"What we have now is a completely unique opportunity to drive a new agenda and see what we can make of it."
Let’s talk ESG, we all know what it stands for, but what’s it really about? We’ve seen some businesses tackle it head-on, recruiting full time employees and setting new corporate agendas, others skirting around the issue giving it a brief mention and some (now in a minority) that have done nothing at all. At Avamore, we’ve been taking ESG seriously for around the last 18 months. Why? Because we feel a responsibility to do so and, let’s be real, to be an effective business in 2023, you must.
Our journey to date has been an interesting one and the pursuit of an effective ESG strategy goes on. We’ve ticked off all the ‘low hanging fruit’ but now, to be brutally honest, we are left scratching our heads. Last year saw us partner up with Change Please as part of our commitment to increase CSR, we’ve engaged in environmental initiatives including, most recently trying to raise ‘plastic-free’ awareness, worked on team focus groups to find out what is important on a personal level and engaged with our borrowers to understand what might motivate them into greener action. We’ve had some good outcomes and continuing a dialogue helps us maintain our corporate consciousness, but the major question is, where do we go next?
With each action we take, there is always the need to think two steps ahead otherwise, we run out of steam. We were excited to roll out our developer survey but the results were disappointing. ESG has a price tag; for most housebuilders, it’s at the bottom of the agenda but considering the market we’re in, can we really blame them? It’s disheartening when you can’t see an obvious pathway. Running out of things to do or, simply thinking we’ve ‘completed it’ isn’t an option but the alternative is not much better. Making noise for noise’s sake, greenwashing and trying to force something that isn’t there is almost as unproductive as just sitting on your hands.
ESG forces businesses to look outside their own walls but there is a lot to be gained for those doing it right. A basic google search of ‘why does ESG exist’ has one of the top results stating that an effective ESG strategy ‘paves the way for a company to gain investor confidence, earn customer loyalty, reduce operating costs and improve both asset management and financial performance’.
Quick ESG linked initiatives suggest a short-sighted and self-interested end goal; whilst elevating ESG does have a huge brand and business impact, only those with a genuine interest in making a difference will feel that ancillary benefit to the overarching business. For us then, it’s about striking the right balance. We are a small business that wants to make a difference but also, needs to be careful, strategic and extra mindful about what we are doing and why we are doing it.
ESG is the future; there will come a time when we aren’t in a position to make decisions around where to take things because it will be set out for us. What we have now is a completely unique opportunity to drive a new agenda and see what we can make of it. The challenge is, however, that we’re all on the same pathway of ‘figuring out’. There probably isn’t one answer to nail it all but persistence will prevail, and we feel confident that if we keep at it we’ll get at least close to what good looks like.
