One of our core values is our belief in the importance of acting responsibly and sustainably in everything we do. It was and remains something close to the heart of LA founder, John Lees, who pursued a variety of environmental projects during his tenure at the practice. Our sustainability value publicly declares that:

We recognise and act on our environmental and social responsibilities: reducing waste, embracing sustainable innovation and leading by example.

We are therefore proud to be members of PRIME - a collective of responsible businesses who operate in the prime property market and “share a commitment to making continuous improvements to meet the needs of the present, by generating valuable, positive and sustainable impacts on the environment and on the communities they serve.”

PRIME functions as a forum for member companies to share ideas, best practices and lessons learned, and provides a structure and instils the necessary discipline to ensure we remain focused on our sustainability goals.

To make a genuine difference at such an important time for our planet and our community, we have pledged to support and adhere to the PRIME Principles for sustainable business.

It is our intention that six simple Principles will come, in time, to serve as the backbone upon which our business is built, empowering our colleagues and ensuring that our families and children will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labours in generations to come.

Those Principles are:

1) Being Environmentally Better

2) Embracing Sustainable Innovation

3) Spreading the Word

4) Delivering Impact

5) Making a Difference

6) Being Accountable

Every year we are scored on our performance under each Principle against set criteria and indicative behaviours. If one year we only repeat the measures we implemented the previous year, our score goes down. To maintain our score we have to be able to demonstrate that we have implemented or achieved more than we did before. This provides the incentive we need to keep looking for new and innovative solutions, processes and products that will make a real difference to us, our community and, crucially, to the projects we work on, which is where we can have the biggest impact.

The PRIME Principles do not offer a ‘set and forget’, or ‘checkbox’ opportunity for us to show off our sustainability credentials.  By their nature, they are tough, and achieving a high score is not going to be easy.  We absolutely aspire, however, for each of these six Principles to become pervasive within our culture as a business, so we’re going to try and make that so.

Find out more about the PRIME Principles and how they can help you to achieve sustainable business beyond the balance sheet at https://weareprime.org.