Sustainable value creation

Sustainable value creation It is my great pleasure to present the Olav Thon Group’s second Sustainability Report, which has been produced to systemat...
Author: Amanda Thornton
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Sustainable value creation It is my great pleasure to present the Olav Thon Group’s second Sustainability Report, which has been produced to systematise and promote the work of the Olav Thon Group on sustainable development. The Olav Thon Group has been a signatory to the UN’s Global Compact initiative since 2012. This is the world’s largest initiative for corporate sustainability, based around 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labour practices, the environment and anti-corruption. We signed up to the Global Compact out of a desire to run our business according to these principles as far as possible. In December 2013, I set up the Olav Thon Foundation, which then took on ownership of the Olav Thon Group. The purpose of the Foundation is to exercise stable, long-term ownership of Olav Thon Gruppen AS and its subsidiary businesses, and to distribute funds to charitable causes. Securing the continued development of the Olav Thon Group, while also ensuring that some of the profits generated by the business are used for charitable work, will hopefully prove a sustainable approach – for the company, its employees and for society in general. I hope you find this a good read!

Olav Thon Chairman of the Board/Group CEO

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About this report As a member of the UN Global Compact, the Olav Thon Group is publishing its second Sustainability Report. The purpose of this report is to describe how the Olav Thon Group strives to operate responsibly and sustainably. To ensure transparency in our reporting and compliance with international reporting standards, we publish data in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI version G4), at Core level.

Limitations and reporting period This Sustainability Report is aimed at our customers, guests, employees, suppliers, the local communities in which we operate, students, special interest groups and public authorities. We see all of you as stakeholders who are affected by, and have a considerable influence on, our business. The data presented in this report is for all the companies within the Olav Thon Group, which means business units of which the Olav Thon Foundation indirectly owns more than 50 %. Any exceptions are explained in the notes on the individual data. The report relates to the years 2014, and has been drawn up in Norwegian, Swedish and English. The Group has an annual reporting cycle, such that the next report will be published in April/May 2016.

Materiality analysis and stakeholder dialogue In order to define the content of the Sustainability Report, and to ensure that our report is as relevant as possible with regard to our core business, we have conducted a materiality analysis. In carrying out this analysis, we have examined the Group’s economic, environmental and social impact to determine just what footprint we leave behind – giving us an idea of the areas in which we can contribute towards sustainable development. We have also conducted an indirect dialogue with external stakeholders, focusing on key areas through guest, customer and corporate reputation surveys. The materiality analysis has also taken account of future challenges for the industry in which we operate, as well as relevant legislation and international agreements.

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For our second Sustainability Report, we have chosen to give most weight to the importance of three focus areas for the Group: environment and green operation; health and safety; and diversity and inclusion.

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The Olav Thon Group in brief Olav Thon Gruppen AS is the parent company for the Group, which comprises businesses owned through the subsidiaries Thon Holding and Olav Thon Eiendomsselskap. The main thrust of the Olav Thon Group’s business is property and hotels. In December 2013, the Olav Thon Foundation was set up and Olav Thon gifted all the shares in Olav Thon Gruppen AS to the Foundation.

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The Olav Thon Foundation 10 December 2013 was a historic day, when Olav Thon established the Olav Thon Foundation. The purpose of the Foundation is to exercise stable, long-term ownership of Olav Thon Gruppen AS and its subsidiary businesses, and to distribute funds to charitable causes. Long-term ownership In its management of the Olav Thon Group, the board of the Foundation aims to develop the different businesses in line with the values, attitudes and ideas adopted by Olav Thon to run his business. The Foundation owns all the shares in Olav Thon Gruppen AS, which has its head office in Oslo. Real estate will be the largest business area within the Group, and a substantial part of this business will take place in Norway. The emphasis will be on growing the business, but priority will also be given to ensuring that the Group has a strong financial position.

