9.7
Scope of the reporting

This annual report offers an overview of the main developments and the performance of Accell Group in 2018 and is based on aspects highly material to Accell Group. All the reported financial data pertain to the 2018 financial year that ran from 1 January to 31 December. As in previous years, non-financial data is reported for the period 1 December 2017 to 30 November 2018.

Reporting framework and data collection

This annual report is intended for all our stakeholders and in particular for our shareholders and staff. We want to use this integrated report to demonstrate how sustainable our operations are and how this strengthens our strategy, governance, performance and outlook and generates (social) value for the short, medium and long term.

The financial data in this report is generated by a standardised and automated reporting system. The internal risk management system safeguards the reliability of these financial data. The external auditor also audits the financial statements that are part of this report. In doing so, the external auditor also determines whether the notes to the financial statements in this report are a fair representation of the financial statements.
 
The data related to corporate social responsibility is collected once a year. The collected data and reporting are not verified by the external auditor. In 2018, the sustainability-related data collection covered 92% of Accell Group’s operations. This percentage is determined by dividing the turnover of the companies from which data is collected by the total turnover. The quantitative and qualitative information related to corporate social responsibility is based on qualitative interviews and quantitative data requests. To this end, we address the responsible staff members at our companies and staff departments. The persons responsible at our companies provide the requested quantitative data and direct the sustainability aspects and priority actions. The team responsible for corporate social responsibility at group level uses a plausibility check to verify the data obtained.

Deviations from the 2017 sustainability report

The transition to the new organisational structure, in which business units have been rearranged, has an impact on the reliability and scope of the data collection for corporate social responsibility purposes. Where necessary, we have adjusted the figures for previous years in the tables for comparison purposes. This may result in some tables deviating from those presented in the 2017 annual report.