Securing better futures
IMPACT REPORT 2024/25
Introduction
This report showcases the impact Barnett Waddingham (BW) made throughout 2024/25, reaffirming our commitment to responsible business practices – from reducing our environmental footprint to investing in local communities. It offers a transparent overview of our activities, outcomes, and lessons learned, keeping our clients and colleagues informed of our progress and future as part of Howden (following the acquisition of BW by Howden in April 2025). We recognise that sustainability is about more than financial resilience; it encompasses environmental, social, and governance impact in its broadest sense. Following an extensive cultural alignment project, we redefined our purpose in 2024: "We empower people to secure better futures." At BW, sustainability is not simply about ensuring the longevity of our business – it is about securing better futures for our clients, our people, and the communities we serve, through collaboration, transparency, and thoughtful stewardship.
I'm delighted, on behalf of our Management Board, to present Barnett Waddingham’s Impact Report.
Andrew Vaughan
Senior Partner
Impact roadmap
2021
Announced our pledge to achieve carbon neutrality for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
Our pledge
2022
Implemented an Environmental Management System.
2023
Material changes to our operations (solar panels, EV chargers, renewable electricity, staff benefits and incentives, reducing plastic use and waste) and launched our six DEI networks.
Our initiatives
2024
Embedded sustainability principles and training into our services.
2025
We are measuring and offsetting a broader range of our Scope 3 emissions and fulfilling our 2021 carbon neutrality pledge.
2025-26
Expanding gender pay gap reporting and enhancing climate scenario modelling.
2026
We will be integrating our sustainability strategy with Howden's strategy.
A signatory to the UK Stewardship Code | Adopters of the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions Members of the Net Zero Investment Consultants Initiative | Investment Consultants Sustainability Working Group
We continue to be
Governance
Wellbeing
Social
Environmental
NEXT SECTION
Click the points on the roadmap to learn more about our journey.
Turning ambition into action
ENVIRONMENTAL
Melanie Durrant
Lead Sustainability Partner
I’m pleased to share some of the key highlights from 2024/25 and the progress we’ve made together. At BW, we remain committed to playing our part in a more sustainable future.
Over the past year, some of our key highlights included supporting more clients on their net-zero journeys and implementation plans, investing in six global carbon offsetting projects, in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, upskilling our consultants, and expanding our employee benefits to include an Electric Car Scheme. We partnered with the Soil Association to provide volunteering and team-building opportunities, while raising awareness of environmental challenges such as the UK’s bee crisis. Sustainability remains central to our property decisions. We recently published a report on the environmental impact of our Leeds office relocation, highlighting the sustainable choices embedded throughout the process. Our Manchester office also leads by example, operating entirely on 100% certified green energy. I look forward to developing our sustainability strategy further as part of the Howden Group.
Our Management Board is accountable for risk management, strategic direction, and promoting a culture of integrity and awareness. It oversees sustainability through a number of governance and delivery groups.
Governance and strategy
Sustainability Steering Group (SSG)
Sustainable Services Working Group (SSWG)
Sustainable Operations Group
The SSG leads our sustainability strategy across operational impact and client services. It promotes knowledge sharing, ensures regulatory compliance, and identifies climate-related risks and opportunities. The group meets regularly and produces an annual analysis with recommendations to inform our climate goals.
The SSWG brings together sustainability leads from across our business areas to support the consistent development and delivery of sustainable client services. It fosters collaboration, knowledge sharing, and integrated service design.
This team delivers our environmental strategy through day-to-day operations. It monitors emissions, conducts environmental audits, and embeds sustainability criteria in procurement decisions.
The following data covers BW’s operational emissions from 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2024. FTE figures are 1,372 (2022-23) and 1,886 (2023-24).
GHG emissions data
We measure our operational emissions annually in line with Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations and are working to expand the scope of our indirect emissions reporting. We’re proud to have achieved carbon neutrality across Scopes 1 and 2 in 2023/24 using credible carbon offsetting projects and we continue developing a robust, organisation-wide climate strategy. We are now measuring our emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 to meet our climate pledge in 2024/25. Our climate goals are led by the BW Sustainability Steering Group and our Corporate Social Investment programme, with a focus on climate action, responsible consumption, and ecosystem protection aligned to UN Sustainable Development Goals 12, 13, and 15.
