In particular, it was the Group's environmental commitment which has been adopted across the businesses which stood out for particular praise and won the Group top acolade in the category 'Business Strategy Engagement'.
Companies cannot put themselves forward or be nominated for the Strategic HR Awards, which are made by law firm Moore Blatch solely after research involving more than 4,500 companies in the South of England and a validation process involving 12 professional institutes and academics.
Paul Whitaker, partner at Moore Blatch explained why Fourfront won the award: "It’s all very well having ISO accreditation, but without buy-in from its people, how core to the business is that environmental commitment? Fourfront Group, is a perfect example of how it should be done. They are the first in their sector to be not just carbon neutral, but carbon negative".
Paul continues "The starting point was that their environment beliefs had to come from Fourfront Group being a sustainable business in its own right. So they invested in an Environment Director and their own in-house environmental training, so that employees champion the cause rather than simply delivering it. In addition to communicating the ethos, for designers, the emphasis is on environmentally sound specification; for project managers, the way to set up sites correctly to minimise environmental impact. And the monthly green bulletin produced by the company for its staff charts initiatives employees are taking, fresh ideas, legislation change, and new products."
Clive Lucking, Fourfront Group Managing Director, said: "We are delighted to win this award in recognition of how everyone across our business has embraced and supported our Group environmental stance. 2011 has seen the Group win numerous awards including being voted Top 60 at The Sunday Times Best Green Companies 2011. We continue to be market leaders in providing sustainable commercial interiors and look forward to developing further initiatives over coming months."
