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Investor Relations
Subject to regulatory constraints, the directors are keen to engage with the Company’s shareholders,
placing considerable emphasis on effective communications with the Company’s investors. Directors
are happy to comply with shareholder requests for meetings as soon as practicable, subject to regulatory
constraints. The Board is provided with feedback on such meetings, as well as regular commentary from
investors and the Company’s bankers and advisers. The Board provides reports and other
announcements via the regulatory news service in accordance with regulatory requirements.
Regulatory announcements and key publications can also be accessed via the Company’s website.
The Company’s Annual General Meeting provides a further forum for investors to discuss the
Company’s progress. The Company complies with relevant regulatory requirements in relation to
convening the meeting, its conduct and the announcement of voting on resolutions. The Annual Report
and Notice of the Annual General Meeting are sent to shareholders at least 21 working days prior to the
meeting and are available on the Company’s website. The results of resolutions considered at the
Annual General Meeting are announced to the Stock Exchange and are also published on the website
and lodged with the National Storage Mechanism. Investors may elect to receive communications from
the Company in electronic form and be advised by email that communications may be accessed via the
Company’s website.
Whistleblowing Policy
The Group has in place a whistleblowing policy which sets out the formal process by which an employee
of the Group may in confidence raise concerns about possible improprieties in the Group’s affairs,
including financial reporting.
Emissions and Energy Consumption Reporting
The directors believe that the Company’s outsourced business model, which focusses on the
employment of agents, advisers and contractors who are local to our property assets, is inherently
environmentally friendly. However, the collection of consumption data from such businesses is not
practicable. It is also not possible for our national agents and advisers to separately identify such data
in relation to the proportion of their work devoted to the Company’s activities, particularly given the
increase in staff working from home since the COVID-19 lockdowns. It is not possible to measure the
energy consumed by the Company’s tenants (nor is this consumption within the Company’s control).
The consumption of water, waste output and greenhouse gases other than CO
2
within the Company’s
control is negligible.
For previous reporting periods the Company has supplied environmental reporting information focused
on energy consumed by the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries through the activities of its office
base, shared facilities provided by the Company within its property portfolio and activities within vacant
properties within the Company’s control.
In relation to Scope 1 Carbon Emissions (consumption of gas and fuel), since the termination of the
Company’s third-party investment advisory agreement and the relocation of its registered office it has
not been possible to separately identify the energy consumed on the Company’s activities.
An element
of the Company’s administration activity is carried out at its registered office. However, this is a de
minimis element of the overall activity and energy consumption at that site. Other activity is undertaken
by the Company’s directors and management working at home. In both cases, it has not been possible
to separately identify the energy consumed on the Company’s activities at those locations. In previous
years, data has been supplied relating to fuel consumed on journeys on Company activities. As the
Company does not operate company cars, all such journeys are made in employees’ private vehicles
or on public transport. The reduction in the Company’s property portfolio has significantly reduced the
requirement for such journeys, which were then further restricted during the reporting period by the
COVID-19 lockdown regime. Accordingly, the directors do not consider that any meaningful Scope 1
data can be supplied.
Similar limitations apply to Scope 2 data, which in previous reports comprised an estimate of
consumption for vacant property units for which the Company is responsible. The number of these and
the related energy consumption has been de minimis throughout the reporting period. Similarly, it has
not been practicable to measure Scope 3 emissions.