ESG Support

High value companies have strong ESG strategies

ESG is now a 'must do'. Stakeholders - from consumers, to investors and regulators - are increasingly demanding that businesses transparently and ethically deliver benefits to people and planet in their pursuit of profit.

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What is ESG?

ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. It’s a framework used by investors to measure the non-financial and ethical value creation and sustainability of businesses.

This framework covers:

Environmental

Climate change, natural resources, pollution and waste, environmental opportunities.

Social

Human capital, product liability, stakeholder opposition, social opportunities.

Governance

Corporate governance, corporate behaviour, trustworthy methods and decision making.

DID YOU KNOW?

ESG-oriented investing has experienced a meteoric rise.

Global sustainable investment now tops $30 trillion

(Kellogg Insight, 2018)

85% of investors considered ESG factors

in their investments in 2020.

(Gartner, 2021)

Why is ESG so important?

There is a huge ground swell towards ESG; make no mistake, this megatrend is not going anywhere.

Recent events - from climate-change triggered disaster to inequality-fuelled social unrest - are driving growth in demand for businesses, processes and products that are beneficial for both the climate and society.

What are the business benefits of a strong ESG purpose?

At VÖR we focus on how ESG can enhance our founders’ companies economics and their reputations in the eyes of both their customer base and potential investors.

Brand and reputation

Let’s think about your customer. As a whole consumers are increasingly demanding more from businesses they choose to buy from. Those brands which do harm are regularly dropped in favour of those with stronger ethics. Every year the spending power and influence of Generation Z is growing, and for this generation brand morality and reputation matter more than ever. They are prepared to pay more for brands which do good.

Returns and profitability

Positive ESG engagement is not just good for your company’s reputation. It can be positive for your economics as well. If you can deliver a positive contribution to society or the environment, it doesn’t only make your customers happy it can also change the nature of their relationship with you; increasing average revenue per customer and reducing churn. Both of these are good for your economics and your valuation.

Regulators and fines

Currently regulators look positively upon businesses who take their ESG seriously. However, the trend is towards ESG becoming a ‘must have’ for regulators in the achievement of licences and avoidance of fines. As the EU/UN sustainability agenda grows there will be increasing benefits to those who seriously engage and those who do not will be penalised.

Investors and impact

There is a big shift towards impact investing. Investors realise the value ESG brings to business in terms of lower risk and higher returns. More and more investors are alive to this in terms of their own altruistic impact AND the business benefits.

Productivity uplift

A strong ESG proposition can help companies attract and retain the best employees, enhance motivation and increase productivity.

Cost reduction

A strong focus on the environment and sustainability can lead to a significant increase in the resource efficiency of a business and therefore to the reduction of cost.

Our ESG service to founders

We ensure founders recognise the value of engaging with sustainable development and ESG, weaving it into the fabric of their business from an early stage. This involves supporting innovators to develop their own ESG strategy; one which which aligns with their business and their beliefs.

ESG strategy - mapping to the UN Sustainable Development Goals‍
ESG initiative development & objective setting - identification of areas in which your business can enhance it's ESG proposition
ESG leadership approach - founder engagement, internal ESG support and furthering the ESG agenda
ESG marketing strategy - identification and demonstration of ESG virtues to target customers in a way which resonates and delivers economic improvements
‍ESG data & reporting - monitoring progress of both ESG activities and impact on KPIs
ESG auditing - achieving sign off and third-party validation
ESG governance - this comes in as the risk oversight function develops
ESG compliance - output of all of the above
B-Corp status - achievement of highly visible and credible validation

ESG and our purpose at VÖR

VÖR maps all client projects to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The work we do links most commonly to the achievement of Goal 8, specifically goal 8.3.

Goal 8

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Goal 8.3

Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalisation and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services.

We always work proactively with our founders to help them consider whether there are angles relating to other SDGs that can further deliver on their ESG promises.

At VÖR, we set ourselves our own ambitious ESG targets and are working towards achieving B-Corp status for our business too.

Experts

John Dickinson

High level hires and team selection

Alex Homan

Financing strategy, ESG and investor pitch design

Value and impact with strong ESG propositions

ESG is no longer a 'nice-to-have'. Strong business propositions must now be backed by impactful ESG strategies. Make ESG part of your purpose from the get-go.

Take the lead on ESG

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