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Corporate sustainability assessments

Sustainability materiality assessments

Materiality assessments

Do you know where to start with sustainability? Are you trying to work out which economic, environmental, and social issues are most important to your business? Grain can help you:

  • Map internal and external stakeholders and listen to their views
  • Identify and prioritise sustainability topics that are most relevant to your business and sector
  • Benchmark against peers and competitors

What does a materiality assessment involve?

A materiality assessment is the process of identifying and prioritising relevant topics.

This starts with research, helping us understand your organisation, where you are in your sustainability journey, your sector, and your value chain. A key aspect of materiality is engaging your stakeholders and gathering their views. This provides a holistic view of your organisation, allowing us to identify issues and priorities for your business.

A materiality assessment is a crucial first step in your strategic process. We like to think of it as the foundation of sustainability strategy and everything that follows, from goal-setting to reporting and communications.

Why assess corporate sustainability?

The concept of materiality has its roots in financial disclosures: the notion that investors have a right to information relevant to their investment decisions.

The idea that companies must disclose more than financial information, and not only to investors but to a wide range of stakeholders in society, originated with the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) arose out of this tragic event, and along with it a new concept of materiality in the sustainability disclosure context.

GRI defines material topics as ‘those that have a direct or indirect impact on an organization’s ability to create, preserve or erode economic, environmental and social value for itself, its stakeholders and society at large.’

What will a sustainability assessment provide?

Grain sees materiality assessments as a powerful tool for you to champion people and the planet.

A materiality assessment developed by Grain will provide:

  • A clear view of your most relevant issues and opportunities for change
  • A shared vision of issues of importance to your organisation and all your stakeholders
  • Insight on where to allocate resources in the short and long terms
  • A strong foundation for strategy and sustainability action
  • A reference point to review and update as you progress in your sustainability journey

We’re here to guide you through and get your organisation on track for a more sustainable future.

Why work with Grain?

To continually improve our services, we engage a third-party consultant to interview our clients. Here’s what they say.

  • Grain has a deep understanding of sustainability measures and frameworks
  • Grain’s work has a positive impact on employees, customers, and suppliers
  • Grain is able to engage with a wide variety of stakeholders, from C-suite all the way through
  • Grain understands and interprets the data and what it means to clients
  • Grain is able to be critical in a positive way — a ‘critical friend’

Our materiality work

Building in green space

Pegasus Group

Integrating sustainability into a planning and development consultancy

“Grain is a very valuable and trusted partner. They have quickly and fully grasped our complex organization, our ambition to become a more sustainable company and what is at stake for us. We have really moved our green journey in the right direction with their guidance and support. Also, they are always positive and a pleasure to work with — something not to take for granted!”
Sophia KazoglouGlobal Communication & Sustainability Manager, Nordic Pharma
“Pegasus had a challenge in identifying how sustainability could be measured within the industry and our own organisation. We decided that partnering up with Grain was without a doubt the best option. They had all the expertise in sustainability and in undertaking all the necessary research that we really valued and were able to offer the in-depth detail we were looking for. We were able to pull together a Sustainability Strategy for the future of Pegasus with positive results. Grain provided value for money and continue to stay connected regularly. We would happily return to Grain for future guidance and advice.”
Sam KerbyChief Finance and Group Services Executive Officer, Pegasus Group
"We chose Grain to support us, initially due to our shared values and passions for the people and the planet. However, the support that we received was so much more than we were expecting. Their in-depth knowledge and understanding of the B Corp process was incredible and their ability to simplify the most confusing of questions was invaluable. I believe that their input hugely reduced the time we spent on the application, allowing us to really focus on the areas we needed to research and work on. The end result seemed so out of reach, but Grain helped us make this a reality — and we’ve made some great friends along the way."
Victoria WattsDirector of Operations, Xytal
“Grain has been the driving force to move Rupert’s sustainability programme from good intentions and high-level policy to more integrated reporting systems and management tools. The work with Grain identified the key material issues faced by the business, areas where we were doing well and others where we were deficient. It was important for us to work with a group with experience outside the extractives sector to provide some external perspective on the mining industry.”
Thomas CredlandHead of Corporate Development, Rupert Resources
“Plastics Europe recently defined a new purpose and strategy revolving around sustainability. We chose Grain to support us in articulating our strategy and to reflect it in a rebranding, with a new logo and visual identity, strapline, website including copywriting and marketing materials. Their work helped us gain consensus with many stakeholder groups, repositioning Plastics Europe and providing us with new tools for effective engagement and communication.”
Sylvie AitkenCommunications Director, Plastics Europe
“Working with Grain brought clarity and direction to our energy and enthusiasm, giving us a laser-focus on the key topics, approaches, and opportunities that would allow us to make the most positive impact possible.”
Josh PitmanManaging Director, Priory Direct
“Grain have been invaluable during our B Corp journey, providing us with clarity and support throughout. They have helped us recognise our achievements to date and guided our social and environmental plans for the future. Using their knowledge and experience, Madelyn and her team have ensured that our B Corp submission is the strongest it could be. But most importantly, they have inspired us to be a better practice for our team, for our clients and for everyone who lives, works and visits our buildings and neighbourhoods.”
Denise HeseltineDirector, Mæ Architects
“As a multi-generational family business established in 1947, here at Sharon Lee we have always put people first. We wanted to become a more sustainable company and to be able to communicate that to our customers. We chose to work with Grain because of their experience in fashion, and we’re very happy with the results, particularly the sustainability report which clearly sets out our goals and achievements.”
Danny ButterfieldManaging Director, Sharon Lee
“Grain Sustainability have been invaluable in the creation and growth of Sustainable Amersham, from setting up the website and email account to assisting with social media output, and guiding those of us who are less tech savvy! Their knowledge and ability to communicate with the public has been incredibly helpful and enabled us to build the organistion from a small group of friends concerned about the environment to an organisation with 150 members, 665 followers on Instagram and 570 members of our Facebook group. We are very grateful for their ongoing input.”
Anne FulleloveSecretary, Sustainable Amersham

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