Boost your business success by adopting sustainability reporting

Led by the Southampton Business School, the latest in our series of masterclasses exclusively for SETsquared Scale-Up Programme members, will demonstrate how the adoption of sustainability reporting can help businesses scale up by:

attracting investors

retaining and attracting new employees and customers

reducing costs

increasing productivity

achieving local and international accreditations

reducing the cost of financing

The Masterclass is part of a bigger project being carried out by Southampton Business School (SBS) to encourage SMEs’ adoption of sustainability practices and reporting. There is currently a survey live here for SMEs to help the research team. The survey results will then be shared at an event at the University of Southampton in April 2022.

Following that, undergraduate and postgraduate students will help SMEs to prepare their first sustainability reports under the supervision of academic staff as part of their studies. In the future, Scale-Up Programme members may have the opportunity to benefit from this support.

If you have any questions regarding the questionnaire, please contact Professor Ven Tauringana (Research Lead), [email protected] or Gillian Saieva, [email protected].

Agenda

12.00 Welcome & Introduction to Southampton Business School

12.05 Awareness of sustainability reporting

 – What is sustainability reporting?

 – Why should SMEs adopt sustainability reporting given its not mandatory?

Introduction to Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting

 – What is sustainability reporting? General disclosures, examples of economic, environmental and social information

Global Reporting Initiative sustainability report Vs Environmental Social and Governance

 – Similarities and differences

 Scaling up: How sustainability reporting can boost your business prospects of success (case studies and client scenarios)

 – Attracting local and international investors

 – Retention and attracting new employees and customers

 – Reducing costs

 – Increasing productivity

 – Achieving international accreditations

 – Reducing the cost of financing

12.40 Q&A

13.00 Masterclass closes

 

Speakers:

Professor Ven Tauringana, Head of Department of Accounting & Professor of Accounting and Sustainability, Southampton Business School, University of Southampton

Ven is a Practitioner Member of the Institute of environmental management and assessment (PIEMA) and a Global reporting Initiative (GRI) certified sustainability professional. He has helped 105 organisations in Uganda to produce their first sustainability reports over the past three years and currently working with several SMEs to produce their first sustainability reports.

Dr Ishmael Tingbani, Associate Professor of Accounting, Southampton Business School, University of Southampton

Ishmael has a special interest in helping businesses understand the financial impacts of sustainability and how best to effectively use sustainability reporting as a tool to communicate those impacts to investors and relevant stakeholders. Over the years, Ishmael has worked closely with several international and local organisations and businesses within the UK in several areas of his research interest. These institutions include the World Bank, Bank of Ghana, Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole (BCP) local council, Dorset Chambers of Commerce, Dorset National Park Trust, Ministry of Finance, and Economic Planning of Ghana, among many others. Ishmael is currently partnering with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) on building a framework to support companies operating under its auspices to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions. He is also part of the team at Southampton Business School, working with SMEs to develop their first sustainability reports.

Dr Renata Konadu is a Lecturer in Accounting and a researcher in sustainability

She is also a Certified Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability professional and an Affiliate Member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). She is currently working with SMEs to develop their first sustainability reports.