Charitable aims The Foundation can provide support to projects within the fields of mathematics/natural science and medicine, funding prizes for Norwegian and international academic researchers and research projects, as described in its articles of association. It particularly urges the researchers to pass on their knowledge to their students, and it has been appointed a professional council to propose prize winners. Support can be given to non-profit undertakings in Norway. It can also be given to promote outstanding entrepreneurship in Norway. Finally, the Foundation can also help to acquire real property for non-profit use.

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Environment and green operation The Olav Thon Group should always strive to take account of environmental challenges within the business and in society in general. The Group maintains a focus on environmental efficiency, with careful management of energy and waste as core concerns. Eco-aware shopping centres Amfi Drift AS and Amfi Kreativ AS were Eco-Lighthouse certified in March 2012. In 2013, a project was conducted in partnership with Miljøgrep AS aimed at certifying Amfi Drift AS according to EcoLighthouse’s “Head Office Model”. Head Office largely fulfilling the requirements of such certification will make it easier for each shopping centre to become certified. Certification was obtained in 2014. Five of our shopping centres in Sweden, Sollentuna, Mitt i City, Mirum, Etage and Familia, are certified under ISO 14001, which is an internationally accepted standard for an environmental management system. The certification gives the shopping centres good control over their use of raw materials and energy, which in turn safeguards the environment and delivers big savings.

...and eco-friendly hotel stays Thon Hotels has Eco-Lighthouse certification for all its hotels in Norway. As one of Norway’s largest hotel chains, Thon Hotels has a responsibility to help protect the environment. With over 2.6 million guest nights per year, it is important to ensure eco-friendly consumption, reduced waste and energy savings. Thon Hotels is also a control member of Grønt Punkt Norge, and requires its Norwegian suppliers to be members of the return scheme for packaging. Two of the Thon hotels in Brussels are certified with the international Green Key eco-label, which is now present in over 40 countries. To achieve Green Key certification, the hotels actively address a number of criteria such as environmental management, information to guests, minimising their consumption of energy, water and chemicals and reducing waste.

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Thon Hotel EU - our most eco-friendly hotel Thon Hotel EU in Brussels works hard to be an eco-friendly hotel by operating an aggressive environmental policy, training its employees in “green” thinking and encouraging its guests to be as eco-friendly as possible. The hotel was immediately rewarded with the Green Key label for its ecological and social efforts when it opened in 2012. In 2014, Thon Hotel EU gained a new eco-label when the jury from “Entreprise Ecodynamique” awarded the hotel two out of three stars. Examples of social and ecological activities carried out at the hotel in 2014: • •

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Left-over soap and shampoo donated to charity 100% Belgian fair-trade milk served in the hotel restaurant. The label guarantees that Belgian dairy products receive a fair income for their work. Local products also reduce freight journeys, in line with the hotel’s environmental policy. The hotel houses a fantastic insect hotel, containing pollinating insets such as honey bees and other insets including butterflies and ladybirds. A bike that converts human energy into electricity has been placed in reception. The bike generates enough energy to charge plug-in devices like mobile phones and PCs. This We bike is produced by Westlandia, which is a protected company. In November, December and January, Thon Hotel EU collected clothes for the Belgian Red Cross, which distributed them to homeless people in Belgium. Over four days, the hotel had 409 successful blood donations, producing 204.5 litres of blood. That saves lives! At Thon Hotel EU we have chosen to operate a proactive sustainability policy, offering high-quality services while also minimising our ecological footprint and contributing to better human development. All actions we take are aimed at raising awareness among our staff and guests. We believe that we have a duty to help to safeguard the planet and our future generations. Hans Van der Biesen, General Manager at Thon Hotel EU

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Green Conferences Thon Hotels has developed its Green Conferences concept in partnership with the Eco-Lighthouse Foundation and its climate partners. These are conferences that meet the standards of the Eco-Lighthouse Foundation and industry requirements. In short, Green Conferences are a collaboration with the customer to achieve the largest possible reduction in carbon emissions in conjunction with the conference. Green Conferences include the following elements:

Unger Fabrikker – focus on sustainable production Unger Fabrikker is a member of, and certified under, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The certification is concerned with sustainable production of palm oil, and the objective of Unger Fabrikker is to use 100 % sustainably produced palm oil from 2016. The company also makes products that are not persistent and can be registered with eco-labelling systems. Unger Fabrikker is also a member of Øra Miljøutvalg, a committee made up of companies in and around the Øra industrial area, Fredrikstad municipality, the police emergency unit and residents’ associations.

