PwC Building Trust Awards

Charities

This award recognises high quality and innovative reporting by Charities. The principles of high quality reporting should result in better - not necessarily more - information, and tell the reader a compelling story about what the Charity does, why its activities are important and its impact.

Registered Charities in the Charity Finance ‘Charity 100 Index’ published in April 2024 are automatically reviewed. There is no need to self-nominate.

We reviewed the latest publicly available trustees’ annual report and accounts, and associated year end reporting documents, up to the reporting period ended 31 March 2024.

Key principles:

• The Charity's annual report and accounts are easy to read and engage the reader on its purpose, current activities and future plans. The Charity's annual report and accounts are open, balanced and authentic.
• The Charity clearly communicates its purpose, strategic priorities and values in the sphere in which it operates and its wider operational landscape. The Charity highlights how it has adapted to new ways of working and areas of innovation.
• The Charity is open about how it approaches key societal issues, including fundraising, investments, safeguarding and environment. The Charity is transparent in its disclosure of and rationale for senior management remuneration.
• The Charity demonstrates how it is responding to changes in a digital world. The information from the annual report is included in accessible format on the Charity's website.
• The Charity clearly explains who its key stakeholders are, with particular focus on its beneficiaries. The Charity recognises what its responsibility is to the public and how its activities benefit them.
• The Charity clearly explains how it is governed, its risks and how it manages and mitigates them in relation to current activities, the environment in which it operates and future plans.
• The Charity sets out its measures of success, why these are important in delivering its purpose and the impact it has made for its beneficiaries and wider society.
• The Charity clearly articulates the drivers behind its financial performance, including ethical, value for money and sustainability considerations. The Charity is transparent in its considerations of its reserves and ongoing viability.

Cyber Security Reporting in the FTSE 350

The FTSE 350 as of 31 March 2023 were automatically reviewed.

Each report was assessed by how well it demonstrates security metrics. For each metric, it shall be assigned a maturity score, either:

• 0 (not mentioned);
• 1 (mentioned); or
• 2 (meets expectations)
• 3 (exceeds expectations)

Find out more information on our criteria

The report was given an aggregate score equal to the sum of each of these maturity scores. The top three reports were shortlisted for the final stage of the process, which involves holistically analysing them to determine how well they communicate their message to their audience.

Additionally, up to 10 points were awarded for how well each report demonstrated, from an information security perspective, its corresponding organisation’s response to current global trends and geopolitical issues. These points were awarded based on the presence of the following items:

• Relevant organisational efforts to continue business operations during current geopolitical issues (e.g. Russia-Ukraine war) and related economic effects/trends (e.g. cost of living crisis / changes in consumer behaviour) (1 point);
  • anticipation of new security threats emerging as a result of current geopolitical issues / trends (building upon the Criteria for Global Awareness) (1 point);
    • new security controls proposed in response to these threats (2 points);
      • strategy or roadmap for implementing these controls (building upon Security strategy criteria) (3 points); and
      • metrics outlining the effectiveness of these controls (1 point).
• Processes are in place to highlight tier 1 incidents/equivalent encountered across the past 12 months (2 points);
  • Processes exist to capture “lessons learnt” from the tier 1 incidents / equivalent (1 point).

Impact in Social Enterprise (in association with the School for Social Entrepreneurs)

Social and environmental enterprises trade to tackle social and environmental issues, improve communities and people's life chances. Measuring impact is the recognised way in which a social enterprise can demonstrate how it’s delivering on its mission and the value created for its beneficiaries and society.

This award recognises social enterprises demonstrating a positive social or environmental impact. Applications are open to all UK-based social enterprises. To enter the awards, applicants must state how they demonstrate a positive social or environmental impact in no more than 500 words, with the additional support of up to two pieces of evidence, such as an impact report, annual accounts, testimonials, case studies etc.

This year’s award opens on Monday 13 May 2024 and the application window closes on Friday 28 June 2024 (applications must be submitted by 5.00pm).

Prior to presenting the short list to the independent judging panel we consult representatives from the School for Social Entrepreneurs, other stakeholders and social enterprises. Our subject matter experts use the following principles to screen applications. These include that the social enterprise:

Key Principles:

• Clearly communicates both its intended and actual impact in the reports or evidence provided
• Demonstrates positive social or environmental impact * backed up by evidence (can include quantitative and/or qualitative evidence)**
• Involves and communicates with stakeholders (anyone that affects, or is affected by the enterprises activities)
• Demonstrates good use of impact measurement or evaluation methods

^{* ‘Impact’ has different definitions in the fields of impact measurement, evaluation, and accounting for social or environmental value, and we’re open to different approaches to the topic. When reviewing impact reports and evidence the judging panel will take into account the focus area and size of enterprise applying e.g. we wouldn't expect an in depth counterfactual impact evaluation from a small start up organisation.}

^{** Although not essential, we are interested in how social enterprises are delivering public sector work, or partnering / collaborating with corporates on Social Value. This will not be part of the judging criteria.}

Find out more and apply

Private Business

The assessment reviewed the latest publicly available annual report and accounts, and associated year end reporting documents published on webpages, including sustainability and CSR reports, for the largest privately owned companies, up to the reporting period ended 30 June 2024.

