2010 proved to be a pleasing year for Veolia Environmental Services. I am extremely encouraged by our progress as an organisation, the passion of our people, and the resilience we have shown in the challenging economic climate.
We also saw a focus on developing and nurturing our employees through our training, mentoring and networking programmes. A total of 11,400 training days (an increase of 12% from 2009) were delivered to our staff through our Campus, covering the diverse range of skills needed within our company. We also continued with our investment in the very important area of graduate and apprenticeship programmes, with a total of 357 apprentices in 2010 (88 in 2009).
Being a good neighbour is something that we strive to deliver day-in, day-out across the business. Last year, our employees spent over 3,600 hours volunteering for local community projects where they live and work. In 2011, we are aiming to improve on the volunteering time spent by our employees by at least 5%.
Our work with schools continues as we help to educate the future generations on the importance of recycling, waste management and environmental impact. I’m also delighted that we chose Mind, the leading mental health charity in England and Wales, as our charity partner of the year. We aim to raise £100,000 for Mind in 2011 through fundraising and we will support them in their aim to raise awareness of mental health problems. This partnership will also see our staff volunteering at Mind services and projects up and down the country.
I am also pleased that we achieved ISO 20000, recognising IT excellence within our company.
In 2010, we helped many of our customers move towards zero waste to landfill through maximising resource recovery while reducing their carbon footprint. Over the last few years, we have invested nearly £260 million in new facilities and, over the next few years, a further £500 million will be invested. We are committed to building more new infrastructure and providing innovative solutions benefiting all of our customers and the 21 million residents we serve.
Our results have demonstrated a strong base for sustainable growth, with a 2010 business turnover of £1.2 billion. Progress has been sustained through gaining new contracts in Staffordshire, Haringey, East Hertfordshire and East Kent, and retaining a number of key contracts, including Westminster City Council.
In the industrial and commercial markets, we have won a number of prestigious contracts, including a North Sea decommissioning contract with Shell U.K. Limited, working in partnership with Peterson SBS. We have also renewed important contracts with customers such as McDonald’s, ASDA, Procter & Gamble, GSK and Astra Zeneca. Committed to also improving our services to SMEs, we measure our performance in this important area through our Customer Service Index.
We put a lot of energy into developing our new corporate responsibility (CR) programme – which we’ve called ‘Go further together – for our people, planet and performance’. It encapsulates what we can positively change or influence with regards to our collective people, the environment and performance – and ensures our business has a continued focus for sustainable growth. This will enable us to build on our success in the marketplace, in the workplace, and in the communities which we serve.
The last 12 months have presented many exciting opportunities and our business is well positioned for a successful 2011. I look forward to the year ahead.
Jean-Dominique Mallet – Chief Executive Officer
Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc
