Aitken Spence bags ‘Best Corporate Citizen Award’

Aitken Spence bagged the ‘Best Corporate Citizen Award 2012’ at the annual Best Corporate Citizen Award ceremony organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce at a gala awards banquet held at the Cinnamon Grand last night.

Singer (Sri Lanka) became the First Runner Up while Ceylon Biscuits Limited was the Second Runner Up.

National Development Bank was the Winner in the less than Rs. 15 b turnover category. Standard Chartered Bank and People’s Leasing Company became the First and the Second Runners Up in the same category.  

The 10 Best Corporate Citizens were Aitken Spence, Ceylon Biscuits Limited, Diesel & Motor Engineering, HSBC, National Development Bank, People’s Leasing Company, Singer (Sri Lanka), Sri Lanka Telecom, Standard Chartered Bank, and Unilever Sri Lanka.

Aitken Spence also bagged two sector awards for Environment and Economic Contribution and Governance while the sector award for Social: People and CSR was won by Singer (Sri Lanka).

The awards ceremony also recognised organisations excelling in diverse areas in business and the category award for Employee Relations was won by Ceylon Biscuits Limited, while Singer (Sri Lanka) carried off the awards for both Customer and Supplier Relations and Community Relations and CSR.

The Economic Contribution Award was won by Sri Lanka Telecom and Financial Performance Award was won by Aitken Spence. Diesel & Motor Engineering was awarded the category award for Governance and Reporting.

The EU SWITCH-Asia Greening Hotels Awards 2012 was also presented at the event. Heritance Tea Factory won the award for the Best Green Hotel in recognition of outstanding commitment to enhance environmental performance in the Large Hotels and Boutique Hotels category while Siddhalepa Ayurveda Health Resort won the Best Green Hotel award in the SME Hotels category.

Heritance Tea Factory was also the Energy Conservation Champion in the Large Hotels and Boutique Hotels category while Siddhalepa Ayurveda Health Resort won the award for the SME Hotels category. Cinnamon Lodge Habarana was the Water Conservation Champion in the Large Hotels and Boutique Hotels category and Jetwing St. Andrew’s bagged the award in the SME Hotels category. Jetwing Sea and Jetwing Ayurveda Pavilion were the Waste Management Champions in the Large Hotels and Boutique Hotels category and SME Hotel Category respectively.

A number of hotels received merit certificates for their measures in energy, water and waste management. The competition was open to all hotels registered with the GSLH Project. The applicants were evaluated under two categories: Large (with more than 50 rooms) and Boutique Hotels as the first category and SME Hotels (with 50 or less rooms) as the second category.

The award aims to recognise and reward the hotels that have achieved enhanced environmental performance through implementation of energy, water and waste management measures, to encourage more hotels to join the project and to encourage implementation of such practices in the tourist hotel industry in Sri Lanka.

Business@Biodiversity Platform, a tool to foster dialogue on business and biodiversity, was also launched at the event. It is set up by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, together with IUCN, with financial support from Dilmah Conservation.

In the past few years, Sri Lanka has developed rapidly and extensively. This drive in economic expansion often comes at the expense of environmental wellbeing. Yet, all businesses depend on healthy and diverse ecosystems to provide the resources necessary for running a profitable trade.

In order to maintain a healthy balance between nature and development, it is necessary to work together with technical experts and other businesses towards the conservation of Sri Lanka’s rich biodiversity.

Launching the platform Harin Malwatte, Secretary General/CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, stated: “This facility that we are launching today is to bring businesses together to share experiences and best practices, learn from their peers and technical experts, and voice their needs and concerns, aiming to strengthen the link between the business sector and biodiversity conservation. The modalities of the platform are currently being developed and the end result is to provide a ‘one-stop shop’ where businesses can go to meet their needs on awareness, conservation and CSR.”

Applications for the Best Corporate Citizen Award 2013 Best CSR Projects will be called in July 2013. More information on the Award can be obtained at www.chamber.lk or on +94 115588823.