RWS AR 23 Final Single pages - Flipbook - Page 23
SUSTAINABILITY AND ESG
Sustainability is core to the way we operate. Our work
for our clients gives us a natural global perspective
and deep understanding of the impact of what we do.
Over the past year we have made signi昀椀cant progress in
becoming One RWS where we:
•
understand we need to reduce our carbon footprint
to ensure the future of the planet
•
are proud of our diversity and celebrate our cultural
and technical expertise, enabling us to share a deep
understanding of client industries and local cultures
•
strive to create a world where understanding is more
universal for everyone
•
are focused on ensuring that combination of
technology and cultural expertise helps our clients
grow by ensuring they are understood anywhere
Signi昀椀cant progress has been achieved in each of our
four corporate sustainability pillars – our people, our
community, our environment and our governance –
which remain at the centre of our purpose to unlock
global understanding.
Our 2023 engagement survey shows that 79% of
colleagues believe that RWS fosters environmentally
friendly practices, 82% of colleagues believe they can
report unethical practices without fear of negative
consequences and 78% believe RWS is taking action to
be socially responsible.
Both directly and through The RWS Foundation, we have
partnered with a number of community organisations
such as CLEAR Global, have undertaken fundraising
to support the people a昀昀ected by the devastating
earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria and have progressed
our focus on education, partnering with over 700
universities and sponsoring language students via the
RWS-Brode Scholarship programme.
We hold ourselves to high accountability standards.
As a result in FY22 we improved the accuracy of our
carbon footprint by improving our data collection and
Greenhouse Gas ("GHG") emissions to include both
our operations and supply chain, and committed to
setting carbon reduction targets which are aligned
with the Science Based Targets initiative ("SBTi"). This
was further improved in FY23 and the new targets have
been submitted to the SBTi for validation and will be
published once validated.
In April the Group successfully managed the impact
of a cyber incident after unauthorised access was
gained to a legacy application. The UK's Information
Commissioner closed its investigation into the breach in
early May with no further action.
We also proudly support the Ten Principles of the United
Nations Global Compact on human rights, labour,
environment and anti-corruption. We remain committed
to making the UN Global Compact and its principles part
of the strategy, culture and day-to-day operations of our
Group and to engaging in collaborative projects which
advance the broader development goals of the United
Nations, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals.
We are proud of the accomplishments to date, none of
which would have been possible without the unwavering
dedication of our colleagues around the globe. To
understand and respond to our clients’ needs, we believe
it is imperative to employ a workforce which re昀氀ects the
many communities to which we provide services.
CURRENT TRADING AND OUTLOOK
A challenging economic outlook and wider global
economic uncertainty has seen reduced activity from
many clients across several end markets. However we are
con昀椀dent that volumes will return in due course, given
the 昀椀ve core demand drivers in our market. In particular,
growth in AI and the continued explosion of content will
give us opportunities.
Progress against our medium-term strategy is working.
We are pivoting into higher growth segments via our
growth initiatives, investing in transformation and
developing our portfolio.
We will continue to focus on ensuring e昀케cient delivery
across all parts of the Group. To further support our focus
on cost e昀케ciency, no change will be made to base salary
levels for Executive Directors and our senior leadership
team. Where salary increases are awarded, these will be
focused on our lowest paid colleagues.
We are clear that AI is not a headwind, and instead
provides an opportunity for both us and our clients. As
illustrated at our AI and Technology Teach-In in October
2023, we believe that developments in AI have been
positive for RWS and will continue to support our growth
and e昀케ciency in FY24 and beyond. We were also pleased
to have announced in November 2023 the beta launch
of Evolve, a new capability within Language Weaver
that enables almost human-like quality in our machine
translation output.
As we look to the future, our people, scale, geographic
reach and advanced AI-powered technologies and
services, put us in a strong position to further strengthen
our leadership in the market.
Ian El-Mokadem | CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
11 December 2023
STRATEGIC REPORT
RWS Holdings plc — Annual Report 2023
23
