2006 Corporate Responsibility

WS Atkins plcCorporate Responsibility Report 2006

Whatit takes...Corporateresponsibility

Environmental impactAt Atkins we are genuinely concerned about our environmentalperformance. In order to help usreduce our environmental impact, youcan opt to receive electronic versionsof our Annual, Interim and CorporateResponsibility reports instead of printedpaper. As well as the obvious ‘green’benefits, you'll find the electronicversion is far easier to search throughand there are significant cost benefitsto the Atkins Group. Please visitwww.myatkinsshares.com where you can sign up for the service. If yousubscribe, we'll donate £1 to one ofour chosen charities on your behalf.

This CR Report explains how Atkins has what it takes to:

01 Live up to our strategy 02 Manage processes and make our

policies work 04 Stay focused on safety

and health08 Care for the environment 14 Be an active part of the community 20 Empower our people 24 Develop excellent relationships 28 Deliver on our objectives

WS Atkins plcCorporate Responsibility Report 2006 01

...to live up to our strategy

Corporate responsibility matters at Atkins. Our staff are conscious that what we do impacts on the world we live in and decisions needto be made in the light of this.

However, it is only in the past three years, since we have beenproducing a separate Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report at the same time as our Annual Report, that we have begun to properlyunderstand just how central it is to Atkins’ identity. So embedded are the ethics and separate elements of CR in our work andmanagement systems, that we tend to think of it as business as normal.

But normal is not enough. At Atkins we strive for excellence ineverything we do – continual improvement, agenda setting, thecorporate nerve to do what we think we should in an area we really understand. As a major international consultancy we have a responsibility to exert our influence wherever we do business, to give a lead and contribute positives. Ethics must play a major part in driving our financial decisions and our quest for excellence.

We are working to a long timescale not a short one. And we have to live in the real world, not a perfect fantasy version. But if we set theagenda and really drive a few things, prioritising them, year on year,we can make a real and practical difference.

Over the past year our focus has been on safety and health, ourenvironmental impact and on our staff, all of which are of materialsignificance to the Group. As you will see from the coming pages, we have made progress but we have much further to go. We arefortunate to have internal specialists who are industry-leading experts in developing safety and health, environmental and business management systems.

We believe that, wherever possible, rather than walking away fromchallenges, we should instead take a leadership role in raising bothawareness and standards. So, for instance, our Middle East and China businesses are helping to lead the way with quality, safety and environment (QSE). In the US, where CR is less entrenched in wider business culture than in Europe, Faithful+Gould isworking to establish an approach that will set a positive example. Highways and Transportation has taken significant action to lead on protecting the workforce exposed on highway maintenance,regardless of whom they work for.

Corporate responsibility is not a public relations exercise. Not only is it extremely important for the wider society and also for the reputationand financial health of companies like Atkins, but the greatest value is in the pride we are able to take in our own work. Our integrity andthe trust of our colleagues is at stake.

We hope you value our 2006 CR Report and that it gives you a realsense of the energy, commitment and enthusiasm that goes intocontributing to a better world at Atkins. Let us know what you think by e-mailing your comments to [email protected].

Keith ClarkeChief Executive


...tomanageprocessesandmakeourpolicieswork

Corporate responsibility is very much a joint effort at Atkins, embeddednot only in our overarching ethical approach and day-to-day work, but in management frameworks, policies and strategies throughoutthe Group.

On a corporate level the Group has a range of managementframeworks covering different aspects of CR. The Board sets Grouppolicies. Our Chief Executive is the Board member responsible for CR and for the Group’s performance, supported by the Group-wideframeworks. A common management structure governs safety, healthand environment. A director of QSE, reporting to the Chief Executive,is responsible for Group QSE which operates at a corporate level. Each Atkins business unit also has dedicated QSE representatives tomanage issues at a local level, reporting quarterly.

Existing CR related Group policies include quality, safety and health, the environment, business conduct, data protection, dignity andequality at work, whistle-blowing and the appropriate use ofinformation technology, which are published on the corporate intranet and are also provided externally on request. They are regularly reviewed and, if necessary, updated to reflect changes to legislation, emerging good practice and business needs. Risk identification and management related to CR issues are a key part of this process. It is the responsibility of business unitManaging Directors to implement these policies. Business units areencouraged to adopt additional local policies especially relevant totheir own operations, as long as these also comply with Group policies.

We are working steadily towards ensuring that all parts of Atkinsreach international standards for quality, safety and environmentalmanagement, with the additional benefit that all aspects of our CRperformance can then be easily measured and compared. Our UKbusinesses are also increasingly winning Investors in People status.Quarterly and annual QSE questionnaires returned by all parts of theGroup ensure effective monitoring of progress. CR issues are nowformally included in the annual reviews returned by all businesses.

CR is a joint effort at Atkins. We are blending the ideas and approaches emerging from all parts of the businessinto a Group-wide strategy.

Our long term commitmentto CR develops our staff,promotes our core valuesand ensures greater purposeto our activities.

Matthew ElsonManagement Consultants

CR is embedded in theBalanced Scorecard which we use to monitor our overallHighways and Transportationbusiness objectives.

Neil ThomasHighways and Transportation


Cross-Group debate on CR issues also plays a major part in informingour strategy and approach. In addition to local surveys and focusgroups in various parts of the business, our knowledge exchangesection on our intranet site, regularly hosts open discussions on thebest way forward. The past months have seen lively discussion topicsranging from corporate charity donations to in-house energyefficiency measures.

Over the past few years we have been looking at the full scope of CR related management frameworks already in force within theGroup with the aim of drawing them together in a formal Group CR strategy linked to the wider corporate strategy. It has becomeincreasingly obvious that the various elements of CR are so firmlyembedded in every aspect of our business that we feel imposing an overarching strategy from a Group perspective, at this point, would be counterproductive. Instead we welcome the innovativeapproaches and ideas increasingly emerging from all parts of theGroup in successive annual CR questionnaires and look forward to blending them into an organic Group CR strategy in due course.

We have decided to replace our Safety Health and Environment (SHE) advisory committee with a new CR advisory committee with a widened remit, drawn from those with a particular interest across the Group, which will monitor, advise on and ultimately lead thedevelopment of a Group-wide CR strategy.

We do not control the management policies and procedures of our Joint Ventures, partially owned subsidiaries and outsourcedoperations, or of our suppliers, nor is it as easy to insist on the samestandards overseas as we do in the UK. However, we do try to makesure that they apply similar CR standards wherever possible and havepolicies in place or being developed in support of this aim. We haveexpanded the scope of this year’s CR Report to include both ouroverseas operations and also our subsidiary Lambert Smith Hampton, which is working towards its own CR approach.

Explanations of the Group’s corporate governance framework,including its compliance with the Combined Code and general riskmanagement procedures, can be found in the 2006 Annual Report,which is available on our website at www.atkinsglobal.com.

1 Promoting awareness in the MiddleEast and India QSE managers from Atkins offices aroundthe Middle East and India meet regularly to discuss how to promote awarenessabout QSE best practices, its benefits and advantages and also how to achieveexcellence in their own daily operations.Now all offices in the region are certified to ISO 9001:2000, they are planning thedevelopment of an integrated managementsystem. The team has been boosted to 30 staff to tackle the challenge of deliveringbest-practice QSE at the same time asresponding to the rapid business growth.Tim Askew, MD Middle East & India, said“With our links with the British Universityin Dubai and our proactive strategy atDirector level for safety on sites, we arevery pleased to be leading the region onsocial, safety and environmental issues.”

2 Business in the Community CR IndexWe are delighted that we broke into thetop 100 in the Business in the CommunityCR Index for the first time this year. This was our third year taking part and we achieved an improved score of 78%(71% in 2004, 63% in 2003) – a significantstep forward and a fair reflection on wherewe are. But we’re still only number 93, so we’ll be looking hard at our feedback to identify areas for further improvement. The CR Index is based on a framework of four components: corporate strategy,integration, management and performanceand impact. It allows companies to assesshow far corporate strategy is integratedinto responsible business practicethroughout an organisation. It also providesa benchmark to compare managementpractice across the four areas of community,environment, marketplace and workplace,as well as performance in a range ofenvironmental and social impact areasmaterial to the business.

3 Northampton CR policyCR is an integral part of our partneringcontract with the Sustainable TransportDepartment of Northamptonshire CountyCouncil (NCC) and a specific CR Policy has been developed for the partnership.We will be producing a short pamphletshowing how our work maps onto thelocal sustainability objectives of the County Council, and we hosted a CR stand at this year's open day to helpeducate Councillors and the public. The policy has now been adapted for ournewly secured Gloucestershire Highwayspartnership which began in April.

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We are especially pleased thatAtkins is the first engineeringconsultancy in Hong Kong tohave achieved OHSAS 18001health and safety certification,to add to our existing ISO 9001and 14001 quality andenvironmental certification.

Samson SinManaging Director, Atkins China

Corporate responsibility isn't an add-on. It's goodbusiness practice.

Ivor CattoDesign and Engineering Solutions


...to stay focused on safety and health

Safety and health management is central to our business success and to our commitment to CR. Over the past year improving ourperformance has, once again, been a central focus of our CR efforts.

Our approachOur Board approves policies to achieve high standards of safety and health performance for our employees, contractors, clients and those affected by our activities. It approves the strategy andobjectives consistent with these policies and regularly reviews overallsafety and health performance to monitor its continuing suitability and effectiveness.

Our Chief Executive is the Board member responsible for safety andhealth, setting policy for approval and reporting our performance. Each of the Group’s managing directors is responsible for theimplementation of this policy and for safety and health performancein their part of the business.

