External assurance statement and commentary

External Assurance statement

Whitbread has commissioned Corporate Citizenship to provide external assurance and a commentary on its Environment Report 2008/09.

The scope of our assurance

Assurance provides the reader with an independent, external assessment of the report and with how it corresponds with recognised standards. It is intended both for the general reader and for more specialist audiences who have a professional interest in Whitbread's environmental performance.

Our assurance used disclosed information as its starting point and then investigated the underlying systems, processes and sustainability performance information to arrive at its conclusions. This is not an AA1000as assurance statement but we have had regard to the principles underlying the AA1000 assurance standard as well as the Global Reporting Initiative's G3 sustainability reporting guidelines for content and the quality of information.

Whitbread is entirely and solely responsible for the contents of the report, Corporate Citizenship for its assurance. Our assurance is confined to the content of the report as presented on the Whitbread website. It does not cover other reports or on-line material. A detailed note of our assurance methodology appears at the end of this statement.

Opinion and conclusions

In our opinion the Whitbread Environment Report 2008/09 provides a fair representation of Whitbread's management of environmental issues during the period under review. We are satisfied that the report covers the company's most material environmental impacts in areas such as energy, water and waste and that Whitbread continues to use robust systems to measure and report its management of these issues.

The report also demonstrates that there have been a number of positive developments, both in Whitbread's reporting and its management approach over the last year. We highlight the following for special note:

Material issues

A number of initiatives have taken place to demonstrate that Whitbread, in both its reporting and its management, is focused on the environmental issues that are most relevant to it as a business and the stakeholder groups on which it impacts. Whitbread has measured its carbon footprint to establish its most significant sources of emissions. It has also undertaken extensive stakeholder research to understand the issues that are of most concern to key groups.

Stakeholder engagement

Previously we have noted that the views and voices of stakeholder groups such as employees, customers and NGOs have been largely absent from Whitbread's reporting. We are encouraged that this report reflects the work that Whitbread has undertaken to engage with employees and customers on the steps they can take to help Whitbread improve its environmental performance. We look forward, in future reports, to understanding the processes Whitbread develops to continue this dialogue and to respond to stakeholder expectations and concerns regarding its environmental management.

Costa Coffee

The report provides much greater detail on the environmental initiatives of Costa Coffee and so presents a more rounded picture of the company.

Sustainable building

Whitbread has reported on individual trials of sustainable building initiatives in previous reports, however, the case-study of its hotel in Tamworth demonstrates a step up in its commitment to explore how different technologies can be applied together to deliver performance results. We are also encouraged by Whitbread's commitment to bring successful technologies into its mainstream building programme and its willingness to consider longer pay-back periods than previously.

Strategic direction

Last year we commented that Whitbread would benefit from a central function to co-ordinate the different aspects of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) including its environmental management. We are encouraged by the significant steps it has taken over the reporting period to develop a CSR strategy. Both the report and the company itself already reflect some of the developments that have arisen as a result. We look forward, in future reports, to understanding how the new strategy has been embedded.

Looking ahead

In addition to the developments we have highlighted, there are some areas that Whitbread should focus on, in both its management and its reporting, to present a more complete picture and improve reader's understanding of Whitbread's performance in the future. Priority items include:

Benchmarks and targets

The data in the report would benefit from being set in the context of Whitbread's own environmental performance targets and/or external benchmarks to enable readers to understand the company's progress towards meeting its own goals and objectives and/or external expectations. We are encouraged that this has been identified as a priority action.

Management system

The report provides a good summary of a number of positive initiatives undertaken across the business to address environmental issues. As Whitbread's own environmental objectives develop and external demands such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment come online, a future challenge will be to draw these individual activities into a cohesive management system. If implemented, this should enable a systematic approach to identifying and addressing environmental priorities and the establishment of robust targets. Again, we are encouraged that this is currently being investigated.

Responsiveness

Whitbread has significantly increased the level of its engagement with key stakeholder groups. A future challenge is to report on its response to their views and demonstrate that these have been included in management decisions.

Indirect impacts

The information on Whitbread's indirect impacts is limited. Mention is made of green travel plans and supply chain initiatives but readers would benefit from a greater understanding of the additional impacts generated by Whitbread's operations and its approach to addressing them.

Scope

Whitbread has increased the level of information contained in the report yet its reporting focus continues to be restricted to the environment. We look forward to future reports reflecting the new CSR strategy and presenting a more comprehensive picture of Whitbread's performance across wider social and economic issues.

Corporate Citizenship
13 July 2009
www.corporate-citizenship.com

Note on our relationship with Whitbread and the assurance process

Our relationship with Whitbread

We have not worked with Whitbread any time during this reporting period, other than on this limited assurance project.

The assurance process

As there are no statutory guidelines for environmental reporting, we have formed our judgements based on emerging best practice among other companies, the principles of the assurance standard AA1000, the approach of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the stated views of principal stakeholders and our own professional expertise and experience.

In particular, we have considered the availability of information, sufficiency of evidence, underlying systems and processes, internal assurance systems, adequacy of resources allocated and relevant legal and commercial constraints. We have judged materiality by considering significant legal, regulatory and financial impacts, business policies, the performance of peers and competitors and stakeholder views.

A team of two, led by a director, undertook the assurance and commentary process. The team has a variety of professional and technical competencies and experience. The work was commissioned in April 2009 and was completed in July 2009. Detailed records were kept of meetings, assurance visits and correspondence relating to the report, as well as to technical matters relating to the accuracy and presentation of data.

Our external assurance and commentary process for the 2008/09 report has involved the following elements:

1. Meetings and discussions with a targeted section of Whitbread's managers dealing with environment related issues.
2. An analysis of best practice among other companies, the principles of the GRI and AA1000as.
3. A review of external assessments made, notably by Business in the Community's Corporate Responsibility Index.
4. An assessment of the internal assurance process, notably the procedures adopted to ensure that environmental performance is tracked, targets are set and that the data is accurate. We also considered how the company seeks to make its environmental reporting responsive and material to, and inclusive of, readers.

Corporate Citizenship
Holborn Gate
330 High Holborn
London WC1V 7QG
Tel: +44 (0)20 7861 1616
www.corporate-citizenship.com