This award recognises those companies that present a clear, concise and integrated narrative through their corporate reporting. A narrative that reflects on progress as well as plans for the future, balances shareholder and other key stakeholder needs, and takes an innovative approach to the way they communicate their key messages.

The particular focus of the award is on those companies that demonstrate:

• A clear articulation of company purpose and the alignment of that purpose with the vision, strategy and values of the company as well as the societal need it hopes to address;
• A forward-looking orientation to the narrative including a description of the medium to long-term direction of the company in pursuit of the purpose and vision articulated by the board, supported by the short-term priorities, actions and resources needed for strategic success;
• A clear articulation of the company’s objectives, strategic priorities and values in the context of the sphere in which it operates;
• A description of the company’s business model including: its dependency on key resources and relationships across its value chain and how they’re managed; how it makes money; and what impact it has on these resources/relationships;
• A discussion of the key trends shaping the markets in which the company operates as context to the strategic decisions made and what impact they’re having on its business model;
• A clear, specific, and dynamic discussion of how the company is governed and the principal risks, including how they are assessed, managed and mitigated;
• A clear discussion of the impact that the company’s ownership has on its operations and how it balances the needs of its owners with that of its other stakeholders, including the wider environment in which the business operates;
• A recognition and discussion around the company’s key stakeholders - their material issues, impact on the strategy and business model, and the company’s response;
• How a balanced discussion of progress, performance and impact to society is delivered - using a mix of strategic relevant financial and operational metrics; and
• A consistent and compelling strategic narrative with explicit alignment between all of the key elements outlined above.

Public Sector (in association with the National Audit Office)

The Public Sector award focused on all public sector entities, many of which are consolidated into the Whole of Government Accounts (“WGA”), up to the reporting period ended 31 March 2024, which were audited and published by the Summer Parliament recess date of 23 July 2024. These entities are at the heart of public affairs and the provision of public services, and effective reporting of the use of taxpayers’ monies is fundamental to our democracy and our ability to hold bodies to account for what they do. We look for annual reports and accounts that engage with key stakeholders by telling their story in a clear and accessible way, outline how they have achieved their objectives and the challenges they faced, and how they have used public money.

Underpinning our assessment of excellence in reporting in the Public Sector is the concept of innovation – entities who lead the way with a fresh approach to meeting the varied needs of their key stakeholders. Our award continues to give credit to those making real inroads in adopting these concepts and in driving forward fresh thinking and innovation. Transparent and insightful reporting is not necessarily about more information being included but about decluttering existing structures, taking a new and more effective approach to traditional disclosures.

Specific areas we focus on include:

• A clear and balanced explanation of the impact (both positive and negative) of trends and factors shaping the entity’s current and future operating environment.
• A description of the long-term strategic direction of the entity, supported by short-term priorities, actions and resources needed to keep it on track, with clear use of specific targets and resulting impact on society.
• An insight into the entity’s business model and the key resources and relationships managed by the entity in order to achieve its strategic objectives.
• A clear, honest and balanced analysis of the profile and dynamics of the principal risks the entity faces, including how these are managed and mitigated.
• Clear and accessible disclosures of key financial measures that drive underlying performance.
• Governance reporting that focuses on substance over form – balancing compliance with insight into the culture and values of the entity and how these drive its governance and "tone from the top".

Remuneration Reporting in the FTSE 350

Companies in the FTSE 350 as at September 2023 were automatically reviewed. There is no need to self-nominate.

Reporting was reviewed for financial years ending in the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. For this award, we reviewed the directors’ remuneration report and other parts of the annual report or linked website content as relevant.

The award assesses the extent to which companies explain and justify the remuneration of executive directors in the context of the experience of the company’s stakeholders, including the company’s employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers.

Underpinning the award will be a focus on fairness and good governance: we’ll look for transparent disclosures which demonstrate how the remuneration of the executive directors is appropriate. Our criteria will also focus on how well companies explain the alignment of executive director remuneration with the company’s corporate strategy, including ESG priorities, and performance.

Reporting in the FTSE 350

We reviewed those companies with year ends from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 that were constituents of the FTSE 350 at 29 March 2024. Our review focuses on the richness of content within the annual report, with a particular focus on the strategic report, the sustainability report, and governance report. We also take into consideration key information explicitly linked from the annual report, for example an extended TCFD document or separate sustainability report. There is no need to self-nominate.

It’s clear that investors, regulators and wider society want more, and better, information about how companies are balancing the needs of stakeholders as they tackle inequality and supply chain disruption, and address the growing urgency of climate change. Against a backdrop of increasing regulation, the challenge for companies is to focus on reporting what is material to their business and relevant to their strategy rather than such issues at large and to do so in a way that engages the reader.