Metrics and targets
2023-24
2022-23
Combustion of gas (Scope 1)
kg CO2e
Fuel combustion for transport (Scope 1)
None
Purchased electricity, heat, steam, and cooling (Scope 2, location-based)
1,016,936
Business travel in rental or employee-owned vehicles (Scope 3)
32,832
Total gross emissions
1,049,768
Intensity ratio - revenues (£m)
Intensity ratio - people (FTE)
6,549
557
745
6,804
990,519
42,700
947,819
READ THE REPORT
Explore our client-side sustainability impact in the Sustainable Investment Report 2024
Sustainability impact
Green energy
Waste and recycling
Environmental partnerships
Employee-led climate action
As part of our benefits scheme, employees can choose to fund the planting of mangrove trees – 5,700 were planted in 2024. We also launched an electric car leasing scheme to expand sustainable employee benefits.
Through our partnership with Office Coffee Co., we helped sequester 373.8 tonnes of CO₂e and protect 37km² of rainforest. With Fruitful Office, we planted 827 trees during FY23/24 in partnership with Ripple Africa. We also supported UK environmental charities including Keep Scotland Beautiful, The Woodland Trust, Kent Wildlife Trust, and Mersey Forest Foundation.
In 2024, we achieved 100% landfill diversion across all offices. We recycled 187kg of IT equipment and donated 58 laptops and monitors to education centres. We also supported plastic waste reduction by sponsoring a volunteer team to join a plastic fishing trip on the River Thames with environmental charity Hubbub. Collected plastic was safely recycled – bottles were turned into ‘Plaswood’, a material used to make the clean-up boats, demonstrating circular economy principles in action.
All our offices are powered by renewable energy. We use LED lighting with passive infrared (PIR) sensors and operate plant machinery at optimised settings to reduce energy consumption.
Enhancing local biodiversity
Carbon neutrality
Together with Groundwork, we planted 500 trees across the UK as part of community volunteering projects. These native species, fruit trees, and hedgerows now help improve local biodiversity and green spaces.
We offset 1,050 tonnes of CO₂e (Scopes 1 and 2) for FY23/24 through certified global climate projects. These initiatives align with our responsible business strategy and provide additional social and economic benefits for local communities.
Building a culture of care
CORPORATE SOCIAL INVESTMENT
Employees volunteered 1,520 hours during the year – supporting community care, personal development, and biodiversity – surpassing our forecast and achieving a 48% increase from the previous year. These contributions help improve lives and protect the environment, particularly for those in disadvantaged circumstances. Our initiatives reached more than 400 young people, focusing on skills development, mental health, and access to education. We delivered tailored workshops, mentoring, and project donations to empower the next generation.
Giving something back
Michelle Robertson
Principal, Head of Central Operations
At BW, we are committed to delivering positive impact through our Corporate Social Investments – driven by collaboration, innovation, and purposeful action.
In 2024/25, we supported charitable and environmental causes through volunteering, awareness-raising, sponsorships, and internal fundraising, donating over £135,000 to meaningful initiatives. We partnered with over 40 organisations this year, making carefully considered choices to ensure our support delivers real value, improving lives, enhancing communities, and protecting the environment. To mark BW’s 35th anniversary, we delivered three special projects: • Donated £10,000 to run a careers fair with UpReach, • supporting students from less-advantaged backgrounds. • Planted 7,000+ trees in partnership with Groundwork and • Fruitful Office, and via our employee benefits scheme. • Provided additional support to local Trussell Trust foodbanks.
Donations and fundraising
We continued our partnerships with Create Arts, the Charlie Waller Trust, and the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) Foundation, and began new engagement with the Soil Association. We remain focused on empowering people to secure better futures. Our achievements inspire us to aim higher and reaffirm our commitment to making a lasting difference. We thank our employees, partners and stakeholders for their continued support in driving social value forward. Through our match-funding scheme, employees donated over £16,000 to charities close to their hearts, amplifying our collective impact and fostering a culture of generosity across the firm. Our work continues – we encourage all colleagues to get involved, raise awareness, and take action in both their professional and personal lives. Together, we’re protecting people, communities and the planet.
Our partnerships
CSI snapshot 2024/25
£10,000
donated to Crisis, helping people directly out of homelessness and campaigning for the change.
£15,000
donated to the Trussell Trust, supporting food security, emergency assistance, and homelessness campaigns.
£135,000
donated to charitable initiatives across people development, community impact and environmental projects.
volunteering hours delivered.
1,520
matched funding for employee personal donations to national and global charities.
£16,000
young people have benefitted from our development support.
400+
of CO2e operational emissions were offset through certified global climate projects and 374 tonnes were offset through procurement efforts.
1,050 tonnes
trees planted to enhance biodiversity and improve local green spaces.
7,000+
waste diversion from landfill across all offices and we recycled 187kg of IT equipment.
100%
items of office furniture and equipment donated for reuse.
