Our sustainability commitment:

Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report:

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

• The concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
• The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.

Sustainability is built around 3 key areas:

Economic:

Ultimately, we want to contribute to the economy through job creation. We envisage ourselves affecting such change through our commitment to the growth of small to medium size South African businesses.

We understand that entrepreneurs are essential in expanding the economy. We, therefore, invest a substantial amount of our time in mentoring entrepreneurs who are starting out in business. Lasting relationships with people are ignited by this process and it allows us to explore new and exciting opportunities together.

Social:

Financial literacy remains a huge challenge in South Africa today. We have, therefore, implemented a project through which we impart financial skills to people who struggle to manage their personal finances and we help them to plan for their financial futures.

Furthermore, we feel strongly about the plight of animals and we support organisations such as Pet Pals, whose primary function is the assistance of stray animals.

Environmental:

We strive to preserve our natural resources. We are committed to becoming more environmentally conscious and we have made small changes to our daily lives, which could contribute hugely to the impact of our carbon footprint.

We run a totally paperless operation – processing everything electronically – in order to reduce our paper consumption.

We are hugely cognisant of the impact of carbon emissions. We, therefore, attempt to always choose vehicles which have reduced emissions and we drive less often.

Lastly, we try to use energy efficiently and we use solar energy whenever possible to reduce our energy consumption.