Our Chief Executive is supported by the QSE Director. Each of ourbusinesses has its own QSE support relevant to the size and nature of their operations. Regular QSE forums ensure good practice isshared across the Group.

All our businesses must comply with our safety and health policies, in addition to managing the requirements of local legislation andsafety standards and our clients’ expectations. We are committed to ensuring our safety and health principles are communicated to all our employees and that they are implemented effectively.

Atkins’ safety and health policy – safety leadershipFor all our businesses, safety and health management requirementsare driven by our global safety and health policy. We:• Apply a risk based approach to setting safety and health

objectives which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound, as part of our overall business strategy.

• Invest in competent management by developing all our employees through training, instruction and information.

• Provide workplaces, plant, equipment, materials, substances and systems of work that contribute towards a safe and healthyenvironment for our employees, suppliers and visitors.

Improving our safety and health performance is always a cornerstone of our CR effortsand the way we do business. It is also essential to our success.

100,000 hoursFaithful+Gould in the US wasrecognised by ExxonMobil for morethan 100,000 man-hours of workwithout recordable injury at theTorrance Refinery in California.

Gold awardThe RoSPA Order of Distinction was awarded to Asset Management,while Highways and Transportationwon the Gold Award.


Learn from the practitioners

Telephone:

+44 (0) 870 90 93525 ("0870 90 YELBK")

Fax:

+44 (0) 870 90 93539 ("0870 90 YELFX")

Website:

www.yellowbooktraining.com

Email:

[email protected]

For further information, please contact us at:

Yellow Book trainingAs long-standing contributors to the Yellow Book, the UK’s railway handbook onEngineering Safety Management, Lloyd's Register Rail and Atkins Rail are pleased to announce that we are licensed to deliver Yellow Book training. By pooling ourresources we have assembled a presentation team which has decades of experiencein developing, teaching and applying the Book.

By choosing to buy your Yellow Book training from Atkins Lloyd's Register Trainingyou have the opportunity to learn about the Yellow Book from some of its mostexperienced practitioners.

Following the release of Yellow Book 4, we have added a standalone half-daymodule to bring you fully up-to-date with recent developments. See our website for details of content and location.

1 Yellow Book trainingLloyds Register Rail and our Rail businesshave jointly been approved by the RailwaySafety and Standards Board as thealternative provider of Yellow Booktraining. Courses are held throughout the UK and, by arrangement, worldwide.

2 Area 10 road safetyOur Area 10 Highways Services team in Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester focused on road safety over the past year. They supported Chester Hospital, the police, fire and ambulance serviceswith their young driver training course and also held two events at CharnockRichard service station, one focusing on the importance of vehicle checks, the other on winter safety.

3 Six safety standardsOur Highway Services business hasintroduced Six Safety Standards for staff and Supply Chain Partners as part of a major campaign to improvestandards of safety and health. A DVD tool box talk covering working at height;plant, equipment and vehicles; lifting operations; underground and overheadservices; site organisation; and healthhazards, is being rolled out.

4 Houston Hurricane RitaWhen it seemed that Hurricane Rita would pass directly through Houstonwhere we have an office with 90 people, the management team swung an emergency plan into action, which covered issues as diverse as IT back-up and collation of everyone’s emergencycontact details. Fortunately the hurricaneveered away but everyone learned a great deal about emergency response.

• Promote a vibrant safety culture by securing the commitment and co-operation of our employees through an effective two-way communication and participation strategy.

• Audit, monitor and review the effectiveness of our policy and implement improvements where required.

Our performanceWe planned 18 objectives for 2005/06, successfully completing 78%.

Our successes for the year included continuing OHSAS 18001certification; the release of our Safe Drivers Handbook; improvementsto our accident/near miss reporting system; the launch of safety, healthand environment induction training via e-learning; and production ofa noise e-learning module for the industry as part the 2005 EuropeanSafety Week.

Business reportingEach of our businesses is required to report to the Board on a quarterly basis. Reports include Accident Incident Rate (AIR)performance, director safety tours undertaken, regulatory activity, as well as the findings from external audits and progress against ourobjectives such as OHSAS 18001 certification.

In 2005/06, a new QSE quarterly reporting system was implemented,enabling each business to input data on-line and facilitate theproduction of automated AIR statistics. This has significantly enhanced the quality of our quarterly reporting.

Accidents and incidentsWe introduced a 24/7 reporting hotline, making it possible to report accidents and incidents via either the internet or the hotline.We also produced a ‘credit card size booklet’ for employees to explain the reporting system and the importance of reportingaccidents and incidents.

We continue to set AIR targets for our employees and contractorsdivided into three activities: office; engineering; and construction. This reflects the diverse risks arising from activities in these areas. AIR measures the annual number of reportable accidents per 100,000 staff.

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Safety and health continued

AIR performance during 2005/06, as set out below, was within our targets:

Office Engineering Construction05/06 04/05 05/06 04/05 05/06 04/05

Target 170 170 463 463 2,100 2,100Staff 104 59 151 235 556 2,763Contractors – – 124 767 293 317

Regulatory activityDuring 2005/06 our UK activities received no improvement orprohibition notices from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or any local authority during their visits to our offices and sites. We received no prosecutions for any breach of safety and health laws in our global operations.

Safety leadership within AtkinsSafety and health was high on the agenda at the Atkins GroupConference in 2005, with a half day workshop for senior managers.Their feedback has been a key input to our objectives for 2006/07.

Director safety tours continue to be central in raising the profile of safety and health within the Group. Each business plans and organisestheir director safety tours to take account of the number of staff andcontractors, the number of office and site locations, and the type ofactivities undertaken.

The table below shows the number of director safety tours undertakenin the last two years:

Director safety tours 2005/06 2004/05

Planned 273 274Completed 262 263% Achieved 96 96

Feedback from directors and employees remains positive and the tourswill continue to be an integral part of senior management’scommitment to safety leadership.

ZSafe driver’s handbook

1 Network Rail – Target 365Excellent safety and health performancehas been high on the agenda in Rail (UK)this year, from being one of the first majorcompanies to achieve the Network Railtarget of zero major or reportable accidentsfor 365 days to setting up a Chinese SafetyAssurance and Certification Centre withBeijing Jiaotong University.

2 Stop that noise – designers have a key role to playThe European Safety Week for 2005focused on noise reduction. Atkins worked with Safety in Design (SiD) and the University of Manchester toproduce an e-learning module which helps designers to understand their role in noise reduction. It is available to the Industry through the SiD websitewww.safetyindesign.org. Our ChiefExecutive, Keith Clarke, is SiD Chairman.

3 Atkins Board take the testThe Atkins Board took and passed theCSCS card safety and health test to show their commitment to the scheme.

4 Safe driving One of the highest risks identified for staff is driving. Our Safe Drivers Handbookpublished during the year, offers adviceand guidance and outlines some ways toreduce the risks.

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Safety leadership within our industryIn the UK we continue to take a more proactive role within ourindustry. Our Chief Executive is Chairman of Safety in Design (SiD) and we are represented on the Construction Strategic Health andSafety Forum. Over the last three years we have been working withthe CiTB and fellow consultants to improve the Construction SkillsCertificate Scheme (CSCS) for professional engineers. The new CSCSProfessional Qualified Persons card, which draws on these efforts, is due to be launched later this year.

We have held discussions with the HSE in the UK as part of theirstrategic plan to improve safety and health within the constructionindustry. In Rail we are playing an active part in the InfrastructureSafety Liaison Group (ISLG) and its comprehensive review of themethod statement process.

Setting the safety standardOur objective is for global operations to be certified to OHSAS 18001.In response, many of our businesses have amended or expanded theirintegrated Business Management System (BMS) to develop their safetyand health management capability. These businesses included ourDesign and Engineering Solutions business where twelve separatesystems were rationalised into a single BMS.

In 2005/06 our UK Management & Project Services business, togetherwith our operations in China and Scandinavia, achieved certification.The objective for the whole Group to be certified to OHSAS 18001should be achieved by September 2006.

Safety trainingOver two thousand CSCS cards have been issued to our staff in theUK, including directors and senior managers. We will continue topromote them in 2006/07 particularly following the introduction of the new Professional Qualified Persons card.

All new employees are required to complete our safety, health and environment e-learning module. A reference booklet has alsobeen produced.

Many of our businesses have improved the quality of their safetytraining. Faithful+Gould has produced training modules formanagement, project and administration employees in the UK toenable them to focus on their specific needs and potential risks. Our Rail business has developed the PTS+ course to improve safety and health training for site employees, which includes manualhandling, risk assessment and emergency first aid.

Safety on siteHighways and Transportation’s highways services division hasdeveloped the Six Safety Standards (SSS) initiative. As part of theinitiative a calendar and tool box talks have been produced to targetaspects of the SSS such as the impact of noise at work.

Within our Middle East business,180 site based staff were trained inconstruction safety to enhance their safety awareness and enablethem to manage the risks at construction sites.

Our Group objectives for 2006/07 include:• Achieving the new AIR targets for office (reduced by 5%),

engineering (reduced by 10%) and construction (reduced by 10%).• Completing global certification to OHSAS 18001.• Continuing the roll out CSCS cards to our employees.• Raising safety awareness for young people as part of European

Safety Week.• Encouraging the reporting of incidents and accidents from our

contractors.• Providing safety leadership within the industry through raising

awareness and standards.• Promoting behavioural safety leadership internally through

director safety tours.

Our businesses have also set their own specific safety objectives. These include the introduction of the dynamic risk assessmentsmanaged through our highways and transportation control centre in Worcester; using the control centre for all site activities in our railbusiness; a supplier forum to raise the profile of safety and theimportance of reporting accident and incidents in our assetmanagement business; the implementation of a management system using the ‘KISS’ principles (Keep It Sweet and Simple) inFaithful+Gould’s North American operations.

