, price modelling, and post-acquisition implementation planning and monitoring.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Not disclosed

Responsible Procurement

• Not disclosed

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Not disclosed

Transition Risks

• Not disclosed

Opportunities

• Not disclosed

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: Null

Certifications: ISO 9001:2016, ISO 14001:2015

Third-party Assurance: Not disclosed

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Not disclosed

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Not disclosed

Awards & Recognition

• BREEAM ratings, Ska ratings, LEED awards

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Sustainability

Environmental Achievements

• Achieved 80 ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very Good’ BREEAM ratings, 1 Ska ‘Gold’ and 2 Ska ‘Silver’ environmental assessment ratings, and 9 LEED ‘Gold’ awards and 5 ‘Silver’ awards.
• Aukett Swanke Ltd designed the world’s first Smartscore accredited smart building in 2021.

Social Achievements

• Significant increase in employee shareholders
• Management and staff committed to greater share ownership through new Share Schemes
• Implemented three routes to increase employee ownership (AESOP, MSOP, Company Share Option Plan), with approximately 40% of employees now shareholders.

Governance Achievements

• New board in place to take the Group forward
• Adopts the QCA Corporate Governance Code (2018)

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Uncertainty in the UK economy impacting property development activity
• Pressure on cashflow from paying down CBILS loans, project delays, and freehold property mortgage expiring in February 2025
• Lower than originally budgeted project billings and cash collection resulting in overdue VAT and PAYE payments to HMRC
• Potential for project delays and client payment issues

Mitigation Strategies

• Focusing on markets and clients with strong financial covenants
• Developing business streams with contractually recurring long-term revenues
• Cash flow forecasts for at least 12 months
• Consideration of various scenarios based on varying trading performance
• Seeking a buyer for the freehold property
• Potential sale of German investments
• Potential invoice discounting
• Replacing existing debt with a new facility repayable over a longer period
• Seeking additional equity investment
• Actively engaging in communications with HMRC to agree a short-term repayment plan

Supply Chain Management

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Awards & Recognition

• BREEAM ratings
• Ska ratings
• LEED awards