Whitbread sets new CSR targets for 2020

Whitbread, owner of the Premier Inn and Costa brands, has released a new set of corporate social responsibility (CSR) targets to be met by 2020. The hospitality company announced that it aims to create 15,000 new jobs, 6,000 apprenticeships, raise £25m for charitable causes and reduce carbon emissions by a further 15% in the next five years.

The targets form part of its ‘Good Together’ programme which was launched in 2009 and is designed to improve “teams and communities, customer wellbeing and the environment.”

Whitbread said that it plans to create 15,000 UK jobs, 7,500 work experience placements for school and college pupils and 6,500 structured placements over the next five years.

Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants is also aiming to raise £10m for its chosen charity, of which £7.5m will go to development of the Premier Inn Clinical Building at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.

Meanwhile, the company has also committed to minimising its water consumption and waste production, having already exceeding its 2017 targets. It will now aim to reduce carbon by a further 15% and water by 20%, compared to a 2014 baseline.

Andy Harrison, CEO of Whitbread, said: “As we grow, we have an even greater responsibility to consider our wider environmental and societal impact. Our Good Together programme is an integral part of how we do business at Whitbread and as the UK’s largest hospitality company, we aim to be a leader in developing sustainable business practices within our sector.”

Simon Ewins, director of CSR at Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants said: “At Whitbread, we set ourselves stretching targets across our business and our corporate responsibility commitments are no exception.

“We are incredibly proud of the progress we have made towards our existing 2017 targets, and in line with our wider business approach, it was important for us to review these achievements and push ourselves further to achieve more.”