CertifiedWS Atkins plc is now certified to OHSAS 18001.

Best practiceThe Highways Agency identified ourSafe Operating Systems as best practicein the industry when they carried outtheir first annual Safety Assessment onHighways and Transportation as one of their major suppliers.


...to care for theenvironment

Effective environmentalmanagement is embedded in our business managementsystems and much of our day to day work. We are proud of our reputation in the field.

Our approachEnvironmental management is integral to our CR commitment, ourbusiness management systems and much of our day to day work and we are proud of our reputation in the field. We are committed toensuring our environmental principles are communicated to everyonein the Group and that they are implemented effectively.

We manage our environmental performance in the same way as we manage safety, health and quality, through dedicated QSE staff.Our Chief Executive is responsible for environmental issues at theBoard including setting our policies for approval and presentingregular reports on our performance.

Atkins’ environmental policy – respect for the environmentFor all our businesses, environmental management requirements are driven by our Group environmental policy. We:• Take environmental impact into account in the planning, design

and implementation of our contracts to help prevent pollution,minimise our impacts on local communities and ensure thatactivities with high environmental risks are controlled effectively.

• Ensure compliance with all relevant environmental legislation and, where practical, with codes of practice, industrial standardsand other requirements, such as those specified by our customers.

• Incorporate environmental and sustainability considerations into ourdesign standards and practices with regard to the procurement anduse of materials, energy consumption, waste disposal and recycling.

• Provide appropriate environmental training for our own staff, and are working to promote environmental awareness amongst our suppliers, contractors and partners.

Our performanceDuring the year a range of initiatives raised awareness, improved dataand provided tools and resources to enable our employees to manageenvironmental impact. These included:• Implementation of SHE induction training for our employees

through an online e-learning package.• Environmental reporting in our online accident reporting system.


• Subscription to the Corporate Responsibility Exchange (CRE) to enhance our performance monitoring.

• Production and distribution of our ‘What If?’ emergency response guide for site activities.

• Implementation of a programme for assessing workplaceenvironmental management.

• A new online tool and tracking system for managing environmental impacts in the office.

• The translation of key SHE resources into local languagesfor our non-UK based operations.

• Switching to a ‘Green Tariff’ for electricity for all our UK business operations.

Environmental incidentsNo significant incidents were reported during the period. We areworking to improve our environmental reporting and committingresource to heighten awareness, particularly on site operations where the risk of impact is greater.

Regulatory activityDuring 2005/06 we received no cautions, warnings or prohibitionnotices from enforcement authorities related to environmentalincidents. We were not prosecuted for any breach of environment law across our global operations.

Environmental benchmarkingWe are committed to improving the standard of environmentalperformance across our business and take advantage of opportunitiesto undertake relevant competitor analysis and benchmarking. For example, we continue to participate in the Business in theEnvironment’s (BiE) Index of Corporate Environmental Engagement.Our Performance in the 2005 survey ranked us as a top 100 performer with a final score of 80% (2004: 74%).

1 Highest BREEAM ratingThe highest BREEAM rating ever attained – 79.7% – either for new-build orrefurbished office premises in the UK, has been awarded for the environmentallysustainable refurbishment by Atkins’ designsolutions team of Defra’s (Department forthe Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)flagship nine-storey Nobel House,Westminster.

2 Drive for higher standardsA strong supporter of the EnvironmentalIndustries Commission (EIC) – leadinglobbyists for the UK’s environmentalproducts and services industry – Atkins hasjoined the commission’s recently createdAldersgate Group, formed to spearhead its drive for higher environmental standardswithin the context of better regulation and to counter the case for deregulation of green issues.

3 Heat mat and sedum roofOur work on Solihull Centre for InclusiveLearning has set the benchmark forsustainable construction in schools beingrebuilt under the government’s BSF (BuildingSchools for the Future) programme. It notonly has the UK’s largest ground source heatmat, but the biggest sedum roof in Britainand a remote building management systemcontrolling the building environment.

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CertifiedWS Atkins plc is now certified to ISO 14001.

80% recycledWe have decided that from now onall corporate literature will be printedon 9Lives90. It has 80% recycledcontent and is used by a number ofleading environmental organisations.


Environmentcontinued

We are still working on really accurate assessment of our performanceand improvement in these areas, because of the complexity of ourestate. During 2005/06 we operated from over 200 locations globally.These ranged from large established offices of several hundredemployees in city centres, to temporary site depots in remote areasaccommodating only a small number of people. A continuing trend to move into larger, more efficient office space has also meant anincrease in co-occupation with other organisations, which in turnmeans the added complication that we need to calculate our ‘share’of environmental impact in these locations. Nevertheless we increasedthe scope of measurement during the year particularly for energy useand are targeting further improvements for 2006/07.

EnergyDuring 2005/06, we measured energy consumption at all our UKproperties where we paid the utility bill. Where we leased office space in co-located buildings, energy data was not always available.However this data set covered more than seventy properties and over50% of the total office space we occupy in the UK.

In 2005 we negotiated a green tariff for electricity within the UK. The energy supplied under this contract comes from Climate ChangeLevy (CCL) exempt generation sources. For every kWh of electricityconsumed by us, our energy provider must purchase the equivalentamount of electricity from CCL exempt sources. Because the energysupplied under this contract still cannot strictly be used to claimcarbon emission reductions we are working with our energy providers to look for ways to further reduce our carbon impact.

InitiativesWe believe better use of energy in our operations and heightenedawareness amongst staff will also have positive effects on our carbonimpact. Our energy efficiency engineers have surveyed energy use insome of our largest UK offices, to evaluate performance and developa campaign to target energy awareness. Energy use at each site wasassessed and the scope for any savings, including payback times, will be calculated as part of the reporting process. It is hoped that this will identify areas for improvement.

WaterWater consumption was measured for 32% of our UK office space in2005/06. Based on these measurements, UK water consumption was10.53 cubic metres per employee (2004/05: 10.86 cubic metres).Further details are shown in Table 1 on page 13.

We therefore remain within the current guidelines of the BuildingResearch Establishment for water consumption, but will continue to assess ways to improve our performance.

Performance in our operationsWe recognise our business operations have a significant enviromentalimpact. We have identified the key direct environmental impacts asCO2 emissions arising from office accommodation and business travel, and non-hazardous waste. Reporting of data is still evolving as standard CO2 conversion factors are revised and our own datacapture systems improve. Estimates are as follows:

Per employee 2005/06 2004/05

CO2 emissions 2,708kg 2,716kgSolid non-hazardous waste 82kg 85kgPaper recycled 29kg 27kg

Further details are shown in Table 1 on page 13.

Indirect impacts from business activities also occur in the form of‘upstream’ impacts, notably through the use of sub-consultants andother suppliers, and ‘downstream’ impacts via our clients’ use of thecapital infrastructure we plan, design and enable. The Group regardsmeasurement of these impacts as impractical at present.

1 Dark skies winnerOur Warrington street lighting team has won the British AstronomicalAssociation’s ‘Campaign for Dark Skies’Award for the lighting design on the UK M6 Toll motorway.

2 Ship clean upOur oil and gas team has been helping BP Marine clean up ships’ exhaust gasemissions and save fuel costs by usingnovel ‘scrubbing’ technology. The exhaustgas samples gathered during tests haveshowed that performance was well inexcess of anyone’s expectations.

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Waste and recyclingWe are committed to reducing waste and improving recycling in ouroperations and services and plan an awareness raising campaignthrough 2006/07.

Although our current figures of 82kg of solid waste per person(2004/05: 85kg) and 29kg of recycled paper (2004/05: 27kg) are within recognised benchmarks for UK commercial premises, with 14,907 staff operating in a large number of locations worldwide, there are significant further opportunities for us to reduce waste and recycle.

Information technologyOver 10,000 employees use our information systems in the UK alone and we recognise the significant environmental impact of thetechnology we use. We assess new systems for functionality andperformance and redundant equipment goes to a secure processingchain for re-use, recycling or eventual disposal. A specialist supplierensures equipment is safety checked and tested, before being offered for resale in the second hand market. Where redundantequipment is not suitable for resale, usable components are removed and passed on to the second hand repair market. Remaining unusable components are put into an established disposal chain to recover useful materials and segregate anyhazardous waste for special treatment, like cathode ray tubes (CRT).

During the year we completed the replacement of CRT monitors inthe UK with significantly more energy efficient flat screens. We willcontinue to assess emerging technologies in the informationtechnology market for any environmental opportunities.

Business travelAs part of Atkins’ commitment to improving our environmentalperformance, the Group company car scheme is being amended to encourage the selection of cars with low CO2 emissions.

The new scheme will increase an individual’s allowance by £1 per month for every 1g/km by which CO2 emissions fall below 160g/km.This can be used to reduce the level of personal allowance they mayotherwise have paid for extras above the band limit; or order a higherspecification car using this credit.

In addition, mileage rates will be adjusted progressively to promoteuse of low emission cars, with rates being capped at those applicableto a 2 litre car. This is aimed at discouraging the use of larger enginecars, and we anticipate making further changes in the future.

Other incentives to reduce reliance on car use for business travel havealso been introduced:• Local travel plans have already been introduced at many of our

offices. These will be reviewed to ensure that they provide the right mix of incentives to encourage environmentally friendly travel.All offices with 50 staff or more will be required to consider theimplementation of a local travel plan.

• Staff are now able to take advantage of interest free loans for rail season tickets.

