At CPI, our approach to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is grounded in long-term thinking, responsibility and transparency. When we think about sustainability, we take a balanced and integrated view, recognising that delivering meaningful environmental and social value is underpinned by a resilient organisation. By maintaining strong foundations and a clear strategic focus, we can invest thoughtfully in the areas where we can make the greatest difference.

Over the past financial year, this perspective has shaped how we’ve approached ESG and sustainability across the organisation. Our focus has been on prioritising actions that deliver real impact, concentrating effort where it matters most and where we’re best placed to influence change. This targeted approach has enabled us to make progress while building the capability and clarity needed to support our longer-term ambitions.

A central theme of our work this year has been increasing visibility and transparency for our employees around the emissions associated with our operations. We’ve focused on the areas where we can make the most immediate difference: purchasing decisions, business travel and waste. By improving understanding across CPI of where our emissions arise, we’re enabling more informed conversations and empowering colleagues to play an active role in reduction efforts.

Alongside this, we took a major step in our environmental journey by looking more deeply at our transition to net zero and aligning our emissions reduction approach with science-based targets methodology. This has provided us with much greater clarity on our potential pathways to net zero and the actions required to get there. Importantly, this work has helped move our ambitions from high-level intent towards a clearer, evidence-based roadmap for change.

We’ve also begun looking more widely across CPI to strengthen and align environmental management practices. During the year, we started to review environmental management systems across our sites, identifying best practice already in place and seeking to harmonise a company-wide approach that reflects the best of the best. This lays the groundwork for more consistent, effective environmental management across CPI in the years ahead.

Our commitment to social impact continued alongside our environmental efforts. We maintained our support for STEM outreach initiatives, reflecting a cause that’s closely aligned with our values and our role in fostering future innovation. We also supported the ongoing work of our internal affinity groups and their initiatives. A key highlight this year was welcoming 125 female students from local schools to our North East sites. These students had the opportunity to learn more about STEM careers and engage directly with female role models from across CPI, including engineers, scientists, professionals and leaders, helping to broaden aspirations and inspire the next generation.

As we look to the year ahead, a key focus will be deepening our understanding of where we can have the greatest impact through a targeted gap analysis. This will help us identify areas where further action and investment are needed and ensure our efforts remain focused and effective. To support this, we plan to establish employee focus groups across priority areas including purchasing, business travel, employee commuting and utilities. By engaging colleagues from across the organisation, we aim to harness practical insight, drive shared ownership and accelerate progress in the areas that matter most.

Taken together, this year has been about strengthening our foundations: ensuring our financial resilience, sharpening our focus, and building the knowledge and structures needed to deliver meaningful ESG impact. As we move forward, these efforts position us well to continue progressing responsibly, transparently and with purpose.

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