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Waste The Olav Thon Group has a target of reducing the quantity of waste that the Group generates and increasing the level of waste sorting for recycling purposes.

Total amount of waste



• •

There was a decrease in the amount of waste from 2013 to 2014, due among other things to an increased focus on monitoring the units and closer cooperation with recycling and environmental service providers. The sharp reduction in hazardous waste is also down to a emission incident in 2013. The degree of sorting has increased at the hotels, and remained stable at the shopping centres. It is intended that waste reporting in the Olav Thon Group’s Sustainability Report 2014 will be based on waste per m². This will give a clearer picture of the amount of waste in the Group, irrespective of any increase in sales and property holdings.

Measures in 2015/2016 • • •

Further increased focus on monitoring, customer service and information. Monthly report of costs and degree of sorting to be sent to each location Focus on optimisation and review of status reports at the local level

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Information programmes concerning waste management will be introduced at several of the Olav Thon Group and Amfi shopping centres that have low levels of sorting and large quantities of waste. General information material on waste management will also be used at other properties and hotels in a customised form, with a view to improving the level of sorting and reducing the amount of waste generated across the entire Group. Even better solutions for food waste will be drawn up for the hotels, preferably involving dispatch to a biogas plant.

Innovative information programme at Sandvika Storsenter Sandvika Storsenter is working with Norsk Gjenvinning on one of the most comprehensive information programmes on waste management anywhere in Norway. The shopping centre is installing roller doors and code locks on all waste collection rooms, and implementing certification in waste management for all employees at the centre and in the stores. The intention of this collaboration is to raise awareness among employees and to increase the level of sorting, and thus reduce the cost per tonne. The project will form the basis for changes at several shopping centres, particularly those with the largest quantities of waste and low levels of sorting.

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Full alarms Locations with compactors are being analysed in collaboration with Norsk Gjenvinning. The study is examining the level of utilisation; there may be older compactors that are not compacting as well as they might, or they may lack “bin full” alarms. A few adjustments here will maximise the weights each time the compactors are emptied, in turn reducing both emissions and transport costs.

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Energy The Energy and Environment department of the Olav Thon Group has systematically analysed energy consumption in its properties to uncover significant potential for energy savings in recent years. The analysis has yielded useful information on both methods and realistic goals. The experience will mainly be used to reduce energy consumption in hotels and shopping centres against clearly defined targets. The process will be managed according to recognised models for energy management. The department has also gained a good insight into operational optimisation and the relationship between efficient operation, good maintenance and energy consumption. At the Olav Thon Group’s head office in Stenersgata, for example, this optimisation has produced very good results. The experience is useful for the continued work to optimise energy consumption in other properties. Example savings:

The construction of a large commercial building at Storgata 14-18 on Oslo started in 2014. Leasing agreements were signed with the Office of the Auditor General of Norway (Riksrevisjonen) for most of the building. It was decided to certify the building under the BREEAM NOR environmental standard. The target is a VERY GOOD rating, and the certification calls for performance and quality beyond the minimum requirements in the current legislation.

