DMGT and Corporate Responsibility

Introduction

Operating through a large number of global businesses, DMGT's activities are diverse, with each separate business providing important channels of communication and media focus to different sections of society throughout the world.

The Group owes much of its success to the entrepreneurial ability of its management teams. Our businesses thrive by allowing local management to make local decisions in a local context, while benefiting from the global outlook and financial resources of the wider Group.

The success of DMGT's businesses owes so much to understanding and engaging with the communities that they serve. This allows them to identify the issues relevant to their customer base and to campaign effectively. This approach delivers benefits to a broad range of stakeholders.

THE AIM OF THIS REPORT

The following report provides more detail of divisional activities focused around key impact areas of Corporate Responsibility (CR):

• Environment
• Waste
• Sustainability
• Employees
• Customers
• Suppliers
• Community

Reported here is a summary of our activities in this area. There is a dedicated section on the Group website, www.dmgt. co.uk, with further information available that is updated regularly.

We welcome your feedback. Please send any comments to: investor.relations@dmgt.co.uk.

Responsibility for this area lies with the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, a sub-committee of the Board which is the forum at which corporate responsibility is discussed. The Committee's remit is to oversee DMGT's environmental, waste, sustainability, employee, customer, supplier and community practices. The Board has policies in place on equal opportunities, whistle-blowing, health and safety, the environment and in July adopted a Group Code of Conduct. Overall responsibility for CSR at Board level lies with the Chairman of the CSR Sub-Committee, Mr Dutton. All of these policies are set out on the DMGT Intranet.

ENVIRONMENT

Our main focus is managing the impact of our printing centres – five in the U.K. and two in Hungary. The key environmental impacts are waste generation (particularly waste newsprint), energy use, measured as part of our Carbon Footprint, and paper purchasing.

The direct environmental impact from our office-based divisions is relatively low. Our offices around the world practise paper recycling; there are also schemes in place for the recycling of plastic, glass, toner cartridges, mobile phones and IT equipment. All printing centres have environmental management policies. The use of energy, newsprint, ink and plates and waste disposal have cost implications and are, therefore, managed for reasons of good business sense, as well as to reduce their environmental impact.

Newsprint production waste, as a percentage of total newspaper output, has fallen this year. Newsprint production is measured and reported to divisional board meetings on a monthly basis. Target percentages for waste paper are set for each product printed. This percentage varies according to certain criteria, such as the numbers of copies required and edition changes. Actual waste volumes are compared against budgeted levels, with the results reviewed monthly at the appropriate board level.

100% of production paper waste is recycled.

DMGT's carbon footprint

We have employed ICF International to carry out a Carbon Footprint Analysis across DMGT. This exercise has been undertaken every year since 2006 using the widely recognised GHG protocol methodology developed by the World Resource Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. All DMGT divisions and countries of operations are covered. The emission sources included in the Carbon Footprint are the following:

• Scope 1 emissions: direct emissions
  • Buildings gas and fuel consumptions;
  • Company owned vehicles;
  • Refrigerant gas losses.
• Scope 2 emissions: indirect emissions resulting from the use of electricity
• Scope 3 emissions: other indirect emissions
  • Business travel – air, car, rail;
  • Outsourced delivery activities.

This year, we updated the emissions factors used to calculate DMGT's emissions based on the latest figures provided by the GHG protocol methodology and the U.K. Government guidelines. As part of this process, we have revised previous years' footprints as per the methodology recommendations.

Due to a number of structural changes that took place within DMGT recently, we also revised the baseline (2007) and the historical emissions so as to reflect disposals and acquisitions that have occurred since the baseline has been established.

As a result of both the emission factors update and the consideration of structural changes, DMGT's historical emissions have changed since last year. The following table summarises the changes:

Emissions (tCO2)	2006	2007	2008
Emissions from original calculations	113,900	118,600	118,200
Revised emissions considering structural and emission factors changes	119,300	121,500	121,600

This year, we calculated that the Group's Carbon Footprint was 110,700 tonnes of CO₂, a decrease of about 10,800 tonnes (9%) compared to the baseline (121,500 tCO₂). About 15% of this total corresponds to Scope 1 emissions, 62% Scope 2 emissions and 23% Scope 3 emissions.

The reduction in emissions comes from the fact that some offices and printing sites closed during the year and that printing output has decreased. But it also reflects new travel policies and energy efficiency measures that have been implemented across the Group (in particular in printing facilities which represent an important part of our footprint).

