Hanover has launched 360°, a pan-EMEA offering for businesses looking to embed sustainability practices within commercial strategy, public affairs and communications to drive meaningful change.
At a time when customers, media, shareholders and political stakeholders are all pressing for transformation, Hanover 360° brings together the combined expertise of the Group’s sustainability units and corporate divisions to help clients set out their vision and strategy coherently, and with urgency.
The offering will be led by Alison Woodhouse (UK), Barbara Cooreman (EU), and Gary Cleland.
Woodhouse, Head of Sustainability UK, has a background in energy and environment issues from roles across a range of government departments and NGOs. Her work at Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) included focus on renewables strategy and guiding the Energy Act 2013 through Parliament. Hanover’s UK team have supported clients such as Sky UK, Statkraft, Lucozade Ribena Suntory, Octopus Group, and Microsoft on their activity around net zero and sustainability.
Cooreman, Head of Sustainability EU, advises a wealth of clients across sectors, including tech, textiles, packaging, manufacturing, transport and energy on matters relating to European sustainability policy and international trade. Holding a PhD in environmental and trade law, she began her career in academia before moving to the Aerospace & Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) where she led and coordinated the association’s EU and international environmental and energy policy activities.
Cleland is Deputy Managing Director of Corporate at Hanover. He is a senior corporate communications professional and former national newspaper journalist with 15 years’ experience in corporate communications. He has designed and executed corporate reputation campaigns for brands and organisations including Barclays, Diageo, Samsung, Kimberly-Clark and Yahoo!
The launch of the 360° unit coincides with the launch of “Net Zero Unpacked”, a new report from Hanover which is an essential guide for businesses looking to better understand what Net Zero means in practice.
The report contains insights from leading companies including Apple, Lucozade Ribena Suntory, Facebook and Sky on how businesses are acting to support Net Zero.
Exclusive research, commissioned to launch the report [YouGov and Hanover Communications, Feb 20], highlights the need for business to lead the charge on sustainability, with 59% of Brits believing that climate change is the biggest risk to the Earth’s future – but a huge majority (65%) are not confident in the Government’s ability to do its bit to reduce the UK’s environmental impact.
Addressing sustainability issues is crucial to the future of UK businesses”, said Woodhouse.
“The message is increasingly clear that customers and shareholders want to see great business action on climate issues. Failure to address environmental and climate impact is rapidly becoming one of the biggest threats to a company’s reputation.
Meeting Net Zero will mean unravelling a hugely complex web of policy levers across all sectors – well beyond the ‘usual suspects’ of energy and transport,” she said.
Cooreman comments: “Consumers are looking carefully at their individual impact but need concerted efforts by industry and policy makers to come to real and lasting emission reductions. As the real drivers of innovation and change, industry needs to take the lead. Understanding what Net Zero means for different industries and sharing lessons and innovations across sectors is business critical. Those who don’t get involved will find themselves left behind.”
Stats summary
- 59% of Brits believe climate change is the biggest risk to the earth’s future.
- 60% of Brits believe that David Attenborough has had the biggest impact on the public’s understanding of climate change over the past five years.
- 65% of Brits are cutting down on their use of plastics and non-recyclable products.
- 65% of Brits are not confident the Government will meet its net zero target by 2050.
- Only 2% of Brits believe Government has had the biggest impact on the public’s understanding of climate change.
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,694 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 9th – 10th February 2020. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
About Hanover
Hanover is one of Europe’s leading strategic communications and public affairs consultancies, with offices in London, Brussels, Dublin, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Hanover Group also includes creative communications agency The Playbook, and Multiple, a strategic consultancy which advises leaders of fast-growth businesses on scaling their capabilities, communities and companies.
Hanover Group has 180 full-time employees across Europe and 2018 revenue of approximately £19m. It has delivered consistent 25% top-line growth over the past four years.
Hanover provides a full suite of communications services to clients in healthcare, financial services, technology, energy, FMCG, industrial, sport, and education. Its blue-chip client list includes Goldman Sachs, Apple, Airbus, Microsoft, Warner Media, Sky, Lilly, Tata Steel and Shire.
Hanover is part of AVENIR GLOBAL, a global powerhouse of specialist communications firms.
