NH ROOM 4 SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

NH Hotel Group carries out its hotel activity with the ambition of spearheading responsible behaviour, creating shared value at the economic, social and environmental level wherever it is present. With this philosophy, in 2019 the Company has worked on drawing up the new Strategic Plan, thus giving continuance to the former plan, in which one of the pillars is NH ROOM4 Sustainable Business, which is a key part of the Company’s global strategy.

The strategic vision of NH ROOM4 Sustainable Business is in turn based on three fundamental management levers: NH ROOM4 People, NH ROOM4 Planet and NH ROOM4 Responsible Shared Success, all in the framework of the same premise of sustainable and ethical principles, culture of responsibility and citizenship spirit.

Convinced that it is going in the right direction to achieve its next goals regarding sustainability, the Company is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to which it can contribute and is therefore committed to continue creating long-term value globally, in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

NH ROOM4 SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL

For NH Hotel Group, the strategy is based on “ROOM4 a better world”.

In line with this strategy, management of the Company’s corporate responsibility, NH ROOM4 Sustainable Business, is articulated around three lines of action: NH ROOM4 People, NH ROOM4 Planet and NH ROOM4 Responsible Shared Success:

NH Hotel Group promotes internal professional development and creates social projects in the communities where it is present.

NH Hotel Group is committed to the environment and shows it through sustainable products, reduction in consumption and the fight against climate change.

NH Hotel Group conveys human rights, ethical and business principles in the way it works throughout its value chain -customers, owners and suppliers – by promoting responsible alliances.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Management of the Sustainable Strategy
Organization structure focused on Sustainable Business, to ensure implementation of the strategy.

Accountability
Reporting on sustainability and sustainable business as an opportunity for continuous improvement and monitoring, as well as the demand for transparency.

Corporate Governance & Compliance
With the aim of conveying the ethical and responsible business principles and the commitment to Human Rights that guide the way NH Hotel Group works.

CITIZENSHIP MINDSET

In their everyday activity, each employee can do things in the most sustainable way with a citizenship mindset.

Activation of a fluid communication style and the recognition of the responsible and sustainable commitment of employees.

Volunteering is the key to the rollout of the sustainable business commitment with employees. Without their participation, no initiative would have the desired impact. NH Hotel Group is made up of people who are passionate about service, and that is its strength.

Customers

Providing a unique experience and innovative range of services and involving customers in NH Hotel Group’s sustainable and responsible projects.

Suppliers

Establishing effective dialogue with suppliers to develop innovative and sustainable solutions.
Continuing to increase social and environmental criteria in partner selection.

Alliances

Promoting long-term alliances with all kind of organizations: other companies, public administrations, non-profit organizations, multilateral bodies…

Employees

Promotion of equality of opportunities to be recognized a leading company in diversity.

Community

Youth employment
Investment in training and career support for young people, especially those who are in an underprivileged situation.
Hotels with a Heart
Continuing to use the potential of NH Hotel Group as a hotel chain to provide accommodation for hospitalized children and their families.

Climate Change

The fight against climate change as core of strategic planning at business level and for NH Hotel Group’s risk management.

Energy and Water

Increasing and improving production of green energy with onsite facilities, renewable energy sources and water optimization.

Waste and Circular Economy

Working with suppliers to create opportunities and synergies in circular economy.

NH Hotel Group, recognized as one of the most sustainable companies in the sector in the world

In 2019, NH Hotel Group participated for the first time voluntarily in the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) 2019 carried out by the sustainable investment agency SAM. The assessment generates a world ranking in sustainable performance by Companies in different sectors.

The Company achieved a fourth place in the ranking, standing out as one of the most sustainable leaders in the sector compared to the companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. This result consolidates NH Hotel Group as one of the benchmark companies for sustainability in the industry worldwide and confirms NH Hotel Group’s strong position in social, environmental and economic performance, highlighting two criteria in which it is in the 100 percentile: tax strategy and environmental reporting.

Driven by this assessment, NH Hotel Group is carrying out an Action Plan 2020 in which areas for improvement and opportunities have been identified to reinforce the Company’s commitment, so that all our actions have a positive impact, economically, socially and environmentally.

Presence of NH Hotel Group in Sustainability Indices

Since 2013, NH Hotel Group has been included in the FTSE4GOOD index, renewing its presence year after year thanks to the responsible management of the business and the improvements made. The index was created by the London Stock Exchange to help investors integrate environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors in decision making.

NH Hotel Group has been included for the first time in the Bloomberg gender-equality index and is the only Spanish hotel company among the 325 companies included in the index.

