8.7
Scope of the reporting

This report offers an overview of the main developments and the performance of Accell Group in 2017 and is based on subjects highly material to Accell Group. All the reported data pertain to the 2017 financial year that ran from 1 January to 31 December. Non-financial data is reported for the period 1 December 2016 to 30 November 2017.

Reporting framework and data collection

With this integrated report, we demonstrate how our efforts on both financial and non-financial fronts enhance each other. How our focus on both profit and on people & planet ensures long-term value creation.  The financial data in this report is generated by a standardised and automated reporting system. The internal control system safeguards the reliability of these financial data. The external auditor also audits the financial statements that are part of this report. In doing so, the external auditor also determined whether the notes to the financial performances in the report are a fair representation of the financial statements.

The data related to corporate social responsibility is collected once a year. The collected data and reporting is not verified by the external auditor. In 2017, the sustainability-related data collection covered 98% of Accell Group’s operations. This percentage is determined by dividing the number of employees of the companies from which data is collected by the total number of employees. The quantitative and qualitative information related to corporate social responsibility is based on qualitative interviews and quantitative data requests submitted to the managers responsible for CSR at our companies. The team responsible for CSR at group level checks the data by means of a plausibility check. The various business units and staff departments then review and check the contents of the report.

Deviations from the 2016 sustainability report

While collecting data for 2017, we found that a number of statements for 2016 with respect to energy consumption, CO₂ emissions and waste were missing. This information has been adjusted in the database, and this report reflects the corrected data for 2016. As a result, some tables may deviate from those published in the 2016 annual report. This decision was made to ensure we provide a correct picture of the developments across the years.