• A number of car sharing schemes are already in operation. Those participating will continue to benefit from priority whenallocating car parking spaces at our offices. Linked to this, we will maintain our commitment to a guaranteed ride home in the event that a car sharing partner has to leave the office.

• Cycling (and walking) facilities will be improved at the larger offices where possible, whilst this is not viable for all staff, wewant to encourage this mode of transport. In addition, we havealso launched a new voluntary benefit to promote pedal power.

• As pool vehicles come up for renewal, we will be replacing these by more environmentally friendly models. For example, all pool cars at our Epsom office have already been replaced withPetrol/Electric hybrids.

• Facilities for video conferencing have been improved at many of our offices. With voice conferencing, staff should be able tominimise travel to other offices in the UK and overseas. We willcontinue to promote these services and to invest in the latesttechnology to ensure that they work effectively for our staff.

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1 Energy efficiency and renewablesAtkins has long played a leading role in the energy efficiency and renewable energymarket. Our work ranges from an ongoingrelationship with the Carbon Trust, throughteaching children in Oxfordshire schools as part of the Atkins Schools EducationProject, to looking at wind power forNorthumbrian Water and the Royal Mailand working with Ocean Power Delivery of Edinburgh on the world’s firstcommercial offshore wave farm.

2 Check that air qualityIn Scandinavia our work on ‘OzoneWeb’ for the European Environmental Agency will allow European citizens to check their local air quality. Currently a prototype, it uses Geographical Information Systemtechnology and online ozone measurementsacross Europe to show ‘real time’ air quality.


We hope that these measures will lead to further reductions in theemission rating of our company car fleet which fell to 164.5g/km(2005: 171.4g/km), thereby continuing to remain within the lowervehicle ratings band (151-165g/km Band D) as defined by the UK government.

UK company car fleet 2005/06 2004/05*

Total fleet (No. of vehicles) 1,517 1,716Average CO2 emission rating (g/km) 164.5 171.4

*2004/06 average CO2 emission rating (g/km) restated

Further data regarding business travel is shown in Table 1 on page 13.

Purchasing and resourcesWe continue to monitor the impact of our purchasing and resourcingand to assess areas for improvement. During the year we assessed UK office consumables and increased the scope of ‘environmentalproducts’ negotiated with our preferred office suppliers. For example,of the 101,416 reams of paper purchased in 2005/06, 43,024 wereproduced from recycled stock – 43% of total paper use, or 215tonnes. This compares to 14 tonnes in 2004/05.

Conscious that our purchasing decisions can also carry indirect social impacts in relation to issues including human rights and fair and equitable trading, we promote the use of Fairtrade products inour offices by ensuring they are offered by our preferred suppliers.

BiodiversityBiodiversity is an important element of our environmental services and design work. We also consider the protection and enhancementof ecology as part of managing our estate.

Setting the environmental standardOur objective is for all our operations to be certified to the internationalstandard for Environmental Management Systems; ISO 14001. During2005/06 our operations in the Republic of Ireland, Sharjah and China,together with our management consultancy business in the UK,achieved this standard. A number of existing business certificationswere also extended to cover a wider range of locations and services.

Certification to ISO 14001 was also achieved for WS Atkins plc,covering our business support activities including QSE, humanresources, supply management, Group information services and our Shared Services Facility. We anticipate that global certification will be achieved by September 2006.

Environmentcontinued

1 Green Emirates founder memberAtkins is a founder member of theEmirates Green Building Council, the first of its kind in the Middle East,promoting high performanceenvironmentally friendly construction.Initial approval for the council has beengiven by Dubai’s Department of EconomicDevelopment following governmentcommitment to reducing carbonemissions. Emirates GBC is expected tojoin the World Green Building Council.

2 Car washing worriesWater and Environment has beenexamining the potential effects on the aquatic environment from washing large numbers of cars in office,supermarket or local authority car parks.Their report was widely publicised andhighlighted the fact that car parks do not have the water treatment facilitiesthat professional car wash sites have bylaw, with the result that commercialdetergents find their way untreated intothe water system, including local riversand streams.

3 Trees, trees and more treesWe’re involved in a number of schemes to offset our carbon emissions. With the Woodland Trust, Highways and Transportation in the north ofEngland calculated annual emissions from journeys to and from work thenplanted 650 trees – about an acre of new woodland and we’re also supportingthe Trust’s major replanting scheme tocommemorate the bicentenary of thebattle of Trafalgar.

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Table 1: UK Environmental Performance Data 2005/06

Emission equivalentCO2 equivalent per employee

Totals (tonnes) (kg CO2) Verifiable data2005/06 2004/05 2005/06 2004/05 2005/06 2004/05 2005/06 2004/05

Energy consumptionElectricity 17.2m kWh 18.1m kWh 7,410 9,402 701 890 59% 54%Gas 11.8m kWh 14.5m kWh 2,247 2,749 213 260 43% 42%

Subtotal 29.0m kWh 32.5m kWh 9,657 12,150 914 1,150

Business travelRoad 84.1m km 80.6 m km 14,650 14,042 1,387 1,330 92% 90%Air 30.1m km 17.6 m km 3,565 2,105 337 199 92% 90%Rail 18.3m km 10.6 m km 733 467 69 36 92% 90%

Subtotal 132.5m km 108.8m km 18,948 16,614 1,794 1,565

Total GHG (CO2) emissions 28,605 28,764 2,708 2,716

Water consumption 111,221m3 156,363m3 n/a n/a 10.53m3 10.9m3 32% 32%Waste managementSolid waste n/a n/a 82kg 85kg 41% 29%Recycled paper n/a n/a 29kg 27kg 65% 38%Notes:• Data per employee is based on the full time equivalent average number of own staff (excluding agency staff). Data disclosed in the 2005 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

was on a headcount basis and has therefore been restated.• 2004/05 business mileage totals restated due to accounting variances and recalculation using revised DEFRA conversion factors (July 2005).• 2005/06 carbon emission data suggests increase in associated travel impacts, balanced by performance improvements in energy usage.

Performance in our services

Design and consultancy We consider environmental impacts as an integral part of deliveringsolutions to clients. We recognise this is of particular significancewhere our design may influence social, economic and environmentalbalance. We apply an assessment to the design life-cycle of ourprojects, with the aim of determining both risks and opportunities.

Site activitiesPollution control is integral to our activities as a service provider and maintainer of business premises. For design, construction andoperational activities we are committed to managing, reducing oreliminating associated environmental impacts. For business supportactivities, such as travel, we strive to reduce environmental impactswhere practicable. In 2005/06, some of our key projects were carbon-free in relation to business travel. We aim to increase the projectsusing this initiative to tackle climate change.

Our objectives for 2006/07 include:• Achieving ISO 14001 certification for all our operations.• Increasing levels of environmental awareness.• Improving our reporting system for environmental incidents.• Strengthening our capability in sustainable design

and engineering services.• Improving our environmental performance for operations,

for example our energy consumption.• Implementing and tracking a ‘Green Policy’ on company cars. • Rolling out environmental leadership courses across our business.

Atkins people take enormous pride and pleasure in being an activepart of – and making a positive contribution to – the communitieswhere they work. This individual and collective sense of responsibility,involvement and commitment is at work throughout the Group:• Many projects that have significant social, ethical and

environmental impacts. • Businesses formally involved in community charitable,

educational and environmental initiatives and with specific local policies and procedures to manage their impact on and involvement with the community.

• Staff involved in numerous voluntary community and fundraising activities.

We see the Group’s role very much as an enabler – to encourage and make it possible for our businesses and staff to take an active role in the community on an ongoing basis, supporting individualswith additional paid leave, sabbaticals, flexible working andsponsorship. For instance, Rail’s initiative, in line with its stated CRobjectives, to actively pursue opportunities to raise Atkins’ profilewithin the community and enable employee participation as part ofan improved work life balance. We have introduced greater clarityaround leave that employees may be able to take to carry out workwith charities.

This year, too, for the first time we have decided that from now on the Group will focus on three charities each year, of which at least one will be related to our professional work and one other to a specific good cause.

Every year significant sums are given to a range of causes by theGroup, our businesses and our staff. Employees and Group businesseswho prefer to organise local events for other charities or good causesare still free to do so, but we hope that by focusing our efforts on a smaller number of charities, we can make a real difference. We willmake a significant corporate donation to each charity, and we are also encouraging payroll giving and local fund raising.


...to be an active partof the community

These pages highlight just a few of the many communityfocused events, initiatives and projects we have beeninvolved in over the past year.

Community involvement givesLambert Smith Hamptonrecognition as a responsiblebusiness that cares about thecommunities in which weoperate and also creates asense of pride and satisfactionamongst our employees.

Mark RigbyLambert Smith Hampton


We are also donating £1 to our chosen charities for each shareholderwho opts to receive shareholder communications electronically.Shareholders can sign up now at www.myatkinsshares.com

Our three charities for the coming year are: • RedR – Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief. • WaterAid. • Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) Association.

It is not possible in these few pages to highlight more than a fractionof the community focused events, initiatives and projects we havebeen involved with over the past year, but we hope the selected case studies and quotes demonstrate how important being part of the community is for people at Atkins. As Highways andTransportation put it when asked to summarise what involvementwith the community means to them:

Increasingly, given the very local nature of many of our contracts,particularly for local authorities, we would, quite rightly, not beconsidered for the work without this involvement. We aim to become part of the community:• We support our clients to achieve their social responsibilities

through their strategic goals and make sure local people understand our role in their communities.

• That in turn means local people/students are more likely to seek a career in Atkins and we are also often able to employ local people and contractors to provide local services. For instance inNorthamptonshire Nordis, who provide signs for us, has a staff of 34 of whom 30 are disabled.

