Making Waives
The Ethical Property Company's Dividend Waiver Scheme

The Making Waives Fund plays a crucial role in the company's development. It allows us to explore and develop a wide range of new initiatives that strengthen our social and environmental returns. The more successful of these new developments have become part of our standard planning and budgeting procedures.

Funds raised are placed in a special waiver fund where they form part of our reserves but cannot be distributed as dividends to shareholders. A report on the size and use of the Waiver Fund is printed in the Annual Report and is presented to Shareholders at the AGM. Proposals and ideas for funding under the scheme may come from tenants, shareholders or directors.

Next Year's Priorities
This year we want to use funds raised by Making Waives in five main areas of work. In line with our policy of only using Making Waives to fund new initiatives within the company that ultimately become self-sustaining, we now expect environmental and IT improvements to be made from our standard operating budgets rather than from Making Waives.

Firstly, we want to be able to continue to provide short-term rent-free space to new and sometimes struggling groups and would like to utilise a proportion of the Fund for this purpose.

Secondly, in anticipation of the registration of The Ethical Property Foundation as a charity in the coming year, we would like to implement within the company procedures for identifying vulnerable tenants at the earliest possible stage and identify the best mechanisms to support them. We anticipate that this will entail identifying consultants able to provide the services that tenants most need at different stages of their development.

Thirdly, we wish to make disabled access improvements including provision of wheelchair ramps and buzzers to Colston Street shops, the lowering of door entry systems to a more accessible height and increased signage in Roundhay Road and Scotia Works.

Fourthly, we want to further develop the work that we have initiated on developing an ethical stock exchange. This will involve us in bringing together the companies who are eligible to list on such an exchange to explain how it might work, and ensure that it is developed in their common interest.

Finally, we will undertake a survey of social change activity in the UK. This will identify the main social change organisations and their geographical location, identify their property needs, and map their location onto a map of disadvantaged areas. This survey will mainly serve the company’s need to better understand the workings of its client base, but will also be made available to other interested parties.

Next year, we anticipate being able to offer shareholders the opportunity to support tenants directly through the proposed charitable foundation. However, given that around one third of all our tenants do not have charitable purposes and so would not be eligible for support through the Foundation, we would like to keep a proportion of dividend waivers within the company so that we can continue to support these organisations.

For more information on the scheme please call Jamie Hartzell in the Oxford office on 01865 207810 or 0845 458 3853 (local call rate)

The Ethical Property Company, The Old Music Hall, 106-108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE
Tel: 01865 207810 Local calls 0845 458 3853 Fax: 01865 207828 Email Us
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