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Our strategy and targets

We know that being a Force for Good is not only the right thing to do, but it makes business sense too. With over 280 years of history we understand the importance of making decisions now that will have a positive impact on the future of our business, our teams, our guests and the world around us. 

Our most stretching targets


Net zero targets validated by

SBTi

Eliminating unnecessary single-use plastic by

2025


Cutting food waste
by 50% by

2030

Creating our strategy

Each year we undertake a robust materiality process to help shape our sustainability strategy, ensuring we focus on tackling the risks and opportunities most relevant in these times of social and economic change.

We take learnings from our teams, our customers, our investors, other stakeholders and from wider sustainability trends to ensure our programmes and targets are fit for our current business and the wider ESG landscape.

Our strategy is called ‘Force for Good’, and is more important than ever before. The strategy is split into three pillars; opportunity, community and responsibility.

We will be for everyone, championing inclusivity across the organisation and improving diversity
  • We will actively seek to break down all barriers to entry and be an inclusive and representative prospective employer
  • Our people will feel represented and respected, no matter how they identify
We will have industry-leading training and development schemes
  • Through our apprenticeship programmes we will support people to find and develop their hospitality careers
  • We aim to promote internal succession above external recruitment and will support our teams in this endeavour
  • We will be bold about broadening career opportunities, supporting cross-functional and meaningful career development
Team member wellbeing will be considered in everything we do
  • We will listen genuinely to our teams, ensuring their views help inform decision making
  • We will support the physical and mental wellbeing of our teams
We will make a positive contribution to the communities we serve
  • For every new site, we will donate our time to actively supporting local community activity
Working collaboratively with our teams and support chain, we will support our charity partner to meet their mission
  • We will raise £3 million per year for Great Ormond Street Children’s hospital
We will support the wellbeing of our guests and customers
  • We will improve the nutritional value of our menu by continuing to reduce sugar, salt and calories and will continue to develop inclusive menus for customers with a range of dietary needs. We will do this in a responsible and transparent way whilst maintaining great taste, quality and value for money for our guests
  • We will strive to be a leader in our sector for delicious, appealing and healthier children’s food
We will source responsibly and with integrity
  • Human rights will be respected across our value chain
  • We will work with our supply chains to source to internationally recognised sustainability standards
We will reduce our environmental impact
  • We will eliminate unnecessary single-use plastic by 2025
  • We will cut food waste by 50% by 2030
  • We will not send any waste to landfill
  • We will reduce water use by 20% per guest by 2030
  • We will reduce our Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions intensity by 84% by 2030 and by 99% by 2040
  • We will reduce our Scope 3 carbon emissions intensity by 58% by 2030 and 90% by 2050
We will always do business the right way
  • We will always operate with integrity and respect
  • We will always support our people and partners to do the right thing
  • We will always be honest and transparent in our communication

Targets and reporting

Each year, we deliver an integrated Sustainability and Annual Report which highlights our progress against the targets outlined below. We also released our latest stand-alone Environmental, Social and Governance report (ESG Report) to showcase the breadth of our Force for Good programme and achievements.

We annually report on the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards (SASB) as well as providing an update on our progress towards responding to the Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. To see our current ratings on key ESG indices visit our Responsible Business page.

Our programme is underpinned by a number of policies, each outlining the standards we commit to working towards as we move towards achieving our targets. The full list of sustainability policies and reports can be found here.

Delivery

We work hard to make our Force for Good programme part of everyone’s job. We dedicate time to embedding our strategy across our business, setting accountability and ensuring this programme lives and breathes in everything we do. From our CEO to our housekeepers, we want to ensure everyone has a stake in enabling us to be a Force for Good.

Force For Good Team

“Whitbread is tackling the complex social and environmental challenges that we face, today and for the future. We know that focus, direction and collaboration is required to make positive and impactful change.

Our specialist sustainability function helps to align Whitbread’s sustainability programme to the overarching business strategy whilst also providing specialist support to solve sustainability challenges. We remain focused on being a Force for Good even in the most challenging business environments and are proud of our ability and progress thus far to enable our people to live and work well.”

Rosana Elias
HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY AT WHITBREAD

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