In total, Westbury Street Holdings encompasses 13 distinct businesses, each playing a unique role within the broader hospitality industry. With sustainability becoming increasingly critical, especially for sectors reliant on complex supply chains, the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across these diverse operations is substantial.
However, Annelie Selander, WSH’s Chief Sustainability Officer, approaches this challenge with unwavering determination. Driven by a deep commitment to environmental stewardship, Annelie is passionate about significantly reducing carbon footprints and ensuring a healthy planet for future generations. In a recent interview with Sustainability Magazine, Annelie shared valuable insights into Westbury Street Holdings’ approach to sustainability and the key ingredients for their success.
Annelie Selander’s Journey in Sustainability Leadership
Annelie Selander’s career in sustainability evolved from her early experiences in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Reflecting on her initial involvement, Annelie recalls, “When I first got involved in sustainability, it was still called CSR, when I was Marketing Director for an established coffee brand. Ethical considerations and conduct were high on the agenda.” During this period, discussions often revolved around ethical certifications and the prioritization of either people or the environment – a false dichotomy Annelie recognized early on.
Annelie Selander, Chief Sustainability Officer at Westbury Street Holdings, driving ESG initiatives.
Since then, Annelie has honed her expertise by developing and implementing sustainability strategies for two significant entities within the food industry. Her experience includes crafting strategies for a leading pan-European frozen food business and, currently, for Westbury Street Holdings. Annelie emphasizes her action-oriented approach, stating, “I’m all about impact and want to believe that ‘strategy into action’ is my superpower.”
She highlights the inherent sustainability foundation within Westbury Street Holdings, noting, “WSH is a collection of businesses across catering and hospitality, built around an ethos of fresh, local and seasonal food prepared and served by our brilliant teams. This makes WSH a great starting point for delivering an even more sustainable offer.”
Annelie underscores the collective enthusiasm for change within WSH, explaining, “We always say that our teams are hungry for change in our industry and with Second Nature, our ESG strategy, in place, we are uniting to take positive action on sustainability.” The scale of Westbury Street Holdings’ operations provides a significant platform for impact. “We currently cover seven geographies in the UK and Europe, employ more than 26,000 people at over 3,000 sites and estimate we serve more than 2.6 million customers daily. If we can enrol all of them as ambassadors for change, that’s the impact we can have,” Annelie envisions.
The Role of Chief Sustainability Officer at Westbury Street Holdings
As CSO for Westbury Street Holdings, Annelie’s role is multifaceted and strategic. She elaborates, “As CSO for WSH, I oversee our ESG programme, shaping, communicating and tracking our social and environmental sustainability commitments.” This involves leading the development, communication, and monitoring of Westbury Street Holdings’ comprehensive ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) program.
Westbury Street Holdings’ sustainability team collaborating on the ‘Second Nature’ ESG strategy.
Annelie chairs the ESG Board, providing leadership and direction for Westbury Street Holdings’ sustainability agenda. Her engagement extends throughout the organization, as she explains, “I chair our ESG Board and engage with our different teams and businesses every week to galvanise and drive positive change.” To further amplify the sustainability efforts within Westbury Street Holdings, Annelie highlights the recruitment of internal champions: “Recently, we recruited more than 50 internal sustainability ambassadors eager to go on the journey with us.” These ambassadors play a crucial role in embedding sustainable practices across all levels of Westbury Street Holdings’ operations.
Westbury Street Holdings’ Roadmap to Net Zero Emissions
Westbury Street Holdings’ commitment to achieving Net Zero emissions is a central pillar of their ESG strategy. Annelie clarifies the structure of this initiative: “Our commitment to Net Zero sits under Step Up, one of the four pillars of our ESG programme, meaning identifying emissions-related data, capturing, reporting and analysing it, leading action planning and developing initiatives is led by the Step Up working group lead, who reports to me.” This structured approach ensures focused action and accountability in the pursuit of Net Zero.
Developing a practical and effective roadmap to Net Zero required a deep understanding of Westbury Street Holdings’ operational footprint. Annelie explains, “As we have been building the roadmap, understanding our most significant impact areas – where we have more direct control and influence – has been vital.” To ensure the Net Zero goals are actionable across Westbury Street Holdings’ diverse businesses, a tailored approach was adopted. “To make it actionable for our teams, we’ve provided each business with their individual CCF and agreed reduction targets and priorities for each of them. We know we need to look both short and long-term at absolute reduction and intensity to reduce our impact,” Annelie details. CCF here likely refers to Corporate Carbon Footprint.
Recognizing the nuances within the hospitality sector is crucial for effective sustainability strategies. Annelie emphasizes the importance of a granular understanding: “Even if there are similarities within an industry, each business is unique and only when you start to understand the specifics of your business will you get the actions right.” Furthermore, the operational context of Westbury Street Holdings adds another layer of complexity. “We operate mainly as guests in someone else’s space, meaning we have less control over certain areas and certain decisions: as such, we need to take a different approach to influence waste and energy management, for example,” Annelie points out. This “guest in someone else’s space” likely refers to operating within venues owned by museums, landmarks, and workplaces where WSH might not have direct control over building infrastructure.
