Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Initiative of the Year
Highlighting the wider impact utilities can have on the communities they operate in as well as their role as stewards of the environment and their wider responsibilities as socially-conscious companies.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Initiative of the Year
Highlighting the wider impact utilities can have on the communities they operate in as well as their role as stewards of the environment and their wider responsibilities as socially-conscious companies.
Affinity Water - INNS Out Scheme
The INNS Out scheme is a pioneering initiative focused on combating the spread of Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) on third party land.
Tackling INNS is critical to protect our local habitats, wildlife, waterways, and riverbanks. Integrating environmental stewardship with social responsibility, our innovative scheme safeguards precious ecosystems, connects local organisations, and promotes community engagement through volunteering.
It provides vital investment, expertise, training, and volunteers to local community groups. We’re proud to be the only water company to go beyond community funding; the impact has been incredible, enabling wildlife rich habitats to re-emerge while managing invasive species in our catchments.
Affinity Water and Catalyst Creative - Save Our Streams
Do you know how much water you use every day? Customers in the Affinity Water region use an average of 157 litres daily. That’s 12 litres above the national average. So in 2021, we launched Save Our Streams - the UK’s largest water-saving initiative - empowering customers to create water-saving habits that saved them money and seamlessly fit into their lives. In 2023, we pushed ourselves even further. From refining our innovative water-saving calculator to our creative brand partnerships, we inspired over 100,000 customers to register, exceeding our ambitions target and saving a whopping 37 million litres daily.
Centrica and Fujitsu - Junior talent sustainability hackathon
With Gen-Z being the first generation to enter the workforce that have never known a world without the internet, they have higher climate-anxiety than those who have come before them and are keen to address their inherited issue. So much so, it’s affecting where they can – and will – work.
Bring together two partnering organisations, Centrica and Fujitsu who share a strong belief that the workforce of the future has a unique role to play in building our sustainable future, we launched our junior talent sustainability hackathon to tap into the bright minds of our latest recruits to tackle sustainability.
National Grid - London Power Tunnels collaboration with Connectr
London Power Tunnels, a £1 billion seven-year project to rewire the capital between Wimbledon and Crayford, has partnered with social enterprise, Connectr Early Engagement, to create a STEM outreach programme.
The project provides secondary school pupils from some of the most deprived communities with practical, hands-on experiences within the engineering and construction industry and to help address the STEMs skill shortage.
The initiative set out to reach over 100,000 student interactions by 2025 which it surpassed 18 months earlier than targeted - with 11 months of the partnership still to go.
Northumbrian Water - Inclusive Customer and Community Engagement
Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) launched an innovative Community Engagement vehicle to foster inclusivity and trust, aiming to engage up to 25,000 customers annually in their local community.
These mobile hubs enhance brand awareness, promote smart metering adoption, and provide exceptional customer support. By directly interacting with customers, the vehicle reduces strain on contact centres while advancing its goals of eradicating Water Poverty by 2030 and lowering Per Capita Consumption to 118 litres per day by 2040.
This initiative supports NWG's aim to achieve top C-Mex rankings, improve trust index scores, and boost brand awareness in its operating areas.
Southern Water - Challenging permits to optimise wastewater sites and reduce storm overflows
Water company ways of operating are controlled by permits set by regulators. However, as the owners of the infrastructure, there is responsibility on us to make sure that these permits are suitable for our sites. We determined our Swalecliffe wastewater treatment works (WWTW) could function more effectively than our permits allowed, so we set out to get our permits changed to make the most of our assets.
Once the new permits were issued, we optimised our Swalecliffe site to redirect 450 litres per second of storm water into storage, dramatically and permanently reducing storm overflow releases into local watercourses.
UK Power Networks - Opening doors for London’s disadvantaged youth
The innovative Power Among Us initiative changes lives. This year’s programme has given nine young out of work young people, from socio-economic cold spots, a foot in the door of employment and the first step in a journey of social mobility. These young people have been given an opportunity to become the engineers of the future, on one of a series of programmes offering paid, bespoke training at the UK's biggest network operator. Habit can hinder recruitment processes, but UK Power Networks shines a light on potential that was previously overlooked or faced obstacles to enter our industry.