Mercia has a history of making a difference to the regions and within our communities.
That is as much a representation of our core values, which focus on generating long-term growth and a positive social impact, as it is a financial return motivation.
We believe this is the right thing to do and it is critical to the future of our business. We believe that:
- Building businesses in a way that is sustainable will build better, more successful businesses;
- Good ESG performance is associated with better business performance; and
- ESG issues can have a material impact on our investments and on the communities in which we operate, which, in turn, has a material impact on the risks and opportunities generated by our investment activity.
Responsible investment reduces exposure to risk and identifies opportunities to create value
The Rainforest Trust and Slingshot Simulations users saved 121 acres of Rainforest in 3 days
Slingshot Simulations announced a partnership with the Rainforest Trust on a new sustainability initiative at this month’s Internet of Things Solutions World Congress (IoTSWC) in Barcelona- with immediate results.
In just three days, new user signups secured the protection of 121 acres of rainforest.
Investing in Women Code
In order to make the most of everyone’s talents and maximise economic growth it is important that opportunities to start and grow businesses in the UK are open to everyone. Business creation and growth can increase levels of employment, increase productivity, grow the UK economy, and improve standards of living.
Therefore, Mercia is delighted to be supporting the ‘Investing in Women’s Code’, committed to sending a positive signal to female entrepreneurs who are looking for funding, support, resources and access to investment to build and grow their ambitious businesses.
We are responsible
We incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors while building and managing our portfolio to better identify and manage risk, in addition to creating value and generating sustainable, long-term returns.
A Responsible Investment Committee has been established which shapes and monitors our compliance with ESG policies, and includes both senior leadership and representatives from all areas of the business to ensure that all internal and external stakeholders are represented.
We encourage input from all Mercia employees to ensure ongoing balanced representation.
We are proactive in managing ESG issues and we will monitor the progress and activities of the portfolio companies, to enable reporting in a clear and transparent way as part of the regular reporting process.
Training is provided on an ongoing basis to ensure understanding of all Responsible Investment policies and underlying processes, and to ensure that Mercia is constantly aligned with industry best practice.
Guiding principles
We have established 3 guiding principles inspired by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Alongside Mercia’s core values and mission statement, we have been inspired by the UN’s SDGs, a universal call to address the problems faced by humanity. We have identified three guiding principles that we consider particularly meaningful to Mercia’s aims and purpose:
Making an impact
Meet our ESG team
Our ESG policies have been designed by the committee that is representative of all divisions and teams with the Group, supported by a route map that ensures that achieving our goals has realistic and timely deadlines and will be readily adopted by all Mercia employees. This route map encompasses our values, using these as building blocks.
We will report on our progress and activities towards implementing our Responsible Investment strategy and practice
Our regular reporting procedures will include a review of ESG improvements across the portfolio, as well as our progress towards our own goals.
We intend to use KPIs to measure both our performance and that of portfolio companies, to track progress, and to communicate the results to our investors and other stakeholder communities.
#OneMercia Hub
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Support during COVID-19
Our teams have produced a series of webinars providing valuable advice on business change during the pandemic
Watch them here