250
Where every voice matters
EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
We have recently expanded our Mental Health First Aider provision, with 17 trained colleagues across all offices representing diverse backgrounds and levels. We are now focused on raising awareness of this support and upskilling line managers to offer timely and appropriate help. Financial wellbeing has also been a priority. We successfully launched the Talk Money campaign in November and hosted a series of pension webinars to boost engagement with our key benefits. As part of our Diversity and Inclusion commitments, our Wellness+ Network works closely with our wellbeing advisor to support and promote BW’s wellbeing agenda.
Making a difference
Jacqui Derrick
Partner, Head of People
BW aims to create a workplace where everyone can thrive – feeling supported, successful and fulfilled.
Our proactive wellbeing strategy is shaped by employee feedback and built around three pillars: physical, financial, and mental wellbeing. We offer a wide range of benefits, complemented by our Wellbeing Calendar, which spotlights key topics each month via communications, webinars, office events, and social media. A dedicated internal resource library supports employees on topics such as mental health, financial wellbeing, and menopause, with access to guides, videos and recordings. Wellbeing is closely aligned with our benefits offering to ensure it is accessible, easy to understand, and practical. In response to feedback from the BW Deal staff survey, we created short videos explaining how our private medical cover can support wellbeing.
Employee wellbeing
Read our Gender Pay Gap Report
In 2024, we launched a three-phase Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiative to align our efforts with business objectives, close gaps in senior representation, and accelerate progress. DEI is a core part of our culture, backed by strong leadership and firm-wide engagement. During the extensive listening phase, we partnered with a specialist, purpose-led culture consultancy to gather input from across our workforce. More than 80% of our people took part in leadership workshops, facilitated sessions, and completed surveys. These insights helped align our organisational initiatives with our people’s values and led to the refinement of our purpose statement: "We empower people to secure better futures." Furthering our DEI commitment, we joined the Women in Finance Charter in 2024.
Our partnerships enable us to work collectively to advance diversity and inclusion, foster shared learning, and create pathways into our industry for people from all backgrounds.
Where inclusion grows
Driven by purpose, not just policy
GOVERNANCE
Sam Meldrum
Managing Partner
Culture is a living aspect of our organisation, and the Board remains focused on ensuring it continues to evolve in a way that supports both our people and our clients.
At BW, we recognise that taking and managing risk is essential to our ability to grow and thrive. Risk management is embedded in our day-to-day operations, decision-making, and wider business strategy. As the risks we face become increasingly complex and wide-ranging, we maintain a formal risk management framework and policy to support resilience and responsiveness. The Management Board retains ultimate accountability for risk management. However, from 1 June 2024, we enhanced our governance structure with the creation of the Partnership Advisory Council, which provides additional strategic oversight and insight.
Measuring what matters
We regularly review our internal processes and, during the year, implemented an 18-month plan to strengthen governance and improve risk management. For example, as part of our finance stabilisation plan, we introduced a streamlined onboarding process for low-risk suppliers, ensuring greater efficiency and timely payments. We also expanded our internal governance training, recognising that effective, ongoing education is key to maintaining integrity and managing risk. Our bite-sized sessions – covering areas such as cyber security culture, data breaches, and anti-money laundering – offer practical guidance to empower colleagues in identifying and addressing risks with confidence.
Growth in 2024
Internal operations
Governance team
Office expansion
Governance services
Our Work Space and Work Place strategy progressed further with the opening of new offices in Leeds and Manchester, reinforcing our growth ambitions across northern England.
We strengthened our Governance team with several senior appointments, including a Commercial Finance Director and Head of Procurement, bringing in additional expertise to support our integration with the Howden Group.
We launched ‘BW Ask’, a centralised helpdesk solution that streamlines queries related to governance, IT, finance, and central operations – enhancing service delivery across the firm. This investment reflects our commitment to operational excellence and strong internal governance.
Externally, our governance services have also grown and client tools are being developed. In 2024, BW CORE, our pragmatic online solution to General Code compliance was launched and, in the same year, our General Code Steering Group was recognised across the pensions industry receiving 'Highly Commended' in the Team of the Year category at the PMI Pinnacle Awards. We continue to innovate in our service offerings, launching BoardClic to provide digital board performance reviews for pension trustees, and expanding our ESG governance support by embedding climate and diversity metrics into trustee frameworks.
Get in touch
Thank you for reading our 2024/25 Impact Report
If you would like to find out more about any of the areas covered, do please get in touch.
Lead Sustainability Partner melanie.durrant@barnett-waddingham.co.uk
Principal, Head of Central Operations michelle.robertson@barnett-waddingham.co.uk
Partner, Head of People jacqui.derrick@barnett-waddingham.co.uk
Managing Partner sam.meldrum@barnett-waddingham.co.uk
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