Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

We care about being a place where everyone is treated with the same respect and has equal access to career opportunities. We let people be who they are so they can be their best selves. Notably, we are working in the following areas:

• Gender parity: In the hospitality sector, women represent a large part of the workforce. Since 2020, we have been actively tracking and increasing the proportion of women employees, including in management positions. For example, we significantly improved our female representation at co-Group level, from 17% at the end of June 2021, to 33% at the end of June 2022.

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• Diversity and inclusion: At B&B HOTELS, we are committed to fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace so that each and every person in our community feels welcome. People have been and always will be at the heart of everything we do. We want to train our teams in Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) cognitive bias via self-learning modules. This initiative perfectly embodies one of the Group’s historical values. Furthermore, our Spanish subsidiary has launched an initiative promoting affinity groups, where co-workers are encouraged to connect around shared experiences, such as the LGBTIQ community group, and common interests such as travel and sport.
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• Accessibility: B&B HOTELS is committed to making our workplace and in-hotel stays easier for people with disabilities. To support our progress in this area, we have partnered with the adapted and protected work sector (AGEFIP), in France, and in Italy, Village4All is already helping us target our efforts.

At B&B HOTELS, we want our people to feel good at work, and that means respecting, understanding, and inspiring each other. It also means fulfilling potential, and career advancement. We try to help everyone on their path.

• Training and development programs: our employees are invited to use an e-learning platform to learn about management techniques, law and regulation compliance, and to practice foreign languages.
  In 2021, we launched a Talent Management Program to work on internal promotion and talent acquisition, among other areas.

• Well-being at work: We create opportunities to reinforce well-being at work with initiatives such as team‐building, brainstorming 'Away Days' in Germany and Inspirational workshops in Spain. We monitor our progress by conducting employee satisfaction surveys every year in Spain and every two years in Germany.
   

As a company and as a group of people, it is important that we look out for each other. This includes practical considerations, such as accidents and hazards, but also inconsiderate and harmful behaviours. It is our responsibility to make sure everyone across our organisation, at every level, feels safe in their workplace. To this end, we are dedicated to the following aims:

• Across our locations we have set up B&B HOTELS alert: a whistleblowing website and phone line that our guests, employees and hotels partners can use to report any issues, or any situations that may make you feel uncomfortable. In France, employees have access to a local listening and psychological support center.

• In-hotel safety: To improve in-hotel safety in France and in Italy, we encourage hotels with defibrillators and/or members trained in performing cardiac massage to inform the local community that they can count on them in an emergency. While in Spain, thanks to an agreement with Quiron salud, if a customer needs help during their stay, our teams can quickly reach out to a doctor or a clinic through a dedicated online platform.

• At-work safety: To ensure at-work safety, our teams not only benefit from yearly fire training, but we also started and will continue to raise awareness on B&B HOTELS’ anti-harassment policies, which encompass issues related to emotional (moral) and sexual harassment.

We are determined to do better by our planet whenever we have the opportunity to do so, but we simply can't do it alone. This is why we are striving to not only improve the way we work and purchase, but also to involve our guests, hotels partners and suppliers in our environmental aims, too.

• Carbon footprint: in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, we have started measuring our carbon footprint per hotel per client per night to help us define the best course of action for its reduction.

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• Use of resources: We are already making progress in three areas related to optimising our resources:
  1. We are promoting the use of renewable energy:
     - In France, electricity used in 78% of our hotels is generated entirely by renewable sources from 100% hydroelectric plants.
     - In Italy and Germany, 100% of electricity used in our hotels is green.
     - In Spain, 20% of our hotels are outfitted with solar panels.
  2. We are acting to save water: 100% of our hotels in Germany and the majority of our hotels in other countries are outfitted with water-limitation equipment. We have also started giving our guests the choice to refuse housekeeping service.
  3. We are reducing plastic usage: we plan to have zero single-use plastic in hotel rooms by the end of December 2022.
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• Materials: we are developing a responsible purchasing policy, actively working with our suppliers to reduce plastic packaging: breakfast products (spreads, jams, etc.) in bulk instead of individual portions, eco-pumps to replace individual soaps. We also began a program in France to recycle our pillows into insulating material.

