Big Tick winner in 2008

Phoenix Natural Gas Limited

Impact on Society Award for Small Companies in association with the Institute of Directorsd

Phoenix Natural Gas Ltd. (“Phoenix”) is a supplier and distributor of natural gas in Northern Ireland. Their broad-ranging CSR programme, LIFE (Leadership in the Market Place, Investing in our People, Fostering our community and Environmental Responsibility), provides the overarching framework for the range of CSR initiatives undertaken by Phoenix. LIFE recognises the value of senior management buy-in and as such, leadership and credibility for the programme is promoted from the top down.

Leadership in the Marketplace: Phoenix consumers save more than £8 million annually due to the efficiency of natural gas; suppliers are required to completed a sustainability questionnaire confirming responsible behaviour and Phoenix runs a number of schemes to help vulnerable customers meet their energy needs.

Investing in our people and improving the business: staff spent more than 3000 (2007) hours volunteering - developing their leadership, communication, project management and team working skills in the process; surveys showed a 9% improvement in favourable perception of Phoenix and staff turnover reduced by 8% in the past year, with staff surveys indicating Phoenix’s CSR activities as a key contributory factor.

Fostering our community: staff raised more than £120,000 for the Energy for Children Charitable Trust; sponsored community events to the value of £10,000.00 annually and run training and employment programmes for unemployed and marginalized young people.

Environmental Responsibility: Phoenix has contributed to a reduction of 1.7 million tonnes of locally produced CO2 emissions; their energy advisors visit 13,000 homes a year, providing guidance to homeowners on how to be more energy efficient and they have a programme to actively promote environmental awareness both internally and externally.

Timely communication and engagement of all staff are fundamental tenets of LIFE. To achieve this, every senior and middle manager in Phoenix has been designated a LIFE Champion, with the responsibility to organise, coordinate and communicate LIFE initiatives and activities within their respective teams.

Impact

Phoenix’s support of apprenticeship programmes, i.e., the Bridge to Employment and The Energy and Utility schemes, have helped to create a sustainable pool of gas professionals in Northern Ireland
Since 1996, Phoenix customers have realised a reduction of 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, compared to what would have been emitted with other fuels. This is the equivalent of removing over a half a million cars from Northern Irelands Roads for a full year
Phoenix Energy Advisors visit 250 homes every week and provide essential energy awareness and saving advice tailored to each individual home
349 suppliers provided services to Phoenix in 2007, each of whom completed Phoenix’ sustainability questionnaire which provided assurance that their activities were not adversely impacting the society or environment
Phoenix has implemented a number of schemes to ensure that vulnerable customers remain warm in the winter. These include the Energy Care and the Cozy Homes schemes which provides advice and financial support to Housing Associations in Northern Ireland looking to assist them in procuring and installing more efficient and environmentally friendly heating systems

in association with the Institute of Directors