2019 Global Governance Real Estate 100 Index

Note: This press release is over six months old and the details may have been superseded. Please contact the Press Office for the latest information.

John Lewis Partnership Trust improves 20% year-on-year as Tesco tops 2019 Global Governance Real Estate 100 Index for second year running

Tesco Plc has retained first position in the 2019 Global Governance Real Estate (RE) 100 Index. John Lewis Partnership Trust rose 11 places to second. The retailer improved 20% year-on-year, the biggest increase of those who have thus far published a modern slavery statement in 2019. Other big movers included Shaftesbury Plc (up 12 places with a year-on-year 11% improvement) and Big Yellow Group Plc (up 19 places for a 14% improvement).

The Global Governance RE 100 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. Together, the companies that make up the index owned 273 million square foot (25,352 square km) in London. The index is compiled from analysis undertaken of the statements the organisations have filed pursuant to the MSA requirements.

The 2019 Global Governance RE 100 Index Top 10 companies (May 2019) are:

1 TESCO
2= JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP TRUST
2= NATIONAL GRID
4= BARCLAYS
4= HSBC HOLDINGS
6 HOWARD de WALDEN ESTATES HOLDINGS
7= BRITISH LAND COMPANY
7= ROYAL MAIL
9= FORD MOTOR COMPANY
9= ST JAMES’S PLACE

As a group, the 2019 Global Governance RE 100’s average combined score (compliance, conformance and good practice in human rights) was 39%. In comparison, the cohort’s average combined score in the 2018 Index was 22.6%. Whilst evidently performing better as a whole, the RE 100’s average combined score is 9% lower than the the 2019 Global Governance FTSE 100’s (published April 2019) average combined score of 48%.

In detail, 27 of the RE 100 companies who are in scope (all UK-registered private companies with an annual turnover of £36m or more are required to publish an annual modern slavery statement) have yet to publish a statement in 2019 – and did not do so in 2018. A further 33 of the RE 100 are exempt for reasons such as being public entities, for example London boroughs, or entities registered overseas. The Governments of Qatar and Kuwait are among the RE 100 but exempt from the need to report pursuant to the MSA (2015).

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 and ethical governance, including their human rights challenges, said: “The 2019 Global Governance RE 100 Index reveals how the nation’s largest listed companies are beginning to raise their reported performance level year-on-year.

“However, it’s concerning that more than one quarter of those legally required to report on their human rights policies and practices in their global supply chains have not yet done so in 2019 and did not do so in 2018. These private companies are among London’s 100 largest commercial landlords by square foot, and the impact of their governance in the UK and internationally affects millions of people globally. Individually and collectively, they need to both show and be seen to demonstrate leadership.”

Modern slavery is an umbrella term for labour exploitation, forced labour, child labour and human trafficking. In 2018, 6,993 potential victims were submitted to the UK National Referral Mechanism; a 36% increase on the 2017 total of 5,142 referrals. The UK Government has estimated that 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.

The Global Governance RE 100 Index and stand-alone Global Governance FTSE 100 Index are facilitated by Sustain Worldwide, and are funded through the Global Governance Research Fund (GGRF). Early contributors to the GGRF notably include BRE and Marshalls. The indexes, with analysis undertaken by Development International, are publicly available as an open data resource along with the summary ‘Scorecards’ and ‘marked up’ modern slavery statements of the individual organisations analysed.

Over time, as evidenced in the published Global Governance FTSE 100 Indexes and the Global Governance RE 100 Indexes and in the companies’ published Scorecards, it is expected that organisations’ percentage scores will continue to improve year-on-year as their understanding, maturity and ability to manage their human rights challenges are met and subsequently publicly reported.

– Ends –

For press information or additional comment, please contact BRE’s press office on [email protected] or +44 (0)1923 664455.

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 activities and campaigns. 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 impacts. The Global Governance FTSE 100 and Real Estate 100 Indexes are facilitated by Sustain Worldwide, and commissioned through the Global Governance Research Fund (GGRF). 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.org