• We increase our understanding of requirements and expectationsthrough interaction and knowledge sharing.

• We improve staff morale because they can see they work for anethical company.

• Overall we become much more committed, and raise our game.

1 Fair wage for cleanersAs a part of Asset Management’s work forBarclays we manage a number of servicedelivery contracts, including the cleaningcontracts across the bank’s retail estate. We recently re-procured a fair wagepackage for the 2,400 cleaners across the UK who previously existed on thenational minimum wage. It will increase the minimum pay threshold, pensioncontributions, sick pay, holidays andtraining. Aligned with the wider socialjustice campaign being championed byMPs and other Groups aiming to raiseworkforce standards and skills levels, it’s athree way win for our stakeholders (client,suppliers and employees) and makes a realdifference in the low-wage community.

2 Support for homeless youngstersRailway Children, which supports homeless youngsters, is the nominatedcharity supported by Atkins Rail for 2005. One event by the Derby team involved a staff fast. Senior Mechanical EngineerBob Harris, colleague in Derby said: “Far too many young people findthemselves homeless, ending up on railway property. This charity does awonderful job and we’re keen to help in any way we can.”

3 Calming musicClassical music has proved so successful in helping tackle youth disorder on the east end of the District line, the system is set to be introduced by Metronet, in which Atkins has a 20% stake, at 35 other Tube stations. 18 months ago, CD players were wired in to PA speakers at Elm Park, Hornchurch, DagenhamHeathway and Dagenham East stations.Since then, physical and verbal abuse hasfallen by 3%.

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By actively engaging with its community, AssetManagement aligns itselfpositively with local issues anddirectly, or indirectly impactson the local economy.

Sean HayleyAsset Management

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Communitycontinued

Atkins has been working in Kyrgyzstanto help improve hygiene and sanitationwithin rural communities. The aim was to enhance health benefits by combininghygiene and sanitation with access tosafe water for people in 200 villages. The training and promotion of hygienehad a significant impact on the hygienebehaviour of villagers and the health ofthe children. The relative risk of childrencontracting Giardiasis (a parasitic disease)fell by 50%.

Every year a cohort of our people take part in the London Marathon. This year we know therewere at least 23, raising thousands of pounds for a variety of charities between them. Thenthey, their family and friends repaired to a nearbypub ‘borrowed’ for the day to celebrate theachievement of finishing this major event.

Safe water

As part of its yearly charitable activity,Asset Management (AM) is conducting a challenge to attempt both the Yorkshire3 Peaks (12 Hour Challenge) and National3 Peaks (24 Hour Challenge), which willinvolve Asset Management staff, clientsand AM’s client Cancer Research staff. Thechallenge hopes to raise over £25,000 forcancer research.

£25,000

Water teams from across the UK took part in the recentWaterAid Munro Challenge, which raises money by havingteams of people on top of every Munro at the same time.This was the first time that all mountains over 3,000 feet(Munros) in Scotland, England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland had been climbed on the same day, making the event a world record. Atkins people from Swansea,Belfast, Dublin, Fife, Warrington, Epsom and two teamsfrom our Glasgow office took part.

3,000 feet


We are proud to be a patron of RedR –and the strength of our support for itswork was clearly demonstrated whenhundreds of us wore something red towork to help raise funds for the charity.The efforts in our offices brought in thesecond best total for the UK-wide WearRed campaign – a cheque for £3,728.

Since winning the ‘Streatham From Drive thru to Destination’project, we have been committed to the long term regeneration of the area. For instance we provide support for the week longStreatham Festival of music, film, visual art, poetry and comedy.Organised by the community for the community and celebratinglocal talent, the festival is building a positive profile for Streatham,and contributes to the local economy.

Transport planners Gregg Holland,Robert Sangster and Sam Fradd wereamong some 40 cyclists who cycledfrom Redhill to Paris to raise funds forthe YMCA’s Fit for Life project. Thischarity supported fitness programmehelps people with disability and seriousill health to benefit from exercise andleisure activities.

We were the sponsor of a major CombinedServices (Army, Royal Navy and Royal AirForce) sporting event, the annual CombinedServices versus Barbarians RemembranceDay Rugby Match, which raises money forthe Royal British Legion. We raised £5,000.

£3,728

£5,000

Regeneration

Atkins Rail staff take enormouspride from supporting andleading community events – a sense of belonging in andgiving something back to thecommunity. For those whowish to become involved, thesupport of Atkins can be theenabler they seek.

Richard HullandRail

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Communitycontinued

Faithful+Gould UK has given more than 100 hours of professional advice to help theAssociation of Community Rail Partnership’s Central Stations Project which aims tomake redundant station buildings available for use by local charitable organisations.They carried out building assessments on 12 stations which Central Trains hasidentified as surplus and which it is prepared to lease to community Groups at apeppercorn rent. Faithful+Gould has now been invited to take part in a nationalcampaign launch at the Palace of Westminster.

For the second year running, 16 ‘AtkinsAngels’, from our Shared Services Facility(SSF), joined in The Race for Life – the UK'sbiggest women-only fundraising event forCancer Research. Held each July, some 162 races take place across the country. They raised £1,286 for the charity.

Management Consultants are working with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) on the widely publicisedInformation Sharing Index to support thework of children’s services in all areas ofEngland by the end of 2008.

Children’s services

Faithful+Gould US Phoenix office staff, who were involved in hotel refurbishmentprojects, travelled to Mexico to help install airconditioning in orphanages in the Sonorandesert. The equipment was re-claimed fromhotel refurbishment projects, a good exampleof recycling with a positive benefit for deprivedchildren. Faithful+Gould (US) has a policy ofreimbursing staff involved in community orcharity work for their travel and food expenses.

Orphanage

£1,286


Water and wastewater engineer Kay Nagendra returned to herhomeland, Sri Lanka, to help UNICEF with the post-tsunamirebuild. Trincomalee, on the eastern coast, was one of the worstaffected areas in Sri Lanka. UNICEF was designated the leading UN agency supporting the coordination and overseeing theimplementation of water and sanitation projects.

We have recruited 20 new staff in Port Talbot under theWorkways scheme – a partnership between Neath Port TalbotCounty Borough Council, Jobcentre Plus and Neath Port TalbotCouncil for Voluntary Service, supported by the European SocialFund Objective 1. It aims to help those furthest away from thelabour market into sustainable employment. Mentoring supportovercomes barriers to work, then local employers and trainersprovide the skills and experience needed. Trai

ning Atkins Water Director, Mike Woolgar, worked with

Partners for Water and Sanitation (PAWS) to helpdevelop the water sector in small towns and peri-urbanareas in Benue State, Nigeria. PAWS is a not-for-profitorganisation which uses support from UK waterprofessionals to help bring water and sanitation tounserved areas. Ashley Roe, Chairman of PAWS, said“This is probably one of the best examples we have ofpartnership working. We are really grateful for thesupport that Mike Woolgar and Atkins have given.”

Sanitation

Our Design Solutions’ charity team in Scotland hasorganised events at least once a month over the yearand raised £6,414 for Yorkhill Children’s Foundationwhich provides specialist care and treatment for sickchildren throughout Scotland.

£6,414

Tsunami

One of the most significantresults of communityinvolvement for Faithful+Gouldin the UK is the individualdevelopment and personalsense of achievementexperienced by our staff. For many these are the firstopportunities they have had to contribute to society in apractical way.

Alan StintonFaithful+Gould


...to empowerour people

The skill, energy and commitment of our staff make the Group what itis. For that reason we aim to be the employer of choice in our sectorsand we make continual improvements to our working environment toattract and retain staff. We were delighted that Atkins was once againjudged to be one of the UK’s best big companies to work for in the2006 Sunday Times 20 Best Big Companies to Work For survey.

Our businessAtkins is the leading firm of engineering consultants in the UK andEurope and the fourth largest design firm in the world. We are one ofthe largest employers of professional engineers, project managers andspecialist disciplines.

Each of our businesses, supported by their HR teams, is responsible forHR issues locally, supported by our Group Human Resources Directorwho is responsible to our Chief Executive for employee issues acrossthe Group.

Recruitment and retentionWe have continued to increase the resources allocated to recruitment,with over 40 specialist staff dedicated to this activity. Our recruitmentplatform now covers the USA and Middle East and will be extended to India and China this year.

Global staff numbers have risen steadily. Our own staff increased byapproximately 650 during the year, with total headcount (includingagency staff) up by over 1,000. We have undertaken a number ofhighly successful recruitment campaigns in India, Poland and Australasia and will continue to extend our recruitment coverage as necessary.

The Group is now the largest UK employer of technical staff and thefourth largest employer of civil and structural staff in the world, with 14,907 employees, including agency staff, as at 31 March 2006.Of these, 11,674 were based in the UK, 840 in the Far East, 1,148 in the Middle East, 688 in continental Europe and 557 in the USA. A major recruiter of graduates, the majority of our staff areprofessionally or technically qualified.

The skill, energy andcommitment of our staff make the Group what it is.We make continualimprovements to our working environmentto attract and retain them.

DiversityHighways and Transportation istaking part in a Transport for Londoninitiative called Equality throughDiversity, where TfL is looking toencourage its suppliers to drivediversity through it’s own supply chain.

Best Big CompaniesWe are delighted to have beenplaced 11th in the Sunday Times 20 Best Big Companies to work for survey.

Employer of the YearFaithful+Gould is QS News Awards’,QS Employer of the Year.