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The building will be completed in the second half of 2016. It is the first in the Group to be certified under BREEAM NOR, and here again the experience will be useful to future projects. The Olav Thon Group has been phasing out fossil energy for many years by connecting a number of existing buildings to the district heating network. In areas without district heating, switching from fossil to renewable fuels may be a solution. The Olav Thon Group has signed an agreement to convert from oil to biofuel in one commercial property, and will assess similar solutions in other properties in the light of the experience gained. In this way, the Group will be well equipped to comply with the Government’s impending ban on all use of fossil fuels in 2020. In 2014, the Olav Thon Group was granted funding of NOK 26.3 million from Enova, some of it to be used to convert to low energy lighting in three of the Group’s shopping centres. The project will also provide such support to tenants. This will reduce the need for cooling, and tenants will achieve a significant reduction on their own energy costs and overheads. The Olav Thon Group will also meet tenants’ rising expectations of reduced overheads.

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Follo Fjernvarme – the Olav Thon Group’s own district heating plant Follo Fjernvarme was established in 1998 as a local district heating supplier in Ski, just outside Oslo. The company was purchased by Thon Holding AS in 2005, since when the company has decided to establish external energy plants outside Ski. Since its acquisition, the company has seen significant growth, both locally in Ski and at other selected locations across Norway. The company also delivers some cooling.

In Ski, district heating is replacing local boiler rooms, which were largely based on fossil fuel. Substantial environmental gains have been achieved by moving heat production outside the centre, but also through district heat production being much more eco-friendly overall. In 2014, the company delivered a total of 26.2 GWh of heating and 10.2 GWh of cooling. The proportion of renewable energy is increasing. In 2012, the company completed a brand new bioenergy plant at Drømtorp, just outside Ski, and this was connected to the district heating network in Ski in November 2013. The majority of the energy production is now renewable and based on pellets. In other local plants around the country, heat pumps are the main renewable medium. The purchase of Follo Fjernvarme has brought valuable knowledge to the Olav Thon Group, which the company is putting to good use in establishing new energy plants. Follo Fjernvarme has proved to be a competitive supplier of renewable energy through a number of newbuild projects in the Group. The company also provides support when the Group is seeking out good environmental solutions for converting or building new energy plants more widely.

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The company owns or leases energy plants, and as of 31.12.2014, the company is supplying heating and some cooling to the following locations: • • •

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Moss Airport, Rygge (OTG 40 %). Heating and cooling production based on exhaust air via heat pumps. Renewable portion 60 %. Sørlandssenteret (OTG 50 %). Heating and cooling production based on ground source heat pumps. Renewable portion 100 %. Thon Hotel Bjørneparken, Bjørneparken Kjøpesenter and a number of municipal and private buildings in Flå. Heating and cooling production based on ground source heat pumps. Renewable portion 70 %. Nye Storo Storsenter. Heating and cooling production based on exhaust air and heat recovery via heat pumps. Renewable portion 80 %. Thon Hotel Lofoten in Svolvær, plus cultural centre and several properties in the centre of Svolvær. Heating and cooling production based on seawater via heat pumps. Renewable portion 85 %. Åsane Senter, Bergen. Heating and cooling production based on exhaust air via heat pumps. Renewable portion 99 %. Follo Fjernvarme is a valuable resource within the Olav Thon Group, not only when it comes to building and operating energy plants, but also in achieving good, ecofriendly energy solutions.

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Health and Safety The aim of the Health and Safety work within the Olav Thon Group is to create safe and secure businesses with good working conditions and job satisfaction among employees and managers. The HSE vision for the Group is to maintain a “high-profile focus on health, safety and the environment”. The different divisions within the Group are working in various ways and at all levels of the organisation to achieve our vision: • • • • •

Group Senior Management holds four HSE meetings each year, where the key guidelines for the HSE work are drawn up. It has been decided that HSE should be an agenda item at internal meetings. The HR & HSE department attends internal meetings and talks about the HSE work. HR & HSE attends internal HSE training courses and talks about the HS work in the Group. Health and Safety issues are followed up with new on the intranet, with printed information sheets to reach people who do not have their own PC. To get more information out into the organisation, it has been decided to produce four HR & HSE newsletters each year. These will be sent out to line managers and also made available on the intranet. The intention is for the newsletters to be displayed internally and so made available to staff without a PC of their own.

