Socialising sustainability

Alex Smith, CEO of FuturePlus, discusses the people part of sustainability in hospitality.

In hospitality, there is rarely a shortage of things competing for time and investment. Finding space to step back and assess what is working across the business can be hard.

Sustainability can feel like yet another demand on that already limited time. Yet much of the work is actually already happening as part of business as usual: supporting teams, managing suppliers and deciding where investment will make the greatest difference.

Bringing that information together can reveal where progress is happening and where a

different approach might help. That was the starting point for our latest hospitality report, From Ambition to Evidence, produced with Horwath HTL. We wanted to understand where businesses are making progress, where implementation is taking longer, and what others might learn from those on the journey.

We analysed data from multiple FutureImpact accounts, covering multi-site operations,

including one portfolio of 58 sites. Across that dataset, 70.2% of sustainability ambitions are completed within their target timeframe. Some of the most useful findings concern how businesses support their people and organise themselves to deliver change.

The social side of sustainability

For many people, sustainability still brings to mind energy use, food waste and cutting

carbon. Yet it also includes how a business treats its employees, the people working in its supply chain and the communities around it.

In hospitality, that spans familiar priorities: working conditions, wellbeing, training,

progression and fair access to opportunities. Looking at these together can help businesses understand how their policies and practices translate into people’s experience at work.

FuturePlus holds five years of sustainability data from hundreds of companies. Through

FutureImpact, we assess organisations across Climate, Environment, Social, Economic, and Diversity & Inclusion. Actual scores reflect activity already in place, supported by evidence reviewed by our sustainability team.In our hospitality dataset, the average Social score is 67/100, with Diversity & Inclusion at 60/100 and Economic at 68/100. Climate and Environment scores are lower, at 44/100 and 48/100, respectively.

One explanation, explored with Horwath HTL, is that businesses often have more direct

control over actions such as introducing training, reviewing policies or changing hiring

practices. Environmental improvements can depend on buildings, equipment, ownership arrangements and investment cycles.

The stronger social scores are encouraging. They also provide a basis for a closer look at

outcomes. What does wellbeing support mean for employees (and businesses) in practice? Who is accessing training? Where is it helping people progress? How is it benefiting the business?

What the information can reveal

HOSPA members will be familiar with the costs of staff turnover. Sustainability data can help identify where improvements are possible: which properties retain people longer, what differs between them, and what could be applied elsewhere?

Differences between comparable properties can be a useful starting point. Pay, rotas,

management, travel and development opportunities may all play a part. Combining the

numbers with team feedback helps build a fuller picture of what is happening and why.

The same approach can be applied to training and progression. Hospitality gives many

people their first experience of work, and the sector has a significant contribution to make in developing skills and careers. Tracking who takes part in training, who progresses and where opportunities are harder to access helps businesses understand that contribution more clearly.

Wellbeing also benefits from looking beyond what is available to how it is experienced. Rota notice, safe travel after late shifts and access to support are practical areas where employee feedback and consistent information can help identify opportunities to improve.

These measures become more useful when considered together. A property with strong

retention and internal progression may have something valuable to share with the wider group. A different pattern may point to an issue worth investigating.

Turning commitments into action

Governance helps turn strategy into action by making responsibilities clear across owners, operators, brands and individual properties. Who has the authority, budget and information to deliver a commitment?

A brand may set standards, an owner may approve investment, a management company may run the property, and suppliers may hold information needed to assess progress. A commitment can have broad support and still struggle to move forward if responsibilities are unclear or those delivering it lack the support they need.That applies to people and supply-chain priorities as much as it does to physical improvements. A retention target may require decisions across HR, finance and property

management.

As Bryan Younge, Managing Director of Horwath HTL US, puts it: “The

differentiator is usually execution architecture, not ambition.”

We see the value of that structure at Hiddenwell, which operates Eden Hall Day Spa and Hoar Cross Hall. Both have established Sustainability Committees and Sustainability Champions, giving teams across the properties a role in delivering improvements. Alongside property-level monitoring, their work covers employee development, diversity and inclusion, waste and local sourcing.

That breadth matters. Sustainability involves decisions made across departments, and a

committee supported by champions creates a way to bring those perspectives together. It also connects group commitments with the people whose day-to-day work delivers them.

The approach is backed by investment. At Hoar Cross Hall, a £1.5 million biomass heating system replaced four kerosene boilers, with woodchip sourced from six miles away. Electricity monitoring, voltage optimisation, insulation improvements and water monitoring have supported further reductions in consumption, with the property reporting a 16% reduction in electricity use.

Eden Hall and Hoar Cross Hall score 450/500 and 449/500 respectively through

FutureImpact, placing them among the strongest hospitality performers in our dataset. Their experience shows how clear responsibility, team involvement and sustained investment can support progress across a complex hospitality business.

A shared approach helps a group see where properties are performing well, where there are gaps and where experience from one hotel could be useful elsewhere. It also gives individual teams a clearer view of how their work contributes to the group’s commitments.

Responsibility across the supply chain

Social sustainability extends into food, linen, cleaning, maintenance and staffing agencies. Businesses may have limited direct control over suppliers’ practices, but their purchasing decisions, contracts and ongoing relationships provide opportunities to influence them.The useful questions focus on visibility and follow-through. What information is available about employment practices? Where are the greater risks? Who reviews concerns, and what action follows?

Some businesses also have specific reporting duties. Under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, commercial organisations supplying goods or services, with operations in the UK and an annual turnover of £36 million or more, must publish a modern slavery statement each financial year. Smaller businesses may still face questions from owners, brands and corporate customers about how they manage these risks.

For hospitality, the responsibility extends beyond reporting. Agency recruitment, outsourced services and complex supply chains can make exploitation harder to identify. Knowing how people are recruited, checking employment practices, and ensuring concerns can be raised and acted on are practical ways to strengthen oversight across the business.

Evidence that serves the business

Hospitality businesses have positive stories to tell about their people and communities.

Evidence helps make those stories specific and credible. A statement about career opportunities is stronger when a business can show how people have progressed. A community commitment is more powerful when it explains who has benefited, how and over what period.

Keeping that information as the work happens makes it easier to respond to guests,

corporate clients, owners and investors. It also creates a record that teams can use to

assess their own progress and decide what to do next.

For HOSPA members, three questions could provide a useful starting point:

1. What can we learn from the properties where retention, wellbeing and progression are strongest?

2. Do the people responsible for our commitments have the authority, resources and

information to deliver them?

3. Can we support what we say about our people and communities with current

evidence?