Aitken Spence wins ‘Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2017’

Aitken Spence PLC Board Director Stasshani Jayawardena receives the award from Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Rajendra Theagarajah (centre) in the presence of (from left) global expert on corporate sustainability David Bent, Evaluators Panel Chairperson Eardley Perera and Aitken Spence PLC Plantations and Business Development Head Dr. Rohan Fernando
Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

Diversified conglomerate Aitken Spence PLC won the coveted ‘Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2017’ at the annual event organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, to recognize the sustainable champions of the local corporate world, while Hatton National Bank PLC and Cargills (Ceylon) PLC became the first and second runners-up of the competition, respectively.

The awards ceremony was held Tuesday night at Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo, amidst a gathering of 350 top corporate executives. Japanese Ambassador in Sri Lanka Kenichi Suganuma attended as the chief guest of the event while M. David Bent, a global expert on corporate sustainability, delivered the keynote address.

Top Ten Corporate Citizens
Aitken Spence PLC, Hatton National Bank PLC, Cargills (Ceylon) PLC, Nestle Lanka PLC, Access Engineering PLC, Singer Sri Lanka PLC, People’s Leasing & Finance PLC, Ceylon Biscuits Limited, National Development Bank PLC and MAGA Engineering (Private) Limited were recognized as the Top Ten Corporate Citizens of the year during the awards night.

Category ‘B’ winners
Access Engineering PLC won the less than Rs.15 billion annual turnover ‘Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2017’ offered under ‘Category B’, while Citizens Development Business Finance PLC became the first runner-up of the said category.

Category awards
Access Engineering PLC won a category award for Corporate Environmental Management, MAGA Engineering (Private) Limited was awarded for Environmental Integration, Hatton National Bank was recognized for Environment Beyond the Business and Aitken Spence PLC won two category awards for Employee Relations and Community Relations.

Nestle Lanka PLC was honoured for Customer Relations, Nations Trust Bank PLC for its work on Governance, Sirio Limited was awarded for Financial Performance and Bank of Ceylon for its efforts in Economic Contribution.

Triple Bottom Line Awards
Aitken Spence PLC also won a Triple Bottom Line Award for its work on Environmental Sustainability, Nestle Lanka PLC was recognized for its contribution made towards Social Sustainability, while Bank of Ceylon was awarded for its actions on Economic Sustainability.

Sector-based sustainability champions
The sector awards were won by Access Engineering for the Construction sector, Hatton National Bank PLC for the Finance sector, Nestle Lanka PLC for the Manufacturing sector, Aitken Spence PLC for Diversified Holdings, while Sri Lanka Telecom PLC won a sector award under the ‘Other’ category.

Best Sustainability Project Awards 2015
Hatton National Bank PLC was awarded for its project on ‘HNB Powers up with Green’, Citizens Development Bank Business Finance PLC for the contribution it made via ‘Green Ninja – CDB Quiz Master 2017’, while Premium Exports Ceylon (Private) Limited was recognized for its ‘Arunella Waste Management’ project.

Merit Certificates
Cargills (Ceylon) PLC was given a merit certificate for its ‘Cargill’s Sarubima’ project, Access Engineering PLC was awarded a certificate for its project on ‘Fabrication and Distribution of School Furniture’, while Citizens Development Bank Business Finance PLC won a merit certificate for its project on ‘Act Early for Autism Awareness Campaign’, while Bogawantalawe Tea Estate was recognized for ‘Fair, Green and All Inclusive’.

Best Presented Application
Nestle Lanka PLC received the Best Presented Application award.