To achieve our 2030 Sustainability Strategy, we depend on our supplier partners, who play a significant role in helping us create and manage outstanding places. As we roll out a new approach to Scope 3 emissions across our supply chain, Ginny Warr, Head of Procurement, and James Schuldenfrei, Senior Procurement Manager, reflect on the importance of sustainable procurement, along with the challenges and opportunities.

The face of British Land

Ginny: Our suppliers are often the face of British Land for our customers, so it’s always important that they share our values and our passion for environmental stewardship, social responsibility, economic development and innovation. This is vital for us to achieve our 2030 Sustainability Strategy commitments – from decarbonisation and biodiversity to the Real Living Wage and spending with SMEs.

James: It matters to our customers too, who look for us to have sustainability high on our agenda because it affects their performance; when we cut emissions in the buildings they occupy, it decarbonises their own operations. Sustainability is also important to our joint venture partners and investors, who ask about our approach and performance. We need to make sure our supply chain meets these expectations.

Decarbonising our supply chain

Ginny: We’ve been working with our development suppliers to reduce Scope 3 emissions on our projects for over a decade (Scope 3 covers indirect emissions derived from our value chain). We’re now widening our focus on Scope 3 emissions from non-construction services. The industry standard approach has been to send out questionnaires to all suppliers, who then use their valuable time to fill them in. We wanted to find a better way, for us and for our supplier partners. So I asked James to explore opportunities.

James: What then followed was lots of research, conferences and close working with our sustainability team to come up with a more efficient and, ideally, data-driven solution. Rather than asking every supplier for their exact emissions – which could return incomplete and inaccurate data and lead to misinterpretation – we’re using industry benchmarks such as CEDA and publicly reported carbon values such as CDP to identify our top emitting suppliers. We’ll then go deeper with these suppliers to understand the exact emissions relating to our procurement. Ultimately, this measurement will lead to management – opening conversations about what our suppliers are doing to reduce their emissions, and informing our decision making.

Driving positive change

Ginny: Procurement leaders have a responsibility – and an opportunity – to drive positive change. This latest initiative builds on our strong track record. We’re proud to be an accredited Living Wage Employer, committed to paying Real Living Wages to all people working at our places on behalf of British Land. Last year, we set a new 2030 target to generate £100m of direct economic value through our spend with SMEs. Research shows that spending with SMEs generates more local economic impact than spending with large organisations.

James: It also supports our commercial success, with SMEs often giving us a higher level of service and attention than large organisations. Around 80% of our suppliers are SMEs. Like so much in this space, there’s a balance to be struck. Spending with SMEs boosts local economies, whilst larger firms have more resources for things like carbon accounting. Ultimately, we prioritise fitness for purpose. Our Scope 3 evaluation model allows us to be flexible, using industry benchmarks and proxy values to pinpoint our efforts towards greater accuracy.

Working in partnership

Ginny: As a ‘small big’ company – small in headcount and big in the scale of our portfolio – we rely heavily on our supply chain. To maintain our collaborative ways of working and showcase best practice, we engage closely, including hosting supplier awards and spotlight events. We work in partnership and encourage suppliers to bring us fresh ideas and innovations.

James: We know these partnerships work best when our suppliers’ values, aspirations and targets align with our own. 100% of our suppliers are now signed up to our Supplier Code of Conduct, which sets out our social, ethical and environmental requirements. We audit a sample of our highest risk suppliers every year, with anti-slavery charity Unseen. Last year, all suppliers audited met the required standards.

Ginny: As we continue to up our game, I’m proud that our new approach to Scope 3 is opening up different dialogues with our suppliers and peers across the sector. When we collaborate, we stand a better chance of creating sustainable change. We want suppliers who are leading in this space to actively want to work with us. We will continue partnering to ensure our combined impact remains positive.

Explore our 2030 Sustainability Strategy: Greener Spaces, Thriving Places, Responsible Choices: www.britishland.com/sustainability