• Waste management: we are also making progress regarding waste. A waste management policy is being drafted. In the meantime, we have already set up a number of recycling initiatives. All our Spanish hotels have lightbulb recycling bins, and we have established a recycling procedure for our computers, IT material, and even phones (in headquarters) in most of our countries.
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  Products are given to OXFAM, an NGO that donates them to people in their care.
  Food waste is also a focus in our business sector.
  For instance, we have developed partnerships with Too Good To Go in Spain.

• Partners: Finally, we also favour eco-partners by purchasing eco-labelled products.
   

We want to provide the best service, but as we advance towards a more sustainable approach, we believe some standards need a reality check, and, with our guests' consent, an update. We are encouraging this by offering new options and suggestions to people who stay with us.

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• Responsible stay: we encourage our guests to slightly adjust their habits while they stay with us: by declining the daily change of bed linen or daily room cleaning, they get a discount or trigger a donation to an association (in Germany and Spain).

• Transport: Regarding transport, we address both our guests and our teams. We have been rolling out more electric car chargers for our guests:
  - By the end of 2022, 75% of our hotels in Italy and 100% of our hotels in Spain (when possible) will be equipped with electric car chargers.
  - By the end of 2023, 80% of our eligible hotels in France (100% by the end of 2024) and 100% in Germany (when possible) will be equipped with electric car chargers.
  In Italy, we propose B&Bike rental services to our guests.
   

We are a big Group, but we feel we have roots everywhere our hotels are located. We value local communities and believe that reinforcing mutual support goes a long way towards long-term development and sustainability. To think big, we also need to think local.

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• Cultural awareness: In Italy, we are Golden Corporate Donors of Life Beyond Tourism, supporting the association's Travel to Dialogue initiative. The objective of this unique project is to encourage travellers to discover the territory's heritage through the stories of those who know and experience it daily. It relies on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to give our guests access to content that enhances the attractiveness of their destinations, but also promotes local cultural awareness across communities. An innovative experience that develops inclusiveness, solidarity, and intercultural dialogue.

• Local partners: We make sure to collaborate with local partners. In France, for instance, we rely on local providers for our breakfasts (café Coic, butter Le Gall, Yogurt Malo), and in Brittany, we support the positive dynamic of a start-up incubator called West Web Valley.
  Additionally, in France, Spain, and Italy, we create partnerships with universities to recruit trainees for our hotels and headquarters.
   

Trust is everything. We need to do as we say and say as we do.
We need ethics and processes, and for good measure, we need independent third parties that will vouch for our genuine efforts and evaluate our results.

• Organisation: Ensuring good practices starts within our own organisation. To this end, in 2022, we have created an Ethics Committee to address all Corporate Social Responsibility questions and deploy B&B HOTELS’ CSR strategy. We have also created Regional CSR Committees to adapt CSR action plans in our different countries.

• Labels and certifications:We also rely on trusted labels and certifications. At Group level, we have even taken this one step further by pioneering, with a leading European certification player (SOCOTEC), a CSR certification validated by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). This will help us strengthen our commitments and hopefully inspire others.

• Reports: Finally, we will share reports on our CSR activity by the begining of 2023. We will communicate our CSR results at the end of every year in the CSR section of our website and work on an extra-financial report.
   

Progress is always a ‘test & learn’ process. We need to share, but also to listen to each other and adjust our approach when results call for it. We believe in open dialogue among our stakeholders; this starts with setting-up efficient Corporate Social Responsibility communication tools.

• Communication: in 2022, we structured all our efforts and conceived guidelines to share best practices and inspire local actions according to our strategy. We also issued our first annual Corporate Social Responsibility survey to consult and involve all our stakeholders in our CSR policy.
   

At B&B HOTELS, ‘together’ means more than our teams. Our goal is to build a CSR community beyond our own. In this way, we can collaborate to create the best roadmap for ourselves, but we also provide support to a selection of people and charities in line with our values and DNA.

• Co-creation: we are closely working with landlords to participate in energy saving initiatives such as monitoring energy consumption, raising guest awareness, and equipment renewal.

• Charities:B&B HOTELS’ three main fields of action are inclusion, education and disabilities. We support charities such as La Fageda, a special employment centre which supplies our yogurts in Catalonia (Spain). It promotes social and occupational integration of people with intellectual disabilities.
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• Sponsoring and CSR partnership: In France, we also entered a partnership with Défi Voile Solidaires en peloton" supported by ARSEP, an association promoting research and awareness of multiple sclerosis.