This award celebrates those companies that report well on these areas and present a clear, coherent and integrated strategic narrative across their channels of communication. Our review process looks for companies that use strategy as the backbone for the narrative; acknowledge their wider impact, risks and opportunities; explain the role of good governance; and show how their short-term actions and longer-term priorities create value for their key stakeholders and promote the resilience of their business model.

Social Reporting in the FTSE 350

Companies in the FTSE 350 as at 31 March 2024 were automatically reviewed. For this award, we reviewed the latest annual report and supporting reporting documents such as sustainability reports that are accessible through the company's website.

Companies’ people and societal agendas are rapidly evolving in order to respond to the internal and external stakeholder expectations surrounding “S” of ESG. Whilst we have seen a steady increase in “S” factors being reflected in companies’ strategic priorities, companies need to do more to articulate what actions they are taking in practice as a result in order to demonstrate the social, not just financial, value they create. Importantly, investor and other stakeholder attention in this area means there is a growing need for companies to explain how they manage their relationships with their workforce and the societies within which they operate. New regulation in this area is likely to further push the agenda forward in the coming years and companies face the challenge of assimilating all these disclosure requirements into a cohesive narrative on their social impact.

Better reporting of the 'S' is a first step towards ensuring better monitoring, assessment and auditing of companies’ people and social agendas. By encouraging good reporting, the award will encourage companies to establish more robust processes around 'S' issues meaning they are better able to externally report on actions taken and progress to date.

In 2024 our criteria will cover:

Best practice reporting qualities

• Materiality: assessment of the materiality of Social issues to the company
• Accountability: evidence of target setting for social goals, performance achieved and impact
• Transparency: use of assurance to verify performance against social metrics

Best practice policies and disclosures, including:

• Ethnicity, disability and other pay gaps
• Fair pay charters
• Global living wages
• Training & development
• Wellbeing
• Supplier charter and supplier living wages
• Community investment

Sustainability Reporting in the FTSE 350 and Public Interest Entities

The FTSE 350 and Public Interest Entities as at 31 March 2024 were reviewed.

The period under review covered reports with year ends from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, and we reviewed Annual Reports, as well as corporate ESG or sustainability reports (or micro-sites), corporate responsibility websites as well any supplementary reports such as those covering climate-related financial disclosures.

This year’s review continued to focus on both a broad assessment of ESG reporting, as well as a more focused analysis on Climate risk related reporting. The award aims to assess the depth and relevance of the reporting offered throughout the publicly available information provided to stakeholders. In particular we will focus on how well companies demonstrate the connection between their financial performance with a clear environmental impact assessment (including the transition to a low carbon society) as well as delivering societal contribution and impact, that this is recognised in their purpose and delivered in a sustainable manner.

The award will continue to consider reporting alignment with TCFD as well as how developing standards and reporting frameworks such as those being developed by the ISSB, the EU’s CSRD and others such as the TNFD are being incorporated into current and/or future reporting.

Tax Reporting in the FTSE 350 - UK Focused Companies and Multinationals

The FTSE 350 as at 31 March 2024 were automatically reviewed, looking at voluntary tax disclosures in the annual report and other statements made in the company tax strategy, corporate responsibility or sustainability reports, as well as standalone tax reports.

The integration of tax within broader sustainability reporting frameworks continues to gain momentum and be of interest to stakeholders. While there is no explicit tax standard in the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) or the first European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), these developments in sustainability reporting carry significant implications for tax departments. This includes giving consideration to tax as a material topic and the alignment of ESG related disclosures with the tax affairs of the business.

Public country-by-country reporting also remains high on the agenda for tax departments with ongoing regulatory developments across the EU and Australia. For many companies these reporting obligations will be the first time potentially sensitive data on profits and tax will become publicly available. This is expected to lead to increased scrutiny from NGOs and other stakeholders.

Similar to last year we have two tax awards: a) tax reporting by multinationals and b) tax reporting by UK focused companies. This is in response to growing complexities in the tax transparency landscape, particularly around country-by-country reporting, which is an area addressed by leading multinational companies and is less of an issue for UK focused companies. The two awards recognise this difference.

The awards recognise clear explanations in the following areas:

• Tax strategy: an explanation of the company’s approach to tax, providing a greater level of detail than the UK legislative requirements;
• Tax governance and risk management: details of governance over a company’s tax affairs and evidence of governance in practice. This includes whether there is a focus on the tax implications associated with the risks of climate change on the business.
• Tax numbers and performance: an explanation of key tax numbers which are of interest to investors, including details as to why the tax paid may not be at the expected statutory rate and any uncertainties in tax positions;
• Total Tax Contribution and the wider impact of tax: a link between tax and broader sustainability reporting, highlighting tax as part of a company’s contribution to the society where it operates.

We look for companies which have developed their voluntary tax disclosures over the last year, responding to stakeholder interest and taking an innovative approach to tax reporting.