Our intake of graduate trainees continues to rise. We were particularlypleased to be the fastest riser in the list of Times Top 100 GraduateEmployers, rising from 94th to 66th during the year. We now visit35 Universities during the annual recruitment exercise, attending in excess of 50 events, and process applications from over 8,000 undergraduates.

Staff turnover fell in the year to 14.1% (2005: 15%), with a markedimprovement in our design disciplines. Turnover is broadly comparablein the UK and overseas businesses. We aim to continue to improve in what will remain a competitive market for high quality staff.Turnover for those participating in management developmentprogrammes is particularly low, providing an early return oninvestment and has improved significantly for those on graduatetraining schemes as a result of improved development programmesand long term retention schemes. To reduce staff turnover further, we used an external supplier to survey employees who resigned from Atkins within the last 18 months, to help us to understand better why our employees leave, and so help us to determine whatwe needto do to encourage employees to remain with the Group.

Our e-recruitment investment has significantly increased our capacityto recruit, bringing cost and efficiency benefits, with the numberapplying online now over 40%.

Greater emphasis has been placed on encouraging talent mobilityacross the Group, an internal publication ‘Atkins Careers’ has beenlaunched to reinforce this philosophy.

InductionOver the last year, we have focused on the way we introduce our new staff to the Group. We have developed a new induction processwhich aims to improve consistency across our businesses and, moreimportantly, to improve retention by making it easier and moreenjoyable to work with us in the first days. The new process begins on the day the new person accepts a job offer with us and continuesto their first review after three months. Local inductions are followedby a newly devised one-day Group Welcome event.

1 DiasporanFaithful+Gould provides ongoing unpaidsupport, including professional advice,funding application and negotiationconsultancy, to the West Indian StandingConference 'Diasporan', a social enterpriseproject looking to create a home toshowcase and promote the wide diversityof cultures within London and to providework opportunities and social structure for many young people. The Chairman,Clarence Thompson said, “I commend the Executive of Faithful+Gould for itscommitment to equal opportunities. It hasdemonstrated that 'equality' truly meansequal and fair treatment regardless of race,colour, class, creed, sexuality or disability."

2 Wise womenWe have formed Atkins WISE which isdriven by women in science, engineeringand technology. We have held a number of forums for women to discuss theirexperiences at Atkins and to understandwhat they perceived to be the barriers totheir success and were gold sponsors forthe recent UKRC Annual Conference onGender and Leadership. We have alsobegun a project called Setting us APART(Atkins Partnering and Reaching Talent),working with local schools, colleges andUniversities to deliver a programme thatmeets curriculum requirements and willraise the focus and understanding of SEToccupations to children at key stages oftheir academic lives. The project aims tocombine and coordinate the work that we currently undertake with schools,colleges and Universities such as readingprogrammes, interview techniques, mock interviews, and CV surgeries.

3 University linksWe have close links with numerousuniversities throughout the UK and furtherafield – around 40 currently and the listkeeps growing. For instance, we nowsponsor chairs in the British University inDubai’s Institute of the Built Environmentand in Civil Engineering at Greenwich;Lambert Smith Hampton sponsors an MScin Real Estate at Oxford Brookes; at Surreywe sponsor a masters course in TransportPlanning and support the Multi-DisciplineDesign Project (MDDP) element of the fouryear M.Eng course; we support the newMBA focused on innovation at ImperialCollege; we work closely with Cranfieldand Warwick on Atkins in-housemanagement development programmes.We also lecture, support students and take part in collaborative projects.

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Training and developmentInvestment in training and development increased in 2005/06 to£14.5m. This trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.A major review of our management training portfolio was largelycompleted during the year with twenty two new training programmes launched.

Over 1,850 staff have now attended our core people, commercial,client and technical programmes. Attendees included managers from all major businesses and territories and are now being run on an international basis, with the first programmes held in the MiddleEast during February.

The number of managers attending our highly successfulManagement Development Centres increased to around 200 in2005/06. We have also continued to build management developmentlinks with academic institutions in the UK and overseas.

Our Senior Management Development Programme continues toprove very successful in broadening the skills and mindset of the next generation of top managers. We are using this as a catalyst for driving change across the Group.

During the year 138 graduates attended our Graduate Developmentcentres. These utilise many of the assessment tools developed for our Management Development Centres. Feedback from participantshas been very encouraging and we expect these centres to provesuccessful in supporting their career development planning. We have been pleased by the progress we have made, and training and development will continue to be a high priority for the Group, not least as we grow further internationally.

RewardWe review our remuneration policies on an ongoing basis to ensurewe continue to be able to recruit, retain and motivate staff. We haveintroduced new disciplines around the use of notional pay rangestogether with better access to market data and guidance to ensureour salaries are competitive.

We recently commissioned external advisors to review our variable paypractice, specifically the long term incentive plan and annual bonusarrangements for our senior employees. The purpose was to ensurewe have appropriate motivational and reward mechanisms aligned toour evolving business needs. Proposals coming out of this exercise willbe implemented through 2006/07.

We have made improvements with our reward communications andlast year published a set of total remuneration statements for ourmost senior staff. The objective has been to re-enforce the value ofthe financial package through working at Atkins.

We have also introduced a range of voluntary benefits over the last18 months: Childcare Vouchers, a Share Incentive Plan and anEmployee Assistance Programme (EAP). All of these have been well received and we actively monitor their use.

We are launching a new set of voluntary benefits in June 2006 –‘Bikes4work’, discounted gym membership and discounted privatehealthcare – and will use the opportunity to re-promote our existingbenefits in this area.

1 Win People, Win Planet, Win ProfitOur Exeter office is planning to be anAtkins pilot site for the new Investors inPeople Healthy Organisation Model.Lessons learnt are already being fed intoother offices in Design Solutions and toGroup HR. First step is Work-Life Balanceaccreditation, followed by the LeadershipModel, followed by the HealthyOrganisation Model. A major plank ofExeter’s approach is the introduction offlexible working and home working whichhave now been taken up by 24% of theirstaff and have already achieved a 5%reduction in CO2 per mile (with furtherreductions to come). The benefits of homeworking on the 'triple bottom line' are, asthey put it, ‘Win people, win planet, winprofit.’ (but only two days a week sopeople don’t become miserable andisolated). Exeter is setting out itscommitment in its business plans, and backing this up with a strategy forincreasing awareness.

2 A burning missionLambert Smith Hampton has a ‘mission tobe a great place to work’, and hasintroduced a range of improved benefitsduring 2005, including:

• A suite of courses for promotion (includingMini MBA, PACE Pipeline, Managing KeyClients, Leading and Managing Others) –which has encouraged both fee-earnersand senior support staff to come forwardfor promotion and has made the wholeprocess transparent.

• Enhanced maternity arrangements andpaternity pay.

• A stress management course called‘Breathing Space’ which focuses on simpleways to stimulate health and creativity,understanding the body’s systems andenergy flows, how to change personalbehaviour in the workplace, simpleexercises and meditations to alleviatestress, and improving concentration,sharpness of focus and clarity of thought.

Peoplecontinued

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Policy improvementsTo support the policies already in place enabling parents to requestflexible working we have introduced greater clarity around other typesof leave that employees may request. These include leave for religiouspurposes and to carry out work with charities such as RedR to supportdisaster relief. It is hoped that these will encourage our employees toget more involved with their communities.

Following on from the introduction of an Occupational Health Serviceand an EAP, this year has seen the introduction of an ‘AttendanceManagement’ policy, with the aim of ensuring that employees whotake sick leave are treated in a fair and sensitive way.

The UK’s Company Car Policy and Staff Handbook have also beenreviewed to ensure that they are giving the right message to potentialemployees in terms of attracting them to Atkins, and aiding retentionwithin the Group – both key objectives as we move forwards.

Flexible working continues to be a business initiative and whilst nocorporate policies have been introduced to support work-life balance,all businesses are encouraged to seriously consider all requests forflexible working, not just those from parents. The introduction of a corporate policy remains under consideration.

Business conductThe Group is committed to the fair and equitable treatment of all its employees irrespective of gender, race, age, religion, disability orsexual orientation. Policies are in place across the Group to continue to ensure that this commitment is applied in practice. We are satisfied that we observe good practice in ensuring human rights for our employees.

The Group’s policy and practice is to encourage the recruitment andsubsequent training, career development and promotion of disabledpeople on the basis of their aptitude and abilities and the retentionand re-training of employees who become disabled.

The Group’s Whistleblower policy is a commitment to ensuring highstandards of business conduct. All employees are expected to carryout their duties in an ethical manner and to report any instances ofmalpractice of which they become aware, which are then investigated,in confidence, and appropriate action is taken.

We also follow best practice in relation to staff consultation, particularlywhen staff are transferred between Atkins and another employer, oron the rare occasion that we are facing potential redundancies.

Most members of staff have access to the Group’s informationtechnology systems and equipment and a number also have mobilephones and PDAs. It is the Group’s policy to comply with relevantlegislation in these areas, including regulations and rights relating tointellectual property, privacy, obscene publications and data protection.

1 The Magnificent 432A magnificent 432 nominations for AtkinsExcellence Awards 2006 – our inauguralevent – flooded in from around the world,highlighting the diversity of our talents.They spread fairly evenly across the fivecategories defined by Atkins’ core values –Innovation, Performance, Customer Focus,People and Integration. More than 3,000hits on the awards web site – nearly halffrom outside the UK – showed particularinterest from China, North America andthe United Arab Emirates. Awards nightwas hosted by BBC Business Breakfast’sSarah Coburn at the Queen’s Hotel, Leeds,in May and the winners were:

• Innovation: Shaun Killa (Middle East) – for the world's first large scale integrationof wind turbines in a major buildingdevelopment, at the Bahrain World Trade Centre.