The Company has obtained its best results in salary equality and parity, thanks to its compensation policies based on general equality and on its fight against the pay gap. This has confirmed aspects that were already known, such as the positive presence of women at all levels of responsibility in the Company.

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NH Hotel Group has been a member of the Ethibel Sustainability Index since 2015. Ethibel is an index that brings together companies from different sectors that are leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility. The presence of NH Hotel Group shows the Company’s good performance, above the average for the sector, and acts as an incentive to Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) among investors and funds.

Carbon Disclosure Project recognizes the efforts made by leading global companies in the battle against climate change. In the last report dated January 2020, the Company obtained a rating of B in the annual ranking. With this rating, NH Hotel Group once again sees recognition of its pioneering vision to place sustainability as a strategic value that has acted as lever for value across the Group for more than a decade.

Materiality Analysis

The materiality analysis is key in NH Hotel Group’s Corporate Responsibility management process, both for reporting purposes and in defining the strategy, initiatives and the establishment of dialogue with stakeholders.

In 2019, NH Hotel Group has updated this analysis in order to define the contents of this Report and prioritize the relevant matters, based on the Materiality Study for 2018. This process has been carried out over three phases:

Identification

Material matters have been identified based on an analysis of internal and external sources that have made it possible to determine a preliminary list of relevant matters for NH Hotel Group and for its stakeholders.

Strategy and priorities for NH Hotel Group

Strategic Plan 2017-2019
Sustainable Business Strategy
Annual Report and materiality of NH Hotel Group 2018
Non-Financial Information Statement 2018

Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs

ODS en los que NH Hotel Group tiene impacto directo e indirecto y sus metas específicas.

Prescribers and trends in the sector

Key sustainability goals defined by the International Tourism Partnership (ITP)
SASB Materiality Map®
Sustainability Yearbook 2019 of SAM: key issues for the hotel sector
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) ranking – Climate Change

Social and sustainability trends

Social and CSR trends at global level, identified through the RADAR CANVAS, a methodology that identifies trends in reputation, sustainability, ethics and transparency, with emphasis on the tourism and hotel sector.

Subsequently, a semantic review of the matters has been carried out with the aim of linking similar concepts or areas and integrating them in the terms of NH Hotel Group and the hotel sector’s business approach. The matters have been grouped according to the different pillars of the Sustainable Business Strategy.

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PILLARS

NH HOTEL GROUP RELEVANT MATTERS 2019

Governance

Sustainable financial growth
Good practice in Corporate Governance
Ethical commitment and transparency
Protection of Human Rights
Management of financial, non-financial and emerging risks
Innovation and technology
Dialogue with stakeholders

NH ROOM4 People

Talent, training and professional development
Culture of equality, diversity and inclusion
Employee engagement
Health and wellbeing at work
Corporate volunteering
Positive impact on the local community and culture
Promotion of youth employment

NH ROOM4 Responsible
Shared Success

Sustainable alliances
Responsible and local value chain
Unique experiences for customers
Service quality and satisfaction
Fostering sustainability among customers

NH ROOM4 Planet

Green energy and energy efficiency
Responsible water management
Fight against Climate Change
Sustainable hotel services
Waste management and circular economy

Prioritisation

The material matters are prioritized on the basis of two variables:

Impact on the business. Importance of each matter in NH Hotel Group’s business activity, considering the strategy, trends in the sector, sectorial and sustainability prescribers, and the evaluation of the different areas of the Company that have relations with stakeholders, such as Communication and CSR, Human Resources, Environment or Procurement.
Impact on stakeholders. Importance of each matter among the different stakeholders based on the available information of NH Hotel Group, trends and social concerns, the UN Sustainable Development Goals –SDGs–, and the conversation in the media on these matters.

Validation and Materiality Matrix

The prioritization is validated internally by the Corporation Responsibility area of NH Hotel Group , with the aim of comparing the relevance of the material matters and their importance in relation to the business goals. This prioritization is used to draw up the Materiality Matrix for the Sustainable Business Report 2019, in line with the two axis of relevance: for NH Hotel Group’s activity and for its stakeholders. All the material matters identified have a relevance of more than 40%.

NH Hotel Group and the 2030 Agenda

For the purpose of focusing the business model on a hotel model that is committed to sustainable development, through the Sustainable Business Strategy, NH Hotel Group generates value for the different stakeholders in the places where it is present. In this context, the Company has impact and capacity of influence in a total of 11 Sustainable Development Goals.