Phoenix Energy Responsible Business Report

Responsible Business Report 2023

Spotlight on Standards We benchmark our performance with local, national and internationally respected bodies. Our Accreditations include: GRESB

Spotlight on Partnership The local natural gas industry employs over 2,500 individuals from across the wider supply chain in what tend to be smaller independently run businesses. Whilst Phoenix is responsible for the installation and ongoing maintenance of the gas network within Greater Belfast, downstream activities, for example, boiler installation, boiler servicing, are carried out by these consumer-facing companies. It is therefore imperative that Phoenix has strong working relationships with these organisations, to ensure positive consumer outcomes. In 1997 Phoenix established the Northern Ireland Natural Gas Association (NINGA) which created a platform to both communicate directly with consumer-facing companies and to provide a hub for them to network, share best practice and to input into key business strategies of Phoenix. NINGA meets at least 6 times per year, and in 2023 introduced a new Breakfast Information Series.

For the sixth year in succession, Phoenix was recognised as a leader in Europe for its environmental, social and governance performance by GRESB in its Infrastructure Assessment. GRESB is an industry-driven organisation committed to assessing the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) sustainability performance of Real Estate and Infrastructure assets around the globe. For the fourth consecutive year. During 2023 Phoenix was once again awarded 5 stars, the highest grade achievable and maintained its GRESB score at 97%. This placed Phoenix as one of the top performing gas distribution networks in Europe.

Joint Utilities prepare for Winter Helping customers prepare for the winter, Phoenix, in 2023, once again worked in partnership with other leading local utilities, including Openreach, NI Water and NI Electricity, to provide a range of information to help consumers be prepared for colder weather conditions.

CORE Business in the Community NI’s CORE assessment is recognised as the standard for responsible business in NI. In 2021, Phoenix Energy achieved Gold status in the assessment, demonstrating Phoenix’s commitment to integrating corporate responsibility into the way we do business. The standard remains attributed to the company until 2024, when we will have the opportunity to re-apply. NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey In 2023, Phoenix retained its Platinum status in the Business in the Community NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey. The Survey recognises positive environmental influencers by helping organisations to measure and improve their environmental impacts, benchmark themselves against others and be recognised for green leadership. Vitality In 2022, Phoenix took part in the UK’s largest workplace wellbeing survey. We placed 3rd in our category for the whole of the UK, showcasing our continued commitment to the health and wellbeing of our colleagues.

NI Chamber Public Affairs Forum Recognising the importance of our relationships with other leading local businesses, In 2023, Phoenix continued its sponsorship of the Public Affairs Forum series of events hosted by the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The platform allows us to tackle important public affairs issues and be at the helm of the discussion and ideas that are brought to the forefront by our peers.

‘Phoenix Meets’ video series 'Phoenix Meets' series of of renewable energy discussions with industry representatives continued. In 2023, we visited Norfolk’s Egmere Energy, the UK’s first ever AD Biomethane injection plant. The video provided an in-depth insight into the AD process, from the origins of growing the crop, through to carbon capture technologies.

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