Heron Bros has been awarded a Gold Level CORE Accreditation from Business in the Community (BITC) which makes them only the second organisation to ever receive the highest level of Responsible Business Standard.

Heron Bros has been awarded a Gold Level CORE Accreditation from Business in the Community (BITC) which makes them the first construction company to receive the highest level of Responsible Business Standard.

The construction and property development company announced the news today which coincides with Responsible Business Week (#RBWeek 24-28 April 2017).

CORE is Northern Ireland’s standard for Corporate Responsibility. In achieving CORE, organisations have led the way in responsible business practice and are now accredited leaders in corporate responsibility. Each company completing CORE receives a detailed benchmark and a tailored analysis of its CR activities, giving it the chance to gain a better understanding of its strengths and weaknesses and ultimately, providing it with a baseline from which it can plan next steps and further improvements.

It independently assesses and benchmarks organisation’s CR activities against others in the same industry and other leading organisations in Northern Ireland. The assessment allows organisations to identify areas which require improvement in their CR performance and take strategic steps to enhance their CR.

Following this accreditation, Heron Bros has been shortlisted for the “Responsible Business of the Year” award at Business in the Community Northern Ireland’s Responsible Business Awards. The awards ceremony is due to take place on Thursday 1st June 2017 at Waterfront Hall in Belfast. These awards recognise Northern Ireland businesses for their outstanding contribution to their people, planet and places where they operate.

Shauna Young, Heron Bros’ CR Coordinator commented on the accolade:

“We are delighted to have been awarded the Gold Level CORE Standard for Responsible Business from Business in The Community. By engaging with CORE, Heron Bros not only gets an insight into our Corporate Responsibility performance, but also enables us to improve and develop while engaging in good practice procurement and engaging staff. The third party external accreditation provides significant competitive advantage when it comes to tendering for prospective projects.”

“We are proud to be the second organisation to ever achieve this top accreditation, however we are not complacent about this accomplishment. Operating as a responsible business is central to our core values which we will continue to run a responsible organisation for our clients, staff, supply chain, communities and wider stakeholder groups. Through delivery of our CR Policy, we are committed to acting in a socially, ethically and environmentally responsible manner.”

“This gold level achievement has created a tremendous amount of pride amongst the Heron Bros team. We would like to thank BITC for continually working with us to become a more responsible business and for recognising the hard work of our staff and our community partnerships.”

Damian Heron, Group Managing Director at Heron Bros explained what the accreditation means to the company:

“We recognise that CR creates value for our business and are delighted to be recognised as a leading responsible business in Northern Ireland. Heron Bros places corporate responsibility at the core of our business strategy to ensure we continue to challenge our business and industry to drive the sustainable growth required. We are already using CR to drive efficiency through our processes, engage with our stakeholders, to develop our people, our expertise and our knowledge. Our CR strategy consists of five key pillars: Responsible Business, Resource Efficiency & the Natural Environment, Community & Partnering, People & Workforce, and, Business through innovation.”

“Our corporate responsibility permeates every level of our organisation as it is part of who we are and how we do business. Our Senior Management Team is acutely aware of the positive implications of responsible leadership. We employ the best people with excellent vision and leadership qualities to lead our CR and are committed to maximising socio-economic and environmental impact we have in the society we work and live in to create a fair and sustainable future that inspires relationships, passion and forward thinking – which are our core values.”

Chair of Business in the Community NI, Roy Adair, said: “We are delighted to recognise and celebrate organisations that are doing the right thing by their people, the planet and the places where they operate. Our Awards are a fantastic opportunity, not only to reward responsible business, but also to raise awareness of the great things that Northern Ireland companies are doing throughout the year. We had a considerable increase in entries this year. The standard was exceptionally high, and I think all of our judges found the shortlisting process a challenge. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our finalists the very best of luck.”

To find out more about Northern Ireland’s only Corporate Responsibility Standard, click here.