• About Thomas Cook Group
  • Corporate social responsibility report
  • Sustainability team
2008 priorities 2008 in progress Details 2009 priorities

Employees		      
Launch share schemes for all employees, with shareholder approval. Achieved Save As You Earn (SAYE) launched internationally, with 10% take-up among eligible employees. Buy As You Earn (BAYE) launched in UK with 6% take-up. Increase take-up of the Company Share Save scheme in 2009
Maintain UK Investors in People accreditation. Achieved [Holidays Division] reaccredited,
including prestigious World Class recognition.		 Maintain UK Investors in People accreditation in 2009
Review UK diversity policies. Achieved Review complete. Diversity training developed for new employees and managers, included in induction at all levels. Local population profiling tool developed for recruitment. Further review Group-wide policies
Make UK Health & Safety management system more user-friendly, with access for all Retail employees. Achieved UK systems more user friendly. Retail management system streamlined,
with all risk assessment forms and other information available online.		 Continue work on new intranet.
Review the UK & Ireland Health & Safety strategy and review occupational health provision across the region.
Train Health & Safety facilitators in all newly-acquired businesses in UK & Ireland.
Employee Engagement Achieved Establish a Group wide approach to measuring employee engagement Increase both response rate and Engagement Index score within each segment

Environment		      
Create new and
expanded Group
environmental policy.		 Partially achieved Initial drafts prepared for stakeholder consultation. Continue development and finalise in 2009.
Appoint a member of
staff dedicated to
environmental management.		 Achieved In post September 2008, but delays in finding the right person slowed the environment programme. No further action needed.
Report on CO2 emissions from UK airline in future. Ongoing CO2 emission data published in main
CSR report.		 Expand reporting to all Group airlines in 2009 and include in 2009 CSR report.
Cut N European airline
fuel consumption and emissions per passenger/km by 1%  and cut cabin waste per passenger by further 5%.		 Partially achieved On fuel and waste we are among the industry leaders. We set increasingly demanding standards but narrowly missed last year’s targets. Develop environmental improvement programmes, specifically concerning waste, electricity, gas, water (Reduce N Europe natural gas and electricity consumption at headquarters by 5% per employee compared to 2007/2008)

Customers and products		      
Comply fully with new EU regulations on access to air travel for people with reduced mobility, in force July 2008. Achieved   Continue work to improve access beyond statutory requirements.
Maintain IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registration for the combined UK airlines. Achieved   Next full audit due February 2009.
Move suppliers towards recognised international fire and safety standards. Ongoing In UK we continue to work with
suppliers to reach Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) standards, based on EU recommendations. We are backing major industry drive for uniform safety legislation throughout EU. Self-assessment protocols in place.		 Introduce web-enabled self-assessment systems.
Work towards meeting UK Ofsted good practice guidance in all in-house children's club facilities. Ongoing Our Child Protection Policy applies both in UK and in resorts. We work with independent child protection consultants to monitor and enhance this policy. Further work in 2009.

Communities		      
Raise £300,000 for the Travel Foundation Achieved Total raised: [over £456,000]. Raise another £250,000 for the Travel Foundation. Identify three overseas community projects to use ring-fenced funds with the Travel Foundation.
Launch Thomas Cook Children's Charity as primary vehicle for our corporate giving and support of employees' charity work. Ongoing Preparations on track for 2009 launch.  
Develop a sustainable tourism policy. Ongoing Initial drafts shared with stakeholders
for review before publication.		 Finalise the review process at the beginning of 2009 and publish the policy in Summer 2009.
Appoint a member of staff dedicated to sustainable tourism. Achieved In post March 2008. No further action needed.
Audit a further 100 properties against Travelife criteria. Achieved [113] audited during 2007/08. Audit a further 130 properties against Travelife criteria and train another 25 staff in animal attraction auditing.
Expand information about animal welfare on customer websites. Achieved Extensive section included in new mini-site. Ask for customer and external stakeholder feedback.
Raise awareness of sustainable tourism throughout business (for example with purchasing, sales and retail staff), through a training programme.