• Customer: Andrew Wilkinson of AssetManagement (Leeds) – for building atrusting and talented team who care abouttheir part in making their client, Barclays,great for their customers.

• People: Pat Regan of Highways andTransportation (Warrington) – for hisdevotion to the progression of junior staff.

• Performance: Kevin Johnson and Kate Lockey of Design and EngineeringSolutions (DES) (Epsom) – for outstandingclient satisfaction resulting in repeatarchitectural and interior design businesson Royal Carribean's Enchantment of theSeas cruise liner.

• Integration: Randal Kliskey representingManagement Consultants, DES, AtkinsPoland and Faithful+Gould – for exceptionalteamwork, trust and competency toprovide a new manufacturing facility for Technicolor in Warsaw.

• Chief Executive's Special Award: VinothJoseph of Rail (Sharjah) for his RelayInterlocking Analysis Tool.

• Overall Outstanding Entry: Bob Hope andthe Bahrain World Trade Centre. Thejudges felt that this was a true architecturaland engineering 'icon'. Simply put, this is a world class building, delivered by a worldclass team.

2 Viewpoint improvementsViewpoint, our annual employeeengagement survey, highlights areas whereour staff think we need to improve theinternal management of the Group. Lastyear’s results pointed to the need to improvethe people management styles and skills of team leaders, managers and leaders and communication and influencing skillsgenerally in the Group. As a result we havebeen focusing on training staff in theirinteraction with others, including providingclarity of direction and providing thefeedback and recognition identified as needing improvement in the survey. We are currently digesting this year’s resultsand deciding on what needs to be doneover the coming year.

ElectedWater engineer Yiping Cheng hasbeen elected as a member of theEngineering and Physical SciencesResearch Council peer review college.

RepresentedManagement consultant Marek Suchocki was invited torepresent industry interests to theEuropean Commission consultationworkshop on collaborativeenvironments.

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...to develop excellentrelationships

Excellent relationshipsThe good opinion of our business partners – customers, suppliers andshareholders – and also other stakeholders such as government, themedia and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), is central to our success.

For this reason we place major emphasis on ensuring strong and long-lasting relationships with all our key stakeholder groups, focusing on:• Understanding clients’ needs and delivering the highest standards

of technical expertise, competence and excellence.• Taking a partnership approach to achieving shared aims.• Integrity, honesty and efficiency in communication. • Feedback, review and continual improvement.

We are delighted that once again the efforts of our peoplethroughout the Group have won numerous awards and accoladesfrom both customers and independent commentators.

We are also beginning on a number of new initiatives to ensure that our relationships continue to grow and strengthen over thecoming year.

CustomersCustomer focus is one of our core values and effective qualitymanagement is central to the Group’s business activities. This isachieved through the implementation and development offormalised management systems which enable not only thecontrol of key processes, but also the capture of customerfeedback as a mechanism to facilitate continual improvements.

Management structureMany of the Group’s markets demand sector-specific customer support frameworks and it is the managing directors of our businesses who are responsible for customer management. They report to the Chief Executive who is ultimately responsible for customer management across the Group.

We strive to respond to theneeds and expectations of allour stakeholders, to win theirgood opinion and developstrong and long-lastingrelationships.

Number OneFor the eighth year running weswept the board in Buildingmagazine’s annual survey of thenation’s Top 200 Consultants.Described as one of the UK’s‘superstars’, we were number oneconsultant, engineer, fee earner andsurveyor. We were also the second-placed architect.

Number OneOnce again – for the seventh year insuccession – we ranked top of thehighly respected New Civil EngineerConsultants File. We’re number onein Building, Defence, FM (AssetManagement), Geotechnics, Health & Safety, Public Sector, Rail/RailBridges, Road/Road Bridges, Telecoms,Transport Planning and Waste.


Quality management systemsAll our UK businesses are independently certified as achieving theISO 9001: 2000 quality management standard, ensuring a high levelof assurance of Group-wide performance. ISO 9001 promotes aprocess-based approach to developing, implementing and improvingthe management of quality in an organisation’s operating activitiesand is a core part of Atkins’ global QSE standard.

The businesses are independently re-assessed regularly to ensure they continue to meet the standard and we continually look foropportunities to enhance our approach as we adapt our managementsystems to meet changing market and customer needs. For instance,our aerospace and defence division has recently been certified to theAerospace sector standard, AS9100, for its work with Airbus.

Another major achievement is the introduction of a single BusinessManagement System for the Design and Engineering Solutionsbusiness segment – following the successful amalgamation of theformer Design, Environment & Engineering and Industry operations.This harmonisation and rationalisation of existing managementsystems will ensure a more consistent and efficient approach towardsdelivering client solutions, enabling flexibility to meet customers’ needs and improved performance reporting.

In keeping with our programme of Group-wide assurance, furtherapprovals have been achieved throughout the year. All our operationsin China and the Middle East are now certified to ISO 9001: 2000.

Customer feedbackAll our businesses continue to operate processes to obtain andrespond to customer feedback, which is vital to the continualimprovement of our internal systems and the quality of our work.Each business has developed its own approach to capturingcustomers’ views, either post-project completion or at key stages of a project’s development; collecting information via a confidentialquestionnaire, by interview or other means.

Customer feedback is often used as a formal key performanceindicator. Design and Engineering Solutions has a new initiative to collect and analyse customer feedback data electronically which will allow more effective collation and comparison, in turn enablingmore meaningful performance reporting and benchmarking, bothinternally and externally to the Group.

1 Design awardsWe’ve won four awards in four months for our redesign of Chepstow High Street,gained a Civic Trust Award to add to our collection for work on Hornseapromenade, and the Design Commissionfor Wales (DCW) now features on itswebsite our landmark development in a Conservation area at Penarth. We alsowon the Highway Design category at theLocal Government News Street DesignAwards 2005 for our work on VauxhallCross Interchange.

2 Somerset’s finestHighways Services in Somerset aredelivering some of the finest work to beseen nationwide. So says a recent UK-wideclient-compiled analysis. In just two yearsthe team has planned and programmedmore than 1,000 sites for surfacetreatment, prepared 5.5 million-plussquare metres of rural and urban roads,undertaken 4.2 million square metres ofsurface dressing, laid 1.3 million squaremetres of road surfacing and completed30,000 linear metres of road marking.They even dealt with a succession of‘quacks’ in the road when four ducklingsran away from a park in Taunton to play‘chicken’ on the A38 (Atkins staff justhappened along at the right time). Andwhen a bride-to-be rang them in tearsthey recovered an engagement ring she’dsomehow dropped down a drain. Theteam also boasts a state-of-the-art servicemanagement centre which allows satellitetracking of road defects, programmingand repair.

3 A really successful partnershipOur Northamptonshire Highways team not only received the Investor in Excellenceaward, but our ground-breaking roadsmaintenance partnership withNorthamptonshire County Council hasbeen hailed as a major success both byNorthamptonshire and the government.

4 Exceptional serviceOur Asset Management team has beenselected by Barclays as their only Tier 1supplier. Stressing ‘We have re-bid virtuallyall our other contracts – but not Atkins,’Atkins’ input had been crucial in ‘anincredible year’. Senior customer servicemanager for Barclays property network,Jan Tilson, a member of our AssetManagement team, was singled out toattend Barclays AE (Annual Eagle)recognition lunch at London’s CanaryWharf for ‘…people who have deliveredexceptional service.’ Atkins’ was the onlypresence from outside Barclays. DanielAston and Jane Irving of the ‘One-Call’customer relationship team set up forBarclays, were also nominated by bankstaff for AE recognition.

5 Achievement through innovationBahrain World Trade Centre is believed to be the first building of its kind in theworld to use wind power for energyproduction. It is also a clear statement that developments that embrace solutionsfor conserving energy and the environmentcan be commercially sustainable. It wasawarded ‘Project of the Year’ and‘Achievement through Innovation’ byConstruction Week magazine.

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Continual improvementSpecific improvement initiatives focused on improving customer serviceand satisfaction are developed by our businesses on an ongoing basis.This year’s initiatives include Lean Sigma methodologies for signallingdesign processes in our Rail business; the pursuance of businessexcellence in our Highways and Transportation business, applying theprinciples of the European Foundation for Quality Management(EFQM) Business Excellence Model – particularly in relation to theirwork for the Highways Agency and several management systemsintegration and harmonisation projects, for instance in Rail, AssetManagement and Design and Engineering Solutions.

Suppliers The Group has a Business Conduct Policy which covers the fairtreatment of suppliers and ethical trading in relation to ourcommercial relationships. In dealing with our suppliers we aim to:• Act honestly and openly.• Agree and observe fair, clear trading terms.• Respect the privacy, confidentiality and intellectual property

rights of our suppliers.

Management structureOur dedicated supply management team is focused on continuouslyimproving the way the Group works with its corporate suppliers. The team also has responsibility for managing day to day relationshipswith preferred suppliers and for developing policies and procedures to be implemented by the business units in the appointment andmanagement of suppliers, where necessary. Relationships withapproved suppliers, providing specific products and services toindividual businesses are managed by them.

We have three key groups of suppliers:• Preferred – the major suppliers with whom Atkins has an

agreement for supply to the whole Group.• Approved – who have ongoing agreements to support

specific businesses.• Registered – who supply goods and services on an ad hoc

basis. Standard processes are in place to manage registration, order placing and payment.

We enter into formal contracts with our larger suppliers, while othersuppliers are covered by our standard terms of business. We aim togive all suppliers a minimum of 60 days’ notice to changes of terms,to allow time for acceptance and compliance. Contracts with suppliersgenerally provide for mutual confidentiality.

