Lastly, this commitment to balanced