DMGT is committed to reducing its emissions and we have embarked upon a comprehensive strategy to manage our Carbon Footprint. The Group has committed to reducing its Footprint by 10% from the baseline year of 2007 by the end of 2012.

Sustainability

We believe that the issues surrounding sustainability offer our businesses opportunities, aligning our interests with those of society as a whole. We are continually investigating how to employ more sustainable practices.

Employees

DMGT is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to creating a positive working environment for employees within the Group. DMGT is organised into a number of autonomous businesses, each with their own policies and practices across a range of employee issues. Training and development is taken seriously across DMGT.

Internal communication

A variety of approaches to staff communications exist within the Group, including:

• A Group-wide intranet, DMGT Connect, supported by numerous intranets within each business;
• A DMGT Chief Executive blog, begun in October 2009;
• Regular communication events and briefings;
• Face-to-face meetings;
• Programmes related to specific key events (such as major changes in operations or equipment);
• Regular staff e surveys in many of our businesses, providing employees with opportunities to suggest areas of improvement.

Health and safety

A health and safety policy applies across DMGT, endeavouring to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees, and all others who could be affected by its activities.

Across the Group there are many examples of good practice, health and safety management systems, the use of independent consultants and initiatives focused on business-specific health and safety risk areas. An example of health and safety good practice is at Associated Newspapers, which has a policy designed to work with OHSAS 18001 the Occupational Health and Safety Standard.

Health and safety is particularly critical in our printing press facilities, all of which have appropriate policies and ongoing management and monitoring programmes.

As in recent years the Group has had no fines or prosecutions for health and safety failures over the last 12 months.

While the Chief Executive has overall responsibility for health and safety matters throughout DMGT, day-to-day responsibility is devolved to the managing directors of each division.

Customers

Editorial standards

There are a number of standard-setting bodies that have established codes to which DMGT's consumer media divisions adhere.

The main code for the Group's U.K. newspapers is established and monitored by the Press Complaints Commission. The newspapers also adhere to the Code of Practice of Newspaper and Magazine Publishing. dmg radio complies with the Australian Communications and Media Authority Codes of Conduct and the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice and Broadcasting Services Act.

Responding to reader, viewer and listener needs

Remaining in touch with the diverse groups who make up our communities, so as to reflect their interests and champion their causes, is critical to DMGT's success.

Reader, viewer and listener satisfaction is monitored and handled in a number of ways, including timely responses to complaints, readership surveys and other processes to receive feedback actively from customers.

Within the established editorial framework, editors and journalists have the freedom to operate as appropriate. Compliance with editorial standards is strictly monitored within the divisions in several ways, including compliance committees, editorial responsibility, compliance audits and training.

Suppliers

We are aware of the responsibility we have along the supply chain, in particular for newsprint, one of our largest purchases. We continually review the environmental credentials of paper suppliers and the sourcing of their products.

Where virgin fibres are used in paper manufacture, we require that the forests are certified either by the Forest Stewardship Council or the Pan European Forestry Commission, both of which run schemes that provide credible guarantees that the product comes from well managed forests.

DMGT sources its paper mainly from European mills, all of which hold the environmental management standard ISO14001. In line with the Newspaper Industry Materials Committee policy, the Group sources 64.1% of its virgin fibre products from managed sources.

Some of our businesses have a Supplier Policy: for example Landmark Information's policy states that the company believes in sourcing goods and services from suppliers who operate in an ethical way. A&N Media aims to acquire goods and services from reputable companies with a sound financial and ethical background, ensuring where possible goods are obtained from sustainable sources.

We aim to work with organisations that share our principles and aspirations.

Community

Community involvement is integral to our business, as well as to the personal motivation of our employees. We donate money, time and in-kind donations such as radio airtime and advertising space, and staff actively give time to activities, including fundraising and acting as trustees.

The use of media channels and activities for fundraising is driven through participation in the communities that we serve and the concerns and contributions of our audience.

Group charitable donations are allocated by a Charities Committee at DMGT, as well as being made on a smaller scale by divisional and local management. The Committee prefers to make donations to media and local charities where there is an employee representative who will sponsor and report back on the impact the allocation has had.

* This is based on restated figures resulting from an update of the emission factors used to calculate DMGT’s emissions and the consideration of structural changes that took place in the past years.

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