ESG

EDISTON PROPERTY INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC (THE COMPANY) UNDERSTANDS THE IMPORTANCE OF SUSTAINABILITY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE PRINCIPLES IN THE DELIVERY OF LONG-TERM VALUE FOR SHAREHOLDERS. THIS SUSTAINABILITY POLICY HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO PLACE ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) FACTORS AT THE HEART OF THE COMPANY’S INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES AND TO GUIDE THE WAY IT OPERATES.

The Company ensures that it operates in a responsible and sustainable manner, having regard to where it has a direct and indirect impact on tenants, suppliers, customers, service providers, local communities, and the environment.

The Company, working with its Investment Manager and other agents, will:

• strive for the highest environmental standards where practicable, to minimise its environmental footprint and to manage its exposure to climate risk within the investment portfolio;
• continue to prioritise the safety of its building users and seek to maximise its social and community contribution to the markets in which it operates;
• expect the highest standards from its contractors and those involved in managing compliance, risk and safety in its portfolio;
• continue to ensure compliance with all applicable legal and other requirements with regards to its investments;
• integrate the broader social, ethical and environmental responsibilities of the Company into all its spheres of operations; and
• ensure it operates within a sound governance structure adopting, where practicable, best practice commensurate with its activities.

The Company’s efforts will be focused on four key areas:

Health, safety and wellbeing

It is a management priority to minimise risks and ensure safety and promotion of wellbeing of staff, tenants and members of the public across the portfolio.

ESG disclosure and transparency

The Company is committed to open and transparent disclosure of its operational performance and the wider impact of such performance on the environment, the communities and the markets in which it operates.

Managing environmental impacts

The Company seeks to minimise environmental impacts through proactive management of energy, waste, water, materials use and associated carbon emissions across the portfolio. It aims to enhance assets by integrating ESG into investment decisions and day-to-day management of building operations. The Company will continue with its aim of preventing pollution incidents across its portfolio.

Sustainable building design

The Company will apply sustainable design principles into development and refurbishment strategies to foster innovation, enhance the natural environment and create places that are efficient, healthy, comfortable, productive and resilient.

The Audit and Risk Committee assesses the risks faced by the Company, including ESG risks, and ensures that appropriate mitigating controls are in place and that the requirements for ESG reporting are met. The Investment Manager has responsibility for the day-to-day management and implementation of this policy.

Sound governance is at the heart of the Board’s efforts to ensure that the Company continues to meet its investment objective and policy. The Board has considered the principles set out in the UK Corporate Governance Code 2016 and the Association of Investment Companies Code of Corporate Governance by reference to the AIC Corporate Governance Guide for Investment Companies. The Company is a member of the Association of Investment Companies.

The Board is committed to the continual improvement of the Company’s operations. It will liaise with the Company’s key stakeholders on material sustainability issues to ensure it is communicating and reporting on them effectively.

The Investment Manager will report on the progress of implementing this policy to the Board at least quarterly, including on the activities of the agents of the Company in this regard. The Board has delegated responsibility for oversight of its sustainability policy on a day-to-day basis to a sustainability committee comprising the Chairman and Imogen Moss.  The Board will review its sustainability policy annually.

Signed: WILLIAM HILL, CHAIRMAN

Date: 30 JULY 2020

SUSTAINABILITY IS A KEY CONSIDERATION FOR THE COMPANY AND ITS STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING INVESTORS, PARTNERS, TENANTS AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES.

Since 2019 the Company has been working with Savills on its sustainability strategy. To inform the strategy the Company has undertaken a Materiality Assessment and consulted with its key stakeholders on a wide range of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) topics. A Materiality Assessment is a means of assessing stakeholder importance of ESG issues and has helped inform the development of the Sustainability Strategy.

The material ESG issues that scored highest have been incorporated into key aspects of the sustainability strategy, including overarching policy, objectives and targets, and the alignment to appropriate UN Sustainable Development Goals. The priority issues identified were:

• Good Governance and Regulatory Compliance
• Health, Safety & Wellbeing
• ESG Disclosure & Transparency
• Managing Environmental Impacts
• Sustainable Building Design
• Climate Change Adaptation

The Materiality Matrix below shows the ‘Importance to External Stakeholders’ against the ‘Impact on Business Success’ scores. The review has been undertaken in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) methodology and ensures a number of internal and external factors are used to determine whether an aspect considered is material.

More information on the Materiality Assessment is available upon request.