ESG

The events industry is one that is inherently resource intensive. From international travel and food and drink to the production of exhibition stands and merchandise, every decision we make has an impact. 

We have made it our mission to reduce our own environmental footprint and support our clients in making their events more sustainable, all while operating responsibly and giving back to the communities where we work.

We see it as our collective responsibility to make sustainable practices the norm.

We want to become a leading voice of sustainability within the events industry, pushing for meaningful, lasting, and sustainable change wherever possible.

This Policy will be reviewed annually, or more frequently in light of significant or operational changes.

 

ESG Report

Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 aspirations people and organisations around the world are contributing to with the collective ambition of reducing inequality and increasing quality of life for everyone.

We are proud to be supporting several of the SDGs:
• Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing – by being a good employer.
• Goal 4: Quality Education – by investing in the next generation through work experience and training.
• Goal 5: Gender Equality – by prioritising equality in our own company and through our supply chain.
• Goal 8: Decent Work and Economy – by providing jobs at Real Living Wage.
• Goal 10: Reducing inequalities – by investing our time in community projects and our charitable giving.
• Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – by working towards more sustainable events.
• Goal 13: Climate Action – by using renewable energy ourselves and reducing the carbon footprint of the events we create.

 

 

 

Our commitment

Doing better business is part of our DNA, and our ESG strategy sits at the very heart of how we operate.

We have a responsibility to push the boundaries of what is possible, in order to protect people and the planet. To achieve this, we are continually working to do better, both within our own business and for our clients, creating sustainable events and using our influence to encourage clients to think differently.

We commit to:
• Questioning the sustainability of our activity at every stage of the decision making process.
• Ensuring environmental (including climate change) criteria are considered throughout our procurement of goods and services.
• Regularly assessing the environmental risks and opportunities of our operations, in order to understand how we can best manage the impact of our activity.
• Continuously improving our environmental performance and further integrating environmental management best practice across our operations.
• Reducing our consumption of resources by operating sustainably and efficiently.
• Managing our business operations to protect the environment from adverse conditions.

Our goals

 

Environmental sustainability

  • Becoming carbon neutral by 2026. 
  • Donating 25 days of our time to supporting environmental projects. 
  • Continuing our partnership with Olio to donate food waste.
  • Offsetting carbon emissions with the First Event Forest.
  • Championing a plastic-free and recycle conscious office environment.
  • Reporting and offsetting the carbon footprint of every event.

Social equality 

  • Donating £10,000 to worthy causes in 2024.
  • Donating 25 days of our time to supporting community projects.
  • Offering work experience to aspiring event professionals across West Yorkshire. 
  • Working towards Real Living Wage Accreditation.

Good governance

  • Retaining our employee owned status. 
  • Strengthening our employee council. 
  • Maintain our Modern slavery policy.
  • Continue to maintain our financial stability through ethical financial practices and review annually.

 

Compliance and reporting

We will produce an annual ESG report which will update progress against our strategy and goals, and outline significant developments.

As part of this, we have set ourselves the target of attaining the following accreditation:

  • ISO 14001 (by 2026).
  • We will also maintain our ISO 27001 accreditation.

 

Scope and applicability

This Policy applies to all First Event operations and the employees and contractors who work within them. Where First Event does not have operating control, we encourage our partners to demonstrate the commitments reflected in this Policy.

 

 

 

Continuous improvement

As part of our commitment to meaningful, lasting, and sustainable change we will endeavour to:

  • Monitoring and evaluation: Regular assessment of our goals and strategy so we can adjust and adapt. 
  • Stakeholder engagement: from our clients to our sustainability champions and green teams, we actively seek feedback from everyone involved with First Event, and look for new ways to better respond to our community’s needs. 
  • Education and upskilling: Staying informed on innovations in sustainable event management and execution.