Organisation Group Senior Management holds at least four HSE meetings each year, where the key guidelines for the HSE work are drawn up. The Group HSE Director leads the health, safety and environment work, and has established a network of working environment committees at company level. The local unit leaders have HSE responsibility for their unit, and have a duty to ensure systematic monitoring of requirements in the HSE legislation.

* Working Environment Committee (AMU), Occupational Rehabilitation Committee (ATU), Workplace Committee Against Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (AKAN)

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Working systematically on health, safety and the environment can be both easy and profitable. The key is to work smartly by focusing on preventive work, adapting procedures and systems to daily operations, and implementing measures where required. Merete Krognes Alfstad, Group HSE Director

Safety Safety was the Groups HSE focus area in 2014: “We aim to strengthen the safety culture internally”. The Olav Thon Group is working both on safety for people and hardware, and security in relation to intruders, industrial espionage etc., to safeguard workplaces across the Group. Risk assessment Various types of risk assessment are carried out in the Group’s divisions/units. The method is chosen according to what is to be risk-assessed – property, technical installations, fire safety, security and access, working conditions or health and safety. The Group has procedures for the various methods. Contingency The Group has a 24x7 internal hotline covering the shopping centres and hotels as well as Follo Fjernvarme and Time Park. The main task of those responsible for manning the hotline is to assess the seriousness of incidents together with those affected. It is also important to warn both management and staff on the ground, and at head office, when a serious incident occurs. This is to handle situations in a professional manner, and to restore normal operations as quickly as possible. Various security work OTG uses Nokas as its principal supplier for security. The bulk of the supplies are made up of security guards for the centres, evacuation, surveillance and alarm station services and technical security facilities such as CCTV and alarms. There are also internal courses in conflict management and how to prevent fraud. The Olav Thon Group has updated its ethical guidelines and introduced procedures to ensure that all staff have read and understood them. Security is the art of ensuring that unwanted incidents do not occur. It can be a thankless task, as people will claim that what was done was unnecessary because nothing happened. Ola Stavnsborg, Security Manager for the Olav Thon Group

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Working Environment Committee organisation Group Senior Management is the ultimate body for HSE issues. The central guidelines are then implemented via the Working Environment Committees (AMU) in the various divisions and units. Tasks and organisation The task of the Working Environment Committee (AMU) is to ensure that the working environment is entirely safe. The Committee takes part in the planning of health, safety and environment work and closely follows developments in the working environment. In 2014, the Olav Thon Group had the following AMU organisation:

There are a total of 15 AMUs in the Olav Thon Group. Thon Hotels has one central AMU that represents all the hotels. There are also 12 local AMUs, nine of which are linked to Thon Hotels. Over 90 % of our employees are represented via a formal AMU. As chief health and safety representative, I see the AMU as one of the most important committees in the Olav Thon Group. It allows me and the other representatives to raise issues that are important to all employees in the organisation. And together with our employers, we work within the AMU to produce good solutions and a safe and pleasant working environment for everyone in the

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organisation. To do this, we need feedback such as health and safety surveys and variance reports, so we urge everyone to keep producing these. Martine Hertzberg, Chief Health and Safety Representative for Thon Hotels

Sick leave/Attendance One of the goals of the Olav Thon Group’s HSE work is to have lower sick leave than the industries in which we operate.

