Responsible Business |

RESPONSIBLE
BUSINESS

Responsible Business

Being a responsible business has been one of Ardevora’s core principles since the firm was founded in 2010. The concept of enduring common goods – something that everybody benefits from, but no-one is individually responsible for – helps us apply the principles of responsibility. There are many possible common goods, but the two we place the highest priority on are a fair society and the environment.

We look to make a difference as a responsible business in three ways:

Externally: by committing time, effort and money to help repair existing damage, irrespective of who caused it.
Internally: by treating our people fairly and conducting our business relationships in an open and collaborative way.
How we invest: responsibility is embedded in our investment philosophy. We have extended our work on CEO behaviour to consider explicitly whether a business is taking irresponsible, impactful risks which could be affecting wider society.

The Ardevora Charitable Trust

In February 2021, Ardevora established the Ardevora Charitable Trust to provide support to a group of charities and social enterprises, each of which works in different ways to address and mitigate damage in areas that are important to us.

The Ardevora Charitable Trust is a named fund held within The Master Charitable Trust (MCT). The MCT is a donor-advised fund managed by C. Hoare & Co. Bank and is a registered charity (number 1139904). Donations made from the Ardevora Charitable Trust are directed by the Ardevora Partners and verified by Messrs. Hoare Trustees.

The four organisations currently supported by the Ardevora Charitable Trust are:

Organisation	Description
Key Fund	Key Fund is an anti-poverty and empowerment organisation, focused on enabling people to create opportunities and stimulate economic activity in disadvantaged communities, with a focus in the Midlands and North of England. It invests in small community and social enterprises in areas of acute deprivation to enable them to establish, develop and grow. All the enterprises it supports have been unable to source funding from traditional lenders and Key Fund provides continuing support and advice to the enterprises to help them to deliver their business plans. Ardevora’s donation is helping to enhance post-investment support for social enterprises, developing a green fund to support disadvantaged communities and establishing a training programme to bring diverse talent into the social investment sector.
Global Canopy	Global Canopy is a data-driven think tank and environmental organisation that targets the market forces destroying tropical forests. Since 2001, it has been testing new open-access data-driven approaches to tackling deforestation, and guiding companies, investors and governments worldwide to think differently about our planet’s forests. They aim to improve the data, metrics and rules needed for global markets to stop nature-related impacts and to maximise opportunities for positive action. Ardevora’s donation is providing core funding to help scale the organisation and manage rapid growth.
Blue Marine	The Blue Marine Foundation exists to combat overfishing and the destruction of biodiversity through the creation of large-scale marine reserves and by delivering new models of sustainable fishing. Ardevora’s donation is supporting three projects: evaluating the current level of protection for the UK’s marine environment, exploring pathways to a just and fair transition away from highly destructive bottom-towed fishing gear and strengthening protections for the deep sea.
The Oxford University HESTIA project	The HESTIA project is developing an innovative data platform which collates data from researchers, famers, food processors and other actors in the agri-food system on the sustainability of different products and production practices. These data are validated, stored in a consistent format, and are open access. Ardevora’s donation is allowing the Hestia team to partner with WorldFish and Stockholm University to expand the volume of aquaculture data on the platform. During 2022, they will specifically be focusing on integrating data from the Blue Food Assessment and particularly focusing on major aquaculture species including tilapia, pangasius, salmon, and shrimp. The research will then explore these data to draw out key messages on the drivers of productivity and sustainability.

The Ardevora Charitable Trust does not accept applications for funding.

The Master Charitable Trust

Charity registration number 1139904

37 Fleet Street

London EC4P 4DQ

Responsible Sourcing Code of Conduct

Ardevora seeks to conduct business with organisations which share our values, respect our principles, and help support our commitments to operate in an ethically, socially and environmentally responsible manner. Ardevora is committed to sustainable business practices across its operations and supply chain. We recognise that the actions of our suppliers, and our interactions with them, support Ardevora in its efforts to drive positive social, environmental and economic outcomes.

Responsible Sourcing Code of Conduct (the Code) is relevant to businesses that provide products and/or services to Ardevora. Our expectation is that our suppliers will apply the standards that we adhere to within their own supply chain and procurement processes.

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