Survey: Fewer UK Firms Have Large Sustainability Teams

A study conducted among professionals working in over 3,200 companies in the UK revealed that a growing number of organisations have a person or a group responsible for sustainability; however, only 7% of them have a substantial team for this purpose.
Hays recruitment group asked professionals from more than 3,200 organisations in the UK to fill out a survey. The survey participants came from businesses of varying sectors and sizes, ranging from small businesses with 10 or fewer employees to "extra large" organisations with over 1,000 employees.
The survey results showed that only 29% of respondents claimed that their organisation does not have a dedicated sustainability resource. The findings showed that smaller organisations were less likely to have a dedicated sustainability team, with 88% of businesses having 50 or fewer employees having no dedicated resources.
Despite this, Hays discovered that the majority of organisations have a small sustainability team or even just a single person managing sustainability. Only 7% of the organisations surveyed had a large, dedicated sustainability team.
One-fifth of the respondents stated that sustainability is managed by just one person, which was a common scenario for both large and small businesses. This single person may receive support from others in various departments, but they are the only dedicated staff member for sustainability.
Furthermore, 26% of the survey participants reported that their employer has a small, dedicated sustainability team. The larger companies were around twice as likely to have a focused, small team responsible for sustainability compared to smaller companies.
Source: edie