In 2019, we conducted a new materiality study to ensure that our strategic direction continues to reflect the changing interests and expectations of our business leaders and stakeholders. We consulted stakeholders including, customers, employees, investors, policy makers, suppliers, industry associations, and NGO’s to understand their priorities and expectations.
To do this, we conducted an analysis of factors that affect our material impacts including:
- The material priorities generated through engagement with local stakeholders in our operating companies: Virgin Media, UPC, Telenet and VodafoneZiggo;
- A peer review of leading telecommunications companies and the issues they present as material for their businesses and their associated social impacts;
- General priorities defined by sustainability frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB);
- Material issues identified by ESG ratings and standards Global E-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) materiality report; and
- Identified our business impact on society (ESG) with cross functional team of experts in our operations.
We therefore recognize the top eight topics as key impacts to be addressed by our CR framework and strategy, as well as the focus of our sustainability reporting to stakeholders.
