Murphy publishes 2021 ESG Report

J. Murphy & Sons Limited, a leading specialist engineering and construction company, has today published its 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, outlining the Group’s commitment to deliver a greener, cleaner Murphy community. The full report can be accessed on Murphy’s website at: https://www.murphygroup.com/about-murphy/who-we-are/publications

Murphy’s purpose is to improve life by delivering world-class infrastructure across the transportation, water and energy sectors in the UK, Ireland and Canada. Murphy is in full support of all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and aligns with SDGs 3, 7, 8, 9 and 13, where the Group can make the greatest positive impact.

• 43% emissions reduction since our journey began in 2009
• 6% of electricity renewable
• 100% of timber purchased from certified, sustainable forests
• 44% of company car fleet electric / hybrid

• 42% reduction in lost time injury rate
• 25% of employees from underrepresented groups
• £200k in charitable donations

John Murphy, CEO of J. Murphy & Sons Limited, commented:

“I am pleased to say that in 2021 our vision to be the leading family-owned construction business in the three geographies in which we work when we celebrate our 75th anniversary in 2026 has remained as steadfast as ever, despite the well-documented global and industry challenges.

“The reason for this is simple; our strategy is founded on our people and social value, collaboratively working with our clients, being safe and sustainable, driving continuous improvement in engineering and delivery excellence, and in turn enabling consistently strong financial performance.

“Our business model has also remained consistent, with self-delivery at its core. We have continued to strengthen our senior leadership team, and through our Brilliant Basics initiatives we are delivering the fundamentals better: to improve productivity and deliver operational excellence across all our construction activities.

“At the core of this, our focus on long term sustainable growth is enabling us to make great strides in our commitment to deliver a greener, cleaner Murphy community, and ensure the two are mutually inclusive.”

Murphy recognises that it has a vital role to play in enabling climate action and we have set ourselves the ambition of being a net zero carbon business by 2030 and carbon positive by 2050.

We are continuing to work towards our net zero carbon emissions’ goal aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi); reducing fuel use by 30% in 2021, minimising waste by diverting more than 99% from landfill, investing more than £21m in green plant and equipment throughout the year, and developing increasingly low carbon engineering solutions.

We also rolled out our 10 Steps to 10% campaign – a Murphy-wide fossil fuel reduction campaign targeting a 10% reduction in fossil fuel use through behavioural change and increased efficiency.

Murphy’s support for local communities is stronger than ever; we have offered more apprenticeships in 2021 and taken an active role in the UK government’s Kickstart Scheme to create jobs for 16-24-year olds, and support the long-term unemployed.

We launched our Murphy Roots education and tree planting initiative with 50 schools across the UK, given free volunteering days for our colleagues to engage with the communities they work in, and generated charitable donations for many good causes, including the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).

We have also taken a lead role in the Ministry of Justice’s Employment Advisory Board programme within HM Prisons to ensure prison-leavers are job ready upon release and are offered a second chance.

Climate action and social value are key elements of our Murphy at 75 business strategy, with specific objectives, targets and action plans associated with each.

These targets were set by our Group Executive Committee and approved by Murphy’s Board of Directors in July 2020, as part of the annual review process of our business strategy and business plan. Our sole shareholder, Drilton Limited, also approved the Murphy at 75 business strategy in November 2020 as part of our governance process.

The Group Executive Committee and the Board of Directors review the performance of the business against its climate action and social value objectives and targets in the annual review of business strategy and plan, and approve any changes.

2021 ESG Report – https://www.murphygroup.com/media/luupow1a/murphy-esg-report-2021.pdf

2021 ESG highlights video – https://youtu.be/WjgUfzdYvOI