Leading IT, business and engineering consultancy emagine Group has achieved the coveted silver medal, awarded by the leading independent sustainability rating platform EcoVadis, scoring among the top 11 per cent of over 100,000 firms globally for its sustainable and ethical business initiatives.
The consultancy, which operates across 11 different nations and specialises in the financial services sector in the UK, has been assessed and rated for the first time on a Group level. This achievement complements a wide range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives in place at the firm.
Martin Hartley, Group Chief Commercial Officer at emagine, based in the UK, says:
“We are extremely proud to have achieved the silver medal for our operations across 11 countries, it is a significant milestone for us.
“The more you grow as an organisation, particularly geographically, the more complicated it becomes to integrate sustainable practices and account for every cog in the machine. With every acquisition, these new operations and offices need to be audited and aligned with our ESG schemes which takes time, and some markets are less advanced or transparent about activities relating to or impacting the environment, people and governance. But it is a challenge we embrace. Driving forward our ESG initiatives is a strategic focus at emagine, and meeting the criteria set by EcoVadis is just one aspect of this mission.”
emagine, which is headquartered in Denmark, has joined the UN Global Compact (UNGC) and the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTI), committing to upload and disclose firmwide data and to reduce CO2 emissions (scope 1 and 2) by 50 per cent by 2030. The firm is committed to using green energy at all its offices and has agreements in place with several banks on sustainability-linked loans, whereby the firm must score certain points relating to ESG performance in order to retain their fixed interest rates. This of course carries risk and demonstrates the firm’s commitment to change.
The consultancy has numerous environmentally-friendly policies in place, including for sustainable procurement and travel, and a new car policy of using only electric company vehicles. Transparency is key and by sharing sustainability reports, stakeholders including clients and employees can follow emagine’s progress in sustainable practices.
Jesper Diget, Group Chief People Officer and ESG lead at emagine, adds:
“We aim to build ESG into all aspects of our work and it’s not just about what we do. We cultivate strong partnerships with suppliers who share the same values as us and have introduced an ESG element to our onboarding process for all new starters.
“We are always looking for ways to improve and the feedback we received from EcoVadis has been extremely helpful in planning the next steps in our journey. Achieving a gold medal would place us in the top five per cent of firms worldwide and although it will certainly be a significant step, we would rather be ambitious.”
From small Nordic roots, emagine has grown to be a leading player in the consultancy sector, employing more than 800 full-time staff and more than 4,500 consultants in a network of offices across France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, the UK, and India. In 2022, emagine posted growth of 93 per cent, passing the DKK 4.5 billion mark (€605 million) for the first time.
EcoVadis is an independent provider of sustainability evaluations that continually assesses companies based on their environmental, social and ethical performance. The trusted platform provides feedback on where improvements could be made within businesses and encourages transparency and accountability in the pursuit of responsible practices.
About emagine
In the UK, emagine Consulting supports clients with business challenges by providing digital, tech, and business consulting services and solutions for clients such as HSBC, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of America, and other tier one investment banks and financial services companies. Having merged with ProData in 2021, emagine Consulting has firmly established itself as a significant provider of professional consultancy services for a plethora of leading financial institutions.