The figures in the table include self-certified and long-term sick leave. When we publish sick leave figures for a given period, we also have attendance for the same period. The attendance figure tells us how many employees have been at work, highlighting factors such as solidarity, loyalty, team spirit, motivation, pride in work, responsibility, use of personal skills, leadership and care for each other. The following measures have been implemented to increase attendance within the Olav Thon Group: • •

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The theme of sick leave/attendance is always on the agenda for every AMU The occupational health service for Thon Hotels, Resthon and Thon Bygg AS in the Olav Thon Group follows up units whose attendance figure is too low, and helps to establish measures to increase this All managers are invited to courses on following up people on sick leave Local social activities that promote a better working environment

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Training and awareness raising Knowledge and awareness among our employees is crucial in minimising the risk of workplace accidents. A number of initiatives have therefore been put in motion with a view to giving our employees relevant training in health and safety at work. A number of different HSE courses were held in 2014: • • • • • • • • •

statutory 40 hours basic working environment training for health and safety representatives, AMU representatives and their deputies statutory HSE course for managers fire safety training (e-learning) fire safety officer course first aid course – life-saving first aid with and without a defibrillator course on using the HR system, with a focus on following up sick leave conflict management safety course rights and obligations

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Diversity and inclusion Within the Olav Thon Group, we strive for genuine equality and good diversity among our employees. This manifests itself in the equal split between women and men and a total of 96 different nationalities working for us.

Examples of Group measures to promote diversity and inclusion: •

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Job ads published by companies within the Olav Thon Group aim to encourage qualified candidates to apply irrespective of their age, gender, functional capacity, nationality or ethnic background. The Olav Thon Group is a member of the OXLO diversity charter for businesses. More and more internal communication on our diversity policy. Increased focus on inclusive websites. The companies in the Olav Thon Group implement their own local measures to promote diversity and equality.

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An inclusive workplace With Thon Hotels leading the way, the Olav Thon Group has been in a key partnership since the beginning of 2013 with the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) in Alna and Bjerke, where several of our hotels offer work experience to people who are finding it tough to obtain employment. As many as 20 people were offered work experience places in 2013 and 2014. The aim of the partnership is to help provide access to ordinary working life for people with an immigrant background who are keen to work. The partnership is a win-win situation for all parties – the candidates receive workplace training and a network, while the hotels gain contact with talented people who may quickly move into employment. Many of the Olav Thon Group’s shopping centres are also strongly involved in helping more people enter work. One example is Sandvika and Strømmen Storsenter, where information meetings with local NAV offices, hosted by the shopping centres, led to a lot of people obtaining regular jobs at the shopping centres’ stores.

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Supply chain The Olav Thon Group purchases goods and services worth NOK 34 billion each year, and has major responsibility as a purchaser. Responsible purchasing is an increasingly important focus area, which the Group tackles through the following measures: • •

a purchasing policy that sets requirements for responsible purchasing basic standard terms that set key requirements concerning the focus and continuous work of suppliers and subcontractors on human rights, working conditions, the environment and anti-corruption.

Annual audit and evaluation The Purchasing and HSE departments in the Group collaborate on an annual audit and evaluation of the Olav Thon Group’s suppliers, with an emphasis on their work on ethics and social responsibility. Every other year, ten of the Group’s suppliers are evaluated, with controls and spot-checks the following year in line with our monitoring duty. The selection of suppliers is based on an annual risk assessment. We want to contribute to a more sustainable future that creates value for society and for the Olav Thon Group. We have a responsibility to run our business with respect for people and the environment, and to seize on any opportunities to create positive ripple effects for wider society. We therefore require all our suppliers to follow our code of conduct. Ole-Jørgen Garli, Chief Purchasing Officer, Olav Thon Group

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Sustainable food The Olav Thon Group has a growing focus on sustainable food. The keywords are quality, safety and eco-friendly food. Quality The Olav Thon Group’s central purchasing department, on behalf of our hotels and other catering outlets, is constantly on the lookout for good raw materials in collaboration with our suppliers. The Group focuses heavily on quality at all stages, from purchasing to the counter. Our Food & Beverage managers run regular training for cooks and encourage the maximum use of fresh unprocessed products.

