Sage and Bellway represent North East on list of world's top 500 most sustainable companies

Two North East companies have been ranked among the world's most sustainable in a new table produced by Time magazine and data firm Statista.

Software giant Sage is the UK's highest ranked company, and one of only six others in the top 100. And Newcastle housebuilder Bellway comes in at 442 of top 500 companies. The table's authors used a four-step process to determine the placings: first ruling out non-sustainable businesses such as those dealing with fossil fuels or businesses implicated in environmental catastrophes.

Researchers then looked at sustainability ratings including from environmental transparency organisation CDP, adherence to the voluntary UN Global Compact commitments, alignment with the Science Based Targets initiative surrounding emissions and inclusion in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook, among other criteria. Companies were assessed as to whether they had produced an externally assessed ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) report in 2022 and the final step included looking at performance across social and environmental issues from proportion of renewable energy used to gender pay gap and employee turnover rate.

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An overall sustainability score out of 100 was calculated for qualifying companies with the top 500 making the World's Most Sustainable Companies 2024 list. Sage scored 73.92 while Bellway, which last year partnered with environmental conservation charity Plantlife to bring more habitats to their sites, achieved 54.92. The top spot was taken by French energy management software firm Schneider Electric with a score of 88.86, helped by its own ambitious targets and its role in helping other firms reduce emissions.

Meanwhile Japanese technology business NEC Corp ranked number two in the world, at 85.71 and Italian fashion brand Moncler claimed third place with a score of 85.66. It was singled out for its recycling of more than 80% of its nylon scraps last year, and using 100% renewable energy at its factories, stores and offices.

Simon Park, group head of sustainability at Bellway, said “Sustainability is at the heart of our business and our wide-ranging Better with Bellway strategy embodies our approach which puts people and the planet first. Recognising that climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time, we have set challenging science-based targets to reduce our carbon emissions and are also collaborating on pioneering research into low-carbon technologies to help lead the way towards net zero within the housebuilding industry.

"Our priorities are designed to help Bellway thrive, now and into the future, as part of a long-term commitment to continue to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner, so to be recognised as one of the most sustainable companies in the world by Time and Statista is a huge honour and something which we are immensely proud of.”

Surinder Sond, executive vice president of sustainability and foundation, environmental and society at Sage, said: "We’re proud to be recognised as a top ranking UK business in Time's most sustainable companies of 2024. It’s incredibly encouraging that progress against the breadth of our sustainability strategy is being recognised – from emissions reduction, to DEI and our non-financial reporting. We’re hardwiring sustainability into decision making, striving for a more equitable and habitable planet – and while we’re proud of the progress to date, we recognise we have more to do – both internally and in supporting our SMB customers on this important journey."