Gammon becomes the first Asian company to be assessed against ISO 20400 sustainable procurement standard

Gammon Construction Limited (Gammon) has become the first Asian company to be assessed to ISO 20400 standard on sustainable procurement.

“We have proactively managed the environmental and social impacts of our supply chains for many years”, Gammon’s Head of Procurement Susan Siu said. “The recent publication of ISO 20400 was a fantastic opportunity to benchmark our current management framework with global best practice, understand our strengths, but also identify areas for improvement.”

The assessment was conducted by third-party evaluators Action Sustainability, who played a leadership role in developing the standard at the Australian, UK and global levels.

Commenting on ISO 20400, Action Sustainability’s director Jean-Louis Haie said: “With this new standard, you have access to a robust framework that covers all areas of procurement and supply chain management, from strategic to operational. You are actually fully equipped to drive your business strategy on sustainable procurement.”

ISO 20400 was developed by around 50 nations, in liaison with international organisations such as the United Nations and the OECD, through a four-year consultation process. “The way it was developed is a guarantee of its global relevance” Haie said. “When you use this standard, you know that it applies to all your business units and suppliers, regardless of their region, industry and size.”

Leader in Hong Kong and the Asia region
“We are extremely proud to be the first company in Asia assessed against ISO 20400,” Emma Harvey, Gammon Group Sustainability Manager said. “The assessment itself was thorough, practical and coherent. It enabled us to understand how procurement and sustainability could work more efficiently and effectively together so that we can deliver even more value to our business and our clients responsibly”.

Gammon is known in Hong Kong and Asia for its sustainability leadership. It was the first Hong Kong-based construction company to release a publicly available sustainability report in 2003. Since then, it won several sustainability awards, including “Asia’s Best Supply Chain Reporting” award at the 2015 Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards.

Innovation is a major driver for Gammon. “As a procurement team, we are constantly looking for new, innovative ways to respond to business needs and of course our suppliers are key partners in this process”, Susan Siu said. “Using a best practice framework such as ISO 20400 is a way to better identify and manage sustainability and innovations in our supply chains. We think this is how we will maintain our competitive edge and leadership in the construction market”.

For more information on ISO 20400, please visit www.iso20400.org.