Aitken Spence wins Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2018

Aitken Spence PLC won the coveted ‘Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2018’ an annual event organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, to recognize sustainable champions of the local corporate sphere. Hatton National Bank PLC and Nestlé Lanka PLC became the first and second runner-up of the competition, respectively. The awards ceremony was held last night (26th November) at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo amidst a gathering of 350 distinguished corporate executives. Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, Karu Jayasuriya attended as the Chief Guest of the occasion. TOP TEN CORPORATE CITIZENS Aitken Spence PLC, Hatton National Bank PLC, Nestlé Lanka PLC, CBL Investments Limited, People’s Leasing & Finance PLC, Mas Intimates (Pvt) Ltd, Sampath Bank PLC, Citizens Development Business Finance PLC, Bank of Ceylon, and Access Engineering PLC, were recognized as the top ten corporate citizens of the year during the awards night. CATEGORY ‘B’ WINNERS Citizens Development Business Finance Plc won the Less than Rs. 15 billion Annual turnover ‘Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2018’ offered under ‘Category B’, while Link Natural Products (Pvt) Ltd became the first runner up Category B. TRIPLE BOTTOMLINE AWARDS MAS Intimates (Pvt) Ltd won a Triple Bottom Line Award for its work on Environmental Sustainability, Aitken Spence PLC was recognized for its contribution made towards Social Sustainability, while Hatton National Bank PLC was awarded for its actions on Economic Sustainability. CATEGORY AWARDS Under Category Awards, MAS Intimates (Pvt) Ltd won category awards for Environmental Commitment, Environmental Integration and Community Relations. Aitken Spence PLC was awarded for Environment Beyond the Business, Employee Relations, and Customer Relations. Sirio Ltd was recognized for Financial Performance, and Hatton National Bank PLC for its efforts in Economic Contribution. Further, there was a tie between Sampath Bank PLC and National Development Bank Plc for the Governance category award. SECTOR BASED SUSTAINABILITY CHAMPIONS The sector awards were won by Access Engineering for the Construction Sector, Hatton National Bank PLC for Finance Sector, Nestlé Lanka PLC for 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 2018 Under the Best Sustainability Project Awards, Camso Loadstar (Pvt) Ltd was awarded for its project on ‘2.8MWp Solar PV Installation in Camso Loadstar (PVT) Ltd’, CBL Foods International (Pvt) Limited was awarded for its Bio Fertilizer Production Using Effluent Sludge project, and Elpitiya Plantations PLC - Haritha Shakthi was recognized for the Formulation of the Company's Sustainability Strategy Embedded in the Company's Strategic Business Plan. HJS Condiments Limited was recognized for Uplifting the Living Standards of the Eastern Province. MERIT CERTIFICATES Bogawantalawa Tea Estates PLC was given a merit certificate for its ‘Strengthening the Future Generation Organic Vegetable Gardening Project’, Citizens Development Business Finance PLC was awarded a certificate for its ‘Act Early for Autism, Awareness Campaign’, Elpitiya Plantations PLC won a certificate for Caring for Persons with Special Needs at Elpitiya Plantations PLC, HNB was recognized for ‘Disaster Reduction Through Climate Change Adaptation’, HSBC - Manudiya Saviya was recognized for its ‘Safe Drinking Water Project’, MAS Active – Contourline was recognized for ‘The Eco Club Initiatives’, MAS Kreeda for its ‘Young Champion of the Earth Programme’, Tokyo Cement (Lanka) PLC was recognized for its ‘Divi Shakthi’ project, and Unilever Sri Lanka for ‘Project Sunshine’. CERTIFICATES FOR CONSISTENT COMMITMENT AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT For Consistent Commitment and Continuous Improvement, Aitken Spence PLC was recognized in Environmental Commitment, Environmental Integration, Customer Relations, and Community Relations. Hatton National Bank PLC was awarded this certificate under the Environment Beyond the Business category, Ceylon Biscuits Limited / CBL Investments Limited for the Employee Relations category, National Development Bank PLC for the Governance category, People’s Leasing & Finance PLC for Financial Performance, and Sri Lanka Telecom PLC for the Economic Contribution category. BEST PRESENTED APPLICATION The award for the Best Presented Application was won by Nestlé Lanka PLC.