Antonia Swinson, chief executive of the Ethical Property Foundation, explains why being recognised for managing buildings that benefit people, the community and the planet benefits the bottom line
Property is about more than just land and profit. It is also about people and individual stories: residential stories are about family, security and lifestyle, while the commercial side reflects how we work and behave towards each other.
After years as a business feature writer and latterly a columnist covering the property industry for London and Scottish newspapers, a decade ago I changed career and became a social entrepreneur.
Since 2014, I have worked as chief executive of leading UK property charity the Ethical Property Foundation.
The foundation was set up in 2004 to promote the idea that buildings should be managed to benefit the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit.
It was the start of an extraordinary partnership with the property industry, and in 2014, the foundation launched the Fairplace award – an ethical workplace accreditation that recognises best practice in improving the wellbeing of the workplace, the nearby community and the environment, in a comprehensive measure of best practice.
Bringing this to market, I realised that Fairplace was also a cracking business improvement tool that forced people out of their silos.
Miracles happen when the HR, procurement, finance, and communications departments have to collaborate to fill in the Fairplace application.
We have just passed a Fairplace milestone with the RICS’ announcement that it has achieved Fairplace recognition for its headquarters in Parliament Square, SW1, as well as its large customer services centre in Coventry, West Midlands. It is a fantastic boost for both the team at the EPF as well as everyone at RICS who took part.
Gaining Fairplace recognition is the antithesis of a tick-box exercise. It requires practical evidence of best practice yet also provides a route map for improvement.
The effect is transformational for staff and management – the RICS follows in the footsteps of other ethical workplaces keen to differentiate themselves to investors, staff, tenants, clients and the community: RBS won a Fairplace award for its 160,000 sq ft customer service centre in Southend, Essex, while Sodexo was recognised for its Holborn, WC1, office.
The EMCOR UK headquarters in Surbiton, Surrey, is another winner and the firm plans to gain accreditation for its other properties, while smaller property businesses such as Foundation Property & Capital in Great Pulteney Street, W1, is another passionate ambassador.
Fairplace honours workplaces, not corporations, so awardholders now want to talk to us about extending the awards to their other buildings in the UK and beyond.
For everyone involved in the Fairplace award – and that includes our senior volunteer award assessors at CBRE and Savills – there is also the huge satisfaction that the three-year licence fees, which range from £500 to £10,000 pa based on the number of people in the workplace, directly support EPF’s charitable work providing free expert property advice to small voluntary and community organisations in England and Wales.
EPF was named sole referral partner to the Charity Commission for land and property advice in 2015, a service delivered in partnership with a trusted register of senior property professionals comprising surveyors, architects and solicitors. This month sees the launch of our National Programme for Property Education, which offers both online education and practical property management workshops targeting areas of deprivation.
So if your company cares to follow the RICS’ example and apply for Fairplace recognition, or join Simmons & Simmons and Charity Bank as sponsors of our national programme, then the EPF would love to hear from you.
As for me, compared to business journalism, this job is an adventure. Who knew the property industry had such ethical depths?
How to get Fairplace accreditation
Fairplace is a comprehensive accreditation that aligns good ethics with best practice across finance, procurement, HR and facilities management as part of core business planning.
The RICS has just received accreditation for its London and Coventry offices, where notable activity this year included:
- agreeing with suppliers of staff employed to manage the offices, such as cleaners, security and waiting staff, that they will be paid the London living wage or the living wage as stated by the Living Wage Foundation;
- monitoring the offices’ greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint and increasing the amount of waste recycling;
- implementing a culture and policies that promote diversity, inclusion and wellbeing;
- allowing staff members one team volunteering day per year;
- raising £15,000 through RICS’ World Walk for Water (2015) for WaterAid.
