Haymarket Media Ltd emerges victorious at ESGBusiness Awards 2024

The media company was recognised for its efforts in managing carbon emissions and its approach to empowering women and promoting gender equality.

Haymarket Media Ltd earned the Carbon Disclosure Award - Hong Kong and Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Award - Hong Kong categories at the ESGBusiness Awards 2024, for showing exemplary leadership in making impactful climate action and for its commendable efforts in creating a workplace culture that values and uplifts people of all gender identities.

Environmental milestones

Haymarket Media launched its first-ever Global Environmental Policy, a major milestone that outlines country-specific targets to address environmental challenges. The policy’s objectives include reporting on the company’s global CO2e emissions, establishing local targets for energy reduction and waste management, and providing guidance on sustainable technology practices. With these ambitious goals set, Haymarket Media aims to significantly improve its environmental impact and lead by example in the media industry.

The company has also obtained an ISO 14001 certification for live events, positioning Haymarket Media amongst the first media companies in the United Kingdom to achieve such an accreditation.

Aside from this, the company developed the HK Carbon Reduction Plan, which provides specific actions and strategies to reduce carbon emissions and aligns with its ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. 

Amongst Haymarket Media’s achievements is reducing electricity usage in its Asia offices by 12% from July 2023 to June 2024. Additionally, the company increased the proportion of digital material suppliers who measure and report their emissions to 50%. Notably, 65% of these suppliers are committed to carbon reduction and 40% use renewable energy.

Haymarket Media has enhanced its sustainability practices by adopting the ISO 14001 Sustainable Event Management System for more events. It now uses PEFC or FSC-accredited magazine papers from sustainably managed forests and has implemented an automatic lights-off policy at its FWD office after 7 p.m. 

The company also replaced high-energy coffee machines with low-emission models, consolidated office printers to cut standby energy by 35%, reduced air conditioning on cold days, and set monitors to power-saving mode after 30 seconds of inactivity. Additionally, vegan options are provided at all events across Asia, furthering its sustainability commitment.

On top of these, Haymarket Media carefully manages e-waste by sending personal computers and batteries to specialised facilities for environmentally responsible disposal. The company also prioritises venues with renewable energy and is committed to reducing energy consumption at all locations.
Haymarket Media Ltd’s commitment to sustainability and climate action earned them the Carbon Disclosure Award - Hong Kong honour at the ESGBusiness Awards 2024.

Empowering women and gender equality

Haymarket Media’s goals include achieving gender pay parity across all levels of the organisation; celebrating the achievements of women in the finance, media, and marketing sectors through awards programmes and content; and cultivating partnerships with reputable organisations that work tirelessly to uplift women.

Adhering to these goals, Haymarket Media launched the Gender Pay Gap Analysis project in 2024. Recognising the critical importance of pay transparency, the company gathered comprehensive internal data and published its first annual global gender pay gap report. This report is focussed on ensuring that men and women who are performing similar roles receive equivalent levels of compensation. 

It was revealed in its latest findings that the pay its female workforce receives exceeds that of its male workforce, with a mean difference of 1.9% and a median difference of 13.1%. This is deemed a substantial progress in Asia, where 76%—a 35% increase from the previous year—of its workforce are women. 

The company also worked internally, making Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training mandatory for all its employees, which led to a notable 10% increase in employee satisfaction.

Haymarket Media celebrates women’s achievements through Campaign Asia by promoting gender equality in marketing communications through editorial content and awards programmes, such as the Campaign Women Leading Change Awards.

In 2024, 35 remarkable women were recognised at a ceremony at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Campaign Asia also supports emerging female talent with its Women to Watch awards and content series, highlighting and celebrating rising stars in the industry.

Haymarket Media partnered with Mother's Choice, a charity supporting vulnerable children and young girls, and relaunched its Media and Marketing Charity Lunch, raising HK$720,000 (US$92,323) with over 100 attendees amidst COVID-19 restrictions. Additionally, in Singapore, Haymarket Media collaborated with Misfits Camp to support individuals with neurodiversity and physical disabilities, making Misfits its creative digital partner and enabling its talent to participate in Spikes Asia.

Its continuous diversity and inclusion initiatives won Haymarket Media Ltd the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Award - Hong Kong awardee at the ESGBusiness Awards 2024.

The ESGBusiness Awards recognises and celebrates companies that lead the way in building a sustainable future. The awards programme honours businesses that demonstrate outstanding commitment and achievement in environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.