Food safety We are proud of our partnership with good Norwegian suppliers. We only buy food that can be traced back through the suppliers, so we know where the food comes from. We are concerned with good internal control, and have regular visits from the supervisory body, which contribute to a clean and safe environment for food preparation

Organic, local food Thon Hotels has a policy whereby all hotels should aim to offer at least five organic products for breakfast every day. The hotels also have an extra focus on sustainable food, through “Green Conferences”. At a Green Conference, guests should be served organic and/or local food, and products on the WWF’s red list should be avoided.

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Employee and customer development Training and skills development Establishing good training and skills development is important for the progress of the Group, and is therefore one of the HR Department’s most important areas of responsibility. Information on courses and enrolment is published via the Group’s activity calendar on the intranet. 2014 saw 32 different types of course organised across the Group, and a total of 1,497 employees attended one or more courses.

Training grants In partnership with several of our suppliers, we are able to offer financial support/grants to our staff in Thon Hotels and Resthon, through the Training Fund. The grants are for people who want to gain more knowledge within a specific field they are working on and are enthusiastic about. This could mean a course in restaurant management, training as a bartender or sommelier, or a craft certificate.

Apprentices in Thon Hotels In Thon Hotels, it is the hotels themselves that take the initiative to train apprentices. In 2014, 34 of our hotels were approved training providers, engaging 62 apprentices: 30 trainee chefs, 17 reception staff, 11 waiters and waitresses and 4 pastry cooks.

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Employee survey The Olav Thon Group conducted an employee survey in 2014, which enjoyed a response rate of 72 %. Among other things, the results of the survey show a level of 70 (on a scale of 1-100) for employees’ enjoyment of their work. This is based on a satisfaction level of 68 and a motivation level of 71 among respondents. According to the surveys for the European Employee Index, staff in the Olav Thon Group has a high level of job satisfaction, similar to employees in general in Norway.

Customer and guest surveys Thon Hotels conducts guest surveys continuously throughout the year, while the shopping centres conduct an annual survey among tenants and customers in order to identify any particular reasons for satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Feedback from our guests and customers is essential in our drive for improvement.

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The Deposit Lottery Pantelotteriet is run by Norsk Pantelotteri AS, a company owned by the Norwegian Red Cross and the Olav Thon Group. It was Olav Thon himself who set up Pantelotteriet, out of concern for the environment and a desire to promote charity work. The idea is for the lottery on bottles that carry a deposit to encourage more people to recycle, while also establishing a stable source of revenue for charitable organisations. Profits from the lottery go directly to the Red Cross, which had received an incredible NOK 100 million by the end of 2015. At a stroke, the lottery has become one of the organisation’s most important revenue streams.

The deposit money goes to local Red Cross work around Norway. Example activities are home visits, learning support, guidance for refugees, a prison visitor service and first aid. The Norwegian Red Cross is a modern humanitarian relief agency based on voluntary membership, with members throughout the country. The organisation is politically and religiously independent. In times of war, the Red Cross is active in providing shelter and aid to people who are victims of armed conflict. In times of peace, the Red Cross is a support organisation that helps the weakest and most vulnerable groups in society.

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General standard disclosures Below is a general standard disclosure for the Olav Thon Group, in accordance with the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

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GRI index The Olav Thon Group’s Sustainability Report for 2014 has been drawn up in accordance with the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The Group’s reporting qualifies for Core level.

The table above only shows the indicators on which we report. The Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (GRI G4) show all the indicators on which it is possible to report.

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Support for the UN Global Compact The Global Compact is a UN initiative for collaboration with businesses on sustainable development. The letter below, to H.E. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, confirms that in supporting the Global Compact, the Olav Thon Group undertakes to integrate the 10 principles into its strategy and day-today operations.

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The next letters confirm that the Olav Thon Group will continue to support the UN Global Compact, and that the Group’s work will be summarised in an annual report (Communication on Progress).

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The UN Global Compact index

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Contact If you have any questions, suggestions or comments concerning the sustainability work of the Olav Thon Group, you are welcome to contact Mariann Karlstad (HR Consultant Corporate Social Responsibility) by e-mailing: [email protected]

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