CBRE and its supply chain assist FM clients on their ESG journeys

A series of events were recently held across the UK by CBRE’s Global Workplace Solutions with support from its supplier partners, focusing on assisting facilities management clients on their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) journeys.

The events aimed to drive collaboration between CBRE teams, clients, and the supply chain with a focus on realising ESG ambitions.

A survey of the 400 people, from 150 organisations, that attended the CBRE events showed that 53 per cent of attendees said that their organisation is at the beginning of their ESG journey, with only six per cent of attendees saying their company has a formal delivery plan in place to reach its ESG goals. Most attendees cited complexity of decisions and cost as the most significant barriers to their organisations reaching their ESG goals.

CBRE says these ESG events are integral to its commitment to creating a culture of good practices and innovation to ensure its facilities management services have a positive, sustainable impact on the people, communities, and the world. CBRE’s supplier diversity programme, which recently won an award at the World Procurement Awards 2022, aims to drive a more equitable and inclusive supply chain and is one aspect of CBRE’s overall ESG strategy.

Each ESG event showcased at least one of CBRE’s social enterprise partners, providing an opportunity to demonstrate the environmental and social impact that CBRE and its clients can achieve through a more diverse supply chain.

Peter Cooper, Head of Operations at the Harlequin Football Club Ltd, said about the event he attended: “The CBRE ESG event was a hugely enjoyable and informative session. The insights given by the CBRE sustainability team into their approach to ESG was helpful in breaking down a complex area. The introduction and talks by several of the social enterprises that CBRE are working with were really inspiring, and significant within the sector. It was great to see how a business can achieve a holistic approach to sustainability through its own decisions and working with its partners, contractors, and procurement teams.” 

Amy Brogan, ESG Executive Director at CBRE Global Workplace Solutions, commented: “CBRE is ideally placed to directly support FM clients on their ESG journeys, and we are taking that responsibility seriously. Our UK ESG roadshows enabled us to drive collaboration between CBRE teams, FM clients and CBRE’s supply chain to accelerate our joint ESG ambitions. This, alongside a significant resource investment, will expedite our drive for a sustainable vision for facilities management.”

Michael Amos, Managing Director at Waste to Wonder Network Operations, a social enterprise partner of CBRE said: “We are incredibly proud to be providing large-scale ethical clearance and redistribution of office furniture and equipment for several of CBRE’s clients. This has included redistributing over 600 tonnes of furniture and equipment in the past year, delivering almost £1.3m of social value. It’s fantastic to be able to partner with CBRE and showcase our ability to have a positive environmental and social impact at their ESG roadshow.”

CBRE is currently making plans for future ESG events in the UK.

To find out more about CBRE’s vision for sustainable facilities management click here.