From left: Country Representative for IUCN in Sri Lanka Dr. Ananda Mallawatantri, High Commissioner of Australia in Sri Lanka David Holly, Aitken Spence Director and Head of Business Development and Plantations Dr. Rohan Fernando, Ceylon Chamber Chairperson Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya and Aitken Spence Deputy General Manager – Group Business Development and Sustainability Yasangi Randeni
Aitken Spence team
Aitken Spence PLC last week won the coveted Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability (BCCS) Award 2019.
Organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, this annual event recognises best practices of organisations that have successfully achieved a sustainable balance between social, environmental and economic performance.
Being the reigning winner of 2017 and 2018, Aitken Spence walked away with a hat trick winning the BCCS Award 2019 along with 12 other awards in diverse categories and sectors – the highest number of awards received by a single company at the ceremony. Aitken Spence displays unparalleled commitment to sustainability as the only company to have been ranked among the Top Ten Best Corporate Citizens for 14 consecutive years.
High Commissioner of Australia in Sri Lanka David Holly was the Chief Guest of the occasion and the event was graced by Sri Lanka’s top corporate leaders and executives to acknowledge and celebrate sustainability initiatives undertaken by the country’s corporate sector.
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce hosts this award with a panel of experienced evaluators and judges comprising industry leaders, and experts on sustainable development. Recognition at this platform is aimed to encourage businesses, a major contributor in the country’s economy and development, to adopt sustainable practices.
The diverse categories within this program evaluate processes and systems ensuring integration of environmental and social sustainability within the business, measures for customer satisfaction, systemic efforts for community development and economic contribution, governance structures, consistent commitment as well as sustainable projects carried out by corporates.
Commenting on this achievement, Aitken Spence PLC Deputy Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake said, “We are truly humbled and grateful to have received this significant achievement. We have always embraced sustainability as a strategic priority to proactively establish impact controls.”
“This is the fourth overall win for Aitken Spence and the 14th consecutive year we have presented our performance at this platform. Aitken Spence is one of the very few organisations in Sri Lanka that are truly international and diversified. That’s why, developing a strategy that encompasses the priorities of all our operations is all the more complex. This recognition validates the approach we have adopted across the leadership of Aitken Spence, as well as the commitment and years of hard work by genuinely passionate team members. I wholeheartedly thank the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and all our stakeholders that have been on this long journey with us. We will always remain committed to create sustainable value in Sri Lanka and wherever we set our footprint,” he added.
With an indisputable repute as one of Sri Lanka’s pioneering corporates, Aitken Spence is a blue-chip conglomerate anchored to a heritage of excellence spanning over 150 years. Listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange since 1983, Aitken Spence is a responsible enterprise driven by over 14,000 employees across 16 industries in 8 countries. Creating opportunities for Sri Lanka across new frontiers, Aitken Spence PLC is an organisation committed to the development of Sri Lanka.
Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2019
- Top Ten Best Corporate Citizens
- Sector Award– Diversified Holdings
- Triple Bottom Line Award – Environment (Planet)
- Category Award – Environmental Commitment
- Category Award – Environmental Integration
- Category Award – Environment Beyond the Business
- Consistent Commitment and Continuous Improvement Award – Employee Relations
- Consistent Commitment and Continuous Improvement Award – Community Relations
- Consistent Commitment and Continuous Improvement Award – Customer Relations
- Consistent Commitment and Continuous Improvement Award – Environmental Commitment
- Consistent Commitment and Continuous Improvement Award – Environmental Integration
- Consistent Commitment and Continuous Improvement Award – Environment Beyond the Business
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