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Tesco tops inaugural Global Governance Real Estate 100 League Table, amidst results showing the average combined score achieved is less than 25%
Tesco plc has topped the inaugural Global Governance Real Estate (RE) 100 League Table. The new index ranks the compliance and conformance with the UK Modern Slavery Act (MSA) (2015) and good practice in human rights of London’s largest commercial landlords by square foot. The index is compiled from analysis undertaken of the statements the organisations have filed pursuant to the MSA requirements.
The Global Governance Real Estate 100 League Table Top 10 companies (October 2018) are:
| 1 | Tesco |
| 2 | National Grid |
| 3 | Barclays |
| 4 | HSBC Holdings |
| 5 | Howard de Walden Estates Holdings |
| 6 | British Land Company |
| 7 | Royal Mail |
| 8 | Ford Motor Company |
| 9 | St James’s Place |
| 10 | Hammerson |
Together, the RE 100 owned 273 million square foot (25,352 square km) in London. Tesco plc’s anti-slavery programme, proxied by anti-slavery/anti-human trafficking (AS/AHT) good practice in the 24 indicators analysed scored the highest in the group. The cohort’s average combined score was 22.6%, suggesting there is a great deal of work required.
Only 17 of the RE 100 organisations scored 70% and above on the legal compliance element, with a mean score of 42.1%. One-third (33) of them are exempted from the MSA as the owners are noted as foreign governmental or UK public entities. Of those organisations subject to the Act, 27 statements could not be found, although most had a website.
The Global Governance RE 100 League Table and stand-alone Global Governance FTSE 100 League Table (published 23 October 2018) are facilitated by Sustain Worldwide, and funded through the Global Governance Research Fund (GGRF). Early contributors to the GGRF notably include BRE and Marshalls.
The League Tables, with analysis undertaken by Development International, are publicly available along with the study’s full report. Summary ‘Scorecards’ and the underpinning data sets of the individual organisations analysed are also available.
Dr Shamir Ghumra, BREEAM Director at BRE, which has developed the Ethical Labour Sourcing Standard (ELS) BES 6002 that supports companies to understand the profile of their social/ethical governance, including their human rights challenges, said: “The Index provokes London’s largest commercial landlords by square footage to continuously improve their governance performance.
“Modern slavery and human rights abuses are iniquitous and all too rife in the UK and globally. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates it’s a $150 billion industry with human beings targeted by criminals for financial gain. However unwittingly, through their global supply chains, businesses are complicit. The Global Governance RE100 and FTSE100 League Tables shine a light on the issue to bring about its earliest eradication.”
Modern Slavery is an ‘umbrella’ term for labour exploitation, forced labour, child labour and human trafficking. In 2017, 5,145 potential victims were referred to Britain’s National Referral Mechanism, a 35 per cent increase on the previous year. The UK Government has estimated there are between 10,000-13,000 people held in modern slavery in Britain today. The Global Slavery Index has estimated there are 45.8 million people across 167 countries in modern day slavery.
Over time, as evidenced in the published League Tables and Scorecards, it is expected organisations’ percentage scores will improve as their understanding, maturity and ability to manage the challenges are met, and subsequently reported. The Global Governance RE 100 League Table, and Global Governance FTSE 100 League Table are published biannually, in October and April.
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Notes to editors
BRE is a world leading building science centre. Our clients use our sustainability, safety and security services, the BRE Academy and our Innovation Centres, to deliver on their social, environmental and economic goals. We are committed to developing knowledge on every aspect of the built environment and we set the standards for the way buildings, homes and communities are made to keep people safe, protect the environment, make buildings affordable and to create places where people want to live, work and play. www.bregroup.com
Our standards include the Ethical Labour Sourcing Standard (ELS) BES 6002 that supports companies to understand the profile of their social/ethical governance, including their human rights challenges. The ELS provides a framework for verifying ethical labour sourcing, and a route for companies working across all sectors and geographies to verify their systems and processes, including the reporting requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, Section 54 Transparency in Supply Chains (TISC). www.elsonline.co.uk
Sustain Worldwide is a strategic communications business that works with purpose-driven clients and partners to deliver stakeholder engagement through Press/PR, social media and aligned events. It has a particular interest, knowledge and expertise in responsible and ethical sourcing in global supply chains and their inter-relationship with human rights and modern slavery. The Global Governance FTSE 100 and Real Estate 100 League Tables are facilitated by Sustain Worldwide, and funded through the Global Governance Research Fund. www.SustainWorldwide.com
Development International e.V. (DI) is a not-for-profit organization specialized in areas where law, business and development intersect. DI’s point of departure is to bring independent scientific scrutiny, clarity, and accuracy to bear on issues with an empirical deficit, thus enabling constructive discussions. It also develops and implements evidence-based intervention strategies and solutions to achieve sustainable development outcomes, and it builds capacity to transfer knowledge and competencies to other stakeholders along the process. www.DevelopmentInternational.com