As a business that creates space for change, the value we offer our tenants and investors has many dimensions. Success is not only about achieving a strong financial performance but it also depends on our ability to deliver positive social and environmental impact.
This combined focus on people, planet and profit is often referred to as the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ and has always been a natural way for us to measure how we are doing. It means that as well as the using traditional financial performance indicators, we also measure our environmental and social impact and report on all three elements each year.
Ultimately, our aim is to operate a financially sustainable and profitable business that delivers significant ‘triple bottom line impact’. Without financial success and the profit this brings, the company could not exist – but we only exist in the first place in order to make real change happen for people and the planet, through the workspaces that we provide.
We create places for people with purpose, so our social performance is focused around the changemakers who make use of our buildings. By supporting enterprises that have clear community benefit, we can help build a more sustainable economy. From a base of two centres when we were formed in 1998, we now have 17 centres across England, Scotland and Wales in which we support more than 1,000 charities, social enterprises, ethical businesses and not-for-profits each year through the provision of office, conference, meeting, event, educational, studio and retail space.
In 2022/23, 86% of our tenants said that working with like-minded organisations was good for their work-life wellbeing, and 90% said that being in an Ethical Property centre helped them to achieve their goals.
The commitment and happiness of our staff is also an important factor. In our most recent staff survey, 95% said they were satisfied with our working culture and 88% said they enjoyed working for us. We also want to support the creation of a more inclusive society by promoting equality.
Our current Impact Report covers October 2022 – September 2023, to fall inline with our new financial reporting period, our next Impact Report will cover September 2023 – March 2025 and will be published in September 2025. All reporting will then follow the same annual schedule and be published in September of each year.
Doing our best for the planet means committing ourselves to cutting the resources we consume and generating our own, renewable energy to put back.
We currently work to a target of remaining below 170 kWh per square metre for each building. We are pleased to report that in 2022/23 we achieved this for all but two of our buildings, with average energy consumption for the whole portfolio at 132.5 kWh/m2, this is 3% higher than the previous year (129 kWh/m2 re-stated).
Ethical Property continues to use gas and electricity suppliers with 100% renewable energy sources, which ensures that we are minimising our carbon emissions related to energy use.
Our current Impact Report covers October 2022 – September 2023, to fall inline with our new financial reporting period, our next Impact Report will cover September 2023 – March 2025 and will be published in September 2025. All reporting will then follow the same annual schedule and be published in September of each year.
Our reporting period has now changed, with year end now being on 31st March.
Key financial metrics for the year ended 31st March 2024:
- Property portfolio £39,900k
- Net lettable area 172k square feet
- Occupancy (% of maximum income) 83% average for the year
- £21,079k net assets
- Net asset value per share £1.41
We aim to produce two Investor Updates each year which indicate the financial progress from the management accounts and progress on the environmental and social impact goals. Please note the financial information is not audited in the Investor Update. The annual report contains the audited financial statements.