Effective implementation of sustainability strategies requires clear communication and adaptable solutions. Annelie acknowledges the challenges of enacting change, stating, “Change takes time. Knowing what we should be doing is different from getting it done. The importance of communication and reaching the right people with the right messages is a critical hurdle to overcome.” She advocates for flexible approaches, “Offering different alternatives that all lead to the same end goal, rather than looking for a ‘one size fits nobody’ solution, is essential.”
The Significance of Verified Net Zero Targets for Westbury Street Holdings
For Westbury Street Holdings, the pursuit of verified Net Zero targets is not just a commitment, but a necessity. Annelie explains the rationale behind this decision: “Very. Our decision to align Second Nature Strategy with SBTi’s global net-zero standard was driven by the need to address emissions and protect nature impacted by the food industry, but more specifically, within the hospitality industry. The rationale for a verified net zero target was never questioned, even if we recognised the difficulty of delivering it.” This highlights Westbury Street Holdings’ deep commitment to credible and science-backed sustainability goals. SBTi refers to the Science Based Targets initiative.
The SBTi framework guiding Westbury Street Holdings’ science-based net-zero targets.
The SBTi framework provides crucial guidance for Westbury Street Holdings’ sustainability journey. Annelie elaborates on the benefits of the SBTi Standard: “This framework is instrumental in guiding WSH’s strategic planning and decision-making processes, ensuring its sustainability goals are grounded in scientific evidence.” This science-based approach ensures the robustness and credibility of Westbury Street Holdings’ targets.
The SBTi Standard ensures ambitious and impactful targets. Annelie emphasizes this point: “The SBTi Standard ensures our emissions targets are ambitious and aligned with the global objective of limiting warming to 1.5°C. This alignment underscores WSH’s commitment to playing its part in mitigating climate change and it also sets a high bar for our family of businesses.”
Furthermore, adopting the SBTi Standard enhances transparency and stakeholder confidence in Westbury Street Holdings’ sustainability efforts. Annelie concludes, “SBTi also offers stakeholders greater credibility and transparency about WSH’s commitment to sustainability. By adopting the SBTi Standard, WSH can demonstrate to its stakeholders – including customers, employees and investors – that its sustainability commitments are aspirational and backed by rigorous, science-based targets.”
Overcoming Challenges in the Net Zero Roadmap
Developing a comprehensive roadmap to Net Zero emissions presented Westbury Street Holdings with several significant challenges. Annelie identifies the complexity of supply chain emissions as a primary hurdle: “Preparing the roadmap to net zero presented significant challenges, with the Scope 3 supply chain emissions being a major hurdle. The complexity and diversity of our supply chain makes it more challenging to measure and control these emissions accurately.” Scope 3 emissions are those indirect emissions that occur in the value chain of the reporting company.
Despite these data complexities, Westbury Street Holdings is committed to continuous improvement and data accuracy. Annelie explains their approach: “By being clear on the methodologies we use, understanding our data gaps and ensuring that improving data access and accuracy is part of the roadmap, we will gradually improve our plans.”
Westbury Street Holdings is taking concrete action to address emissions despite data challenges. Annelie highlights their strategic focus: “Despite data challenges, we developed a first strategy to tackle our emissions and are implementing agreed actions focusing on three key areas: menu decarbonisation, waste reduction and behaviour change. Our decentralised approach allows us to tackle these issues head-on.” This decentralized approach likely empowers individual business units within WSH to implement tailored solutions.
Menu decarbonization is a key strategy, involving several initiatives. Annelie outlines these efforts: “Carbon-assessing recipes and menus, introducing carbon labelling where it makes sense, sourcing lower-impact, responsibly grown ingredients and promoting plant-based options will help to decarbonise our menus while still providing tasty, nutritious and inspiring choices.”
Waste reduction is another critical area of focus. Annelie details their initiatives: “Our waste reduction initiatives focus on food waste at a site level but look at optimising choices to minimise overall waste generation.” Reducing reliance on single-use items is also a priority, “We have a longstanding ambition to reduce the number of disposables we use in favour of reusable options.”
Finally, driving behavior change is essential for long-term sustainability. Annelie concludes, “The above includes educating and encouraging our employees, clients and customers to adopt more sustainable practices, nudging behaviour change and encouraging with a carrot, not a stick.”
Westbury Street Holdings as a Leader in Hospitality Sustainability
Westbury Street Holdings aims to be a sustainability leader within the hospitality industry. Annelie expresses this ambition: “We believe the hospitality industry needs to catch up on setting science-based net-zero targets and hope we can set a new standard with our ambitious 2040 net-zero goal. We think of ourselves as a leader in the industry, with a history of demonstrating a solid commitment to sustainability and a proactive approach to tackling climate change.”
Westbury Street Holdings’ commitment is ambitious and sets a benchmark for the sector. Annelie emphasizes their pioneering role: “Our roadmap is not only ambitious but also sets a benchmark for the industry to engage with and follow. While there are currently c4,500 companies globally with a validated target, there are fewer than 20 businesses with a verified 2040 net zero target.” This positions Westbury Street Holdings at the forefront of sustainability efforts in the hospitality world.