Our approachWe follow a stringent process for selection of suppliers to support the Group. We apply the same selection process for suppliers to ourcustomers. Second tier suppliers (supplier who supply our suppliers)are similarly assessed and reviewed where their impact could besignificant. This process ensures that our suppliers are both reliableand suitable to the needs of the Group. They also ensure that ourrelationships with our suppliers are managed on an appropriate and consistent basis.

The process allows us to identify appropriate criteria relevant to thegoods or services being procured – such as innovation, safety andhealth, CR, quality, people and service delivery – and compare thepotential suppliers against these criteria before selection. A pre-requisiteis that suppliers must be ISO 14001 accredited or working towardsthat accreditation. An additional aspect of the selection process is theSafe Contractor Accreditation to cover those providers who supportthe management of the corporate estate. This demonstrates that thecontractors take safety and health seriously and must report incidentsagainst which they will be measured and monitored.

For preferred suppliers a quarterly review process monitors issuesincluding risks and environmental and social impacts. Our suppliers are expected to contribute to the delivery of our Environmental Policy,on a partnership basis. We assess the environmental impact of thegoods and services we buy and agree a plan with suppliers tocontinuously improve and reduce that impact.

If necessary we change the products we use, or on occasion oursuppliers, if they do not progress towards meeting our own corporateresponsibility criteria.

Relationshipscontinued

1 Outstanding effortsWe were delighted by the kind words of our client for the KhalidiyahDevelopment Project in Abu Dhabi“…outstanding efforts in advancing thecause of Architecture with your thoughtprovoking and original design submittal for the Khalidiyah Development designcompetition. The design jury salutes therisk you took in challenging the norms of conventional commercial developmentand urban design. Your offering reveals a vision of the promised, a position of thepassionate and a place from which we canelevate our critical inquiry into the culturalresponsibilities we have as Architects.”

2 Too much paperOur shareholders receive around 6.8 tonnes of print from us each year.That’s hardly good for either theenvironment or the Company. So we are now offering shareholders the facilityto receive e-communications from us,which we hope will greatly reduce theimpact of producing, circulating anddisposing of printed documents. This will include our report and accounts,interim accounts and notice of meetings.These will be placed on our investorrelations website and shareholders willreceive an e-mail as soon as they areavailable. Shareholders who sign up for e-communications can also lodge theirproxy votes for the AGM online.

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Over the year we have continued to make progress in achieving bettervalue for money for the Group’s expenditure on goods and services,developing strong relationships with our chosen suppliers and inimproving our supply procurement and management processes.Examples of our policies in action are increasing use of recycled paperthroughout the organisation, membership of the Future Forest Schemewith vehicle hire via Avis, incentives for low emission company cars orlimiting choice to more fuel efficient models and procurement ofconsumables from Fair Trade sources. Our supply management teamwill continue to proactively seek to identify further ways to improveour procurement and supply management performance over thecoming year.

ShareholdersThe Board gives communication with all shareholders a high priority.We have begun to promote the use of e-communications byencouraging shareholders to sign up to receive company circularselectronically rather than by post.

The Group’s website contains information on current activitiesincluding webcasts of the Annual and Interim results presentations to City analysts and institutional investors.

The Annual Report is designed to present a balanced andunderstandable view of the Groups’ activities and prospects.

Advertising, marketing and corporate communicationsWe aim for veracity and integrity in all our marketing activities whetherconducted centrally or by businesses. There were no breaches ofregulatory, advertising or marketing regulations during the year and no complaints were upheld against the Group.

All authors of advertising and marketing material produced by theGroup must ensure that the material is in line with the standards laiddown by the Advertising Standards Authority, the Equal OpportunitiesCommission and other relevant regulatory bodies.

All marketing material and press releases must be approved by theappropriate business unit managing director and, where applicable, by clients or business partners. All press releases are also authorised by the Group’s corporate press office before distribution. Major pressreleases and all stock exchange announcements are additionallyauthorised by the Chief Executive, the Group Finance Director or theCompany Secretary and, where required, the Board of directors.

The Group this year also introduced new guidelines for the productionof all printed promotional material. All such material is now producedon paper with a minimum 80% recycled fibre content and usesvegetable based inks, such as soya oil to eliminate the harmfulemissions produced by solvent-based inks. The Group’s stock of carrier bags is also now made from recycled paper.

The close working links between all parts of the Group mean thatinstant ease of communication is essential. For this reason English is the official language in all our offices, wherever they are in theworld. Our intranet site, accessible by our staff, is also in English. However, a range of language courses, available to all staff, are along-standing and permanent fixture in our training portfolio. We are also increasingly translating policies and procedures into local languages for our non-UK offices, particularly those with verytechnical content such as safety, health and environment resources,where accurate translation is important.

Business conductIt is a principle of our business approach that we display integrity andtransparency in all dealings with customers, business partners andsuppliers. No incidents relating to anti-trust and monopoly regulationshave been identified in the year and no legal action has been taken by or against the Group in respect of such matters. Staff are notpermitted to give or accept gifts, money or favours; reasonable smalltokens and hospitality may be accepted but only where they conformto local practice and precedent and do not place the recipient underany obligation.

1 Sustainable furnitureKomfort and SIS Interiors are Atkins’preferred furniture suppliers. Bothorganisations have stringent environmentalpolicies and we can be confident our chosenoffice furniture has been manufacturedsympathetically from wood sourcing, tothe process followed. Komfort for exampleensure that any suppliers of veneers orhardwoods source their products fromcountries with a sustained replacementforestry programme, by requiring FSCcertification or third party verification by anorganisation like the Tropical Forest Trust.To eradicate volatile organic compoundemissions from acrylic spray, the companymoved entirely over to electrostatic powdercoat application from July 2005.

2 Clean green machinesWe work closely with our outsourced UK car and fleet managers Zenith VehicleContracts to ensure the environmentalimpact of our fleet is managed effectivelyand, whenever possible, use vehiclemanufacturers with a similar focus onprotecting the environment for futuregenerations. A simple example is thereplacement of our pool vehicles in Epsomwith the hybrid Toyota Prius. The Prius usesHybrid Synergy Drive technology whichallows vehicles to run, from an emissionspoint of view, under the most efficientmode, petrol and/or electric. It generatesup to 89% fewer tailpipe pollutants thanconventional internal combustion engines.

AccreditationThe document and managementand control team at SSF in Worcesterachieved ISO 15489-1: 2001Information and Document RecordsManagement Accreditation.

UniversityFaithful+Gould US plans a‘University’, where staff can takeonline courses and tests and becomecertified in Faithful+Gould processes,Group processes and externalcourses/qualifications.

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...to deliveronour objectives

• In markets and sectors where we have a significant presenceincreasingly take a leadership role in raising both awareness andstandards for safety and health.

• Reduce accidents and incidents by 5% in offices and 10% on site.• All relevant professional staff in the UK to obtain CSCS card.• Continue to develop a no blame reporting culture for supply chain

near misses and act on reports.• Include behavioural coaching and demonstrable leadership in the

scope of director safety tours.• Reduce sickness rates to sector’s best practice levels.• Improve food available in staff canteens.• Continue to ensure stress is appropriately managed.• Further encourage cycling/walking to work where practical.• Complete OHSAS 18001 certification across the Group.

• Ensure all pool cars are energy efficient or hybrids.• Continue to encourage green travel.• Stop using plastic bags or folders.• Use green specification for all publications.• Encourage web-based communications.• Develop sustainability awareness.• Complete ISO 14001 certification across the business.

• Support and encourage offices in their efforts to be good neighbours.• Promote staff events to raise funds for our three chosen charities.

• Maximise benefits of relationships with universities, such assponsored chairs in Dubai and Greenwich.

• Participate at senior level in agenda-setting panels and organisations,such as the National Employment Panel and London First.

• Be proactive by including younger staff in dinners, ground breaking and client events.

• Promote diversity as a key issue.• Respond to and improve results from annual staff Viewpoint survey.• Continue to focus on staff retention and improving the internal

job market.

• Complete Group-wide achievement of ISO 9001.

Safety and health

Environment

Community

People

Quality

Key CR objectives for the coming year:

Design and production: www.collegedesign.com

Printing: This report has been printed by Royle Corporate Print, one of the most environmentally friendly printers in the UK. Under theframework of ISO 14001 a structured approach is taken to measureimprove and audit their environmental status on an ongoing basis.The main environmental areas targeted for continual reduction arisefrom the use of solvents, energy consumption and waste generation.Royle Corporate Print is also Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) chainof custody certified.

The printing inks and varnishes in this report contain the maximumamount of renewable vegetable oil based raw material. They combinewith hard resins that also have their origins in natural materials. Theycontain no heavy metal or toxic products and offer greater recyclingpossibilities than standard inks.

This publication is printed on 9lives 80 paper. It is produced from 80%recovered fibre comprising: 10% packaging waste, 10% best whitewaste, 60% de-inked waste fibre and 20% virgin TCF (totally chlorinefree) fibre sourced from sustainable forests. The supplier of 9Lives 80 is accredited with the ISO 14001 standard.

If you have finished reading the report and no longer wish to retain it please pass it on to other interested readers, return it to Atkins ordispose of it in your recycled paper waste. Thank you.

The Atkins logo, the “open A” device and the strapline “Plan DesignEnable” are trademarks of Atkins Limited, a WS Atkins plc company.

© Atkins Limited except where stated otherwise.

WS Atkins plcWoodcote GroveAshley RoadEpsomSurrey KT18 5BWEngland

Telephone +44 (0)1372 726140Fax +44 (0)1372 740055

[email protected]

Documents

2006 Corporate Responsibility