Early Stages of a Transformative Sustainability Journey
Westbury Street Holdings acknowledges that their sustainability journey is ongoing. Annelie describes their current stage: “We are only at the beginning of the journey and have so far refined our operations and strategy to adopt a net-zero roadmap that aligns with the SBTi standards in four ways.”
These initial steps have established a strong foundation for future progress. Annelie outlines these key actions:
- ESG Board Establishment and Training: “We established an ESG Board to oversee progress against the ESG agenda and provided them with carbon literacy training.” This demonstrates high-level commitment and ensures informed leadership.
- Strategic Action Groups: “WSH formed four action groups, each dedicated to a strategic pillar of our sustainability agenda – ensuring a structured and focused approach towards achieving our targets.” These groups drive targeted action across key sustainability areas.
- Board Level Sponsorship: “We have appointed a WSH board member as a sponsor for each group. This high-level involvement underscores the importance of sustainability and ensures that the goals are better understood and integrated.” This signifies the importance of sustainability at the highest levels of Westbury Street Holdings.
- Internal Reporting and KPI Tracking: “Internal reporting. We have agreed on individual targets with each of our businesses and implemented regular tracking and KPI reporting to drive awareness. We monitor our progress and identify areas for improvement to ensure we understand how we track against our net-zero targets. Reporting is made available for each business and provides an overall picture of performance for WSH.” Robust data tracking and reporting are essential for monitoring progress and driving continuous improvement.
Key Factors for Success in the “Second Nature” Strategy
Several key elements underpin the success of Westbury Street Holdings’ “Second Nature” sustainability strategy. Annelie highlights operational execution and stakeholder collaboration as critical.
Working groups are central to translating strategy into action. “Working groups responsible for operational execution and translating strategic ideas into tangible steps have been established.” Regular monitoring and reporting ensure accountability. “Regular tracking and reporting mechanisms have been implemented. These mechanisms monitor progress towards sustainability goals, identify areas for improvement and ensure accountability.”
Collaboration is seen as essential for achieving ambitious sustainability goals. “In addition, collaboration with stakeholders and suppliers is actively encouraged. WSH believes achieving sustainability goals is a collective effort and is committed to driving sustainable practices across the supply chain.”
Data-Driven Target Setting for Measurable Impact
Data-driven target setting is fundamental to Westbury Street Holdings’ Net Zero strategy, providing a clear and quantifiable path forward. Annelie emphasizes its importance: “Data-driven target setting is a critical component of any successful net-zero strategy. It provides a clear, quantifiable roadmap for businesses, ensuring transparency and accountability in their sustainability efforts. One of the critical plans put in place to track progress and decrease environmental impact is the measurement of baseline data across all KPIs.” KPIs are Key Performance Indicators.
Understanding the carbon footprint is crucial for targeted action. Annelie highlights the significance of Scope 3 emissions: “In our business, over 98% of the corporate carbon footprint lies in Scope 3, primarily in the supply chain. Employing a data-driven approach helps identify major impact areas efficiently, focusing on our significant emission categories and major suppliers.”
Westbury Street Holdings invested in data collection to establish a baseline and track progress. Annelie explains, “We invested time in collecting data on current emissions and environmental impacts, using it as a starting point to measure progress and establish quantifiable targets aligned with the overarching goal of achieving net-zero emissions.” They combined different data sources for accuracy: “To ensure accuracy, we combined primary and secondary data to calculate the corporate carbon footprint for 2019 and 2022.”
Data-driven insights provide objectivity and accountability. Annelie concludes, “The data-driven approach is the solution businesses need to ensure net zero because it provides a clear and objective measure of progress. It allows companies to track their environmental impact in real time, identify areas for improvement and hold themselves accountable for their sustainability commitments.”
Key Lessons Learned on the Sustainability Roadmap
Westbury Street Holdings’ journey towards Net Zero has yielded valuable lessons that can benefit other organizations embarking on similar paths. Annelie shares three key takeaways:
- Stakeholder Engagement is Crucial: “It is essential to involve all stakeholders early in the process and ensure their continued involvement. Fostering a sense of ownership and commitment towards the sustainability goals from the outset is crucial.”
- Ambitious and Science-Based Targets: “Set ambitious long-term targets broken down into achievable near-term targets. The environmental agenda is fast evolving, and while we are still determining how we will deliver net zero, we know we can’t afford to wait. You will rightly become accountable for these targets in the future, so to ensure credibility and effectiveness, they should align with third-party scientific standards, such as SBTi.”
- Data-Driven Insights are Invaluable: “Data-driven insights are golden. Regular tracking of progress and adapting strategies based on these insights ensures that your approach remains effective and responsive to changing circumstances.”
Westbury Street Holdings’ commitment to sustainability, driven by Annelie Selander’s leadership and the “Second Nature” strategy, positions them as a significant player in driving positive change within the hospitality industry. Their journey offers valuable insights and inspiration for other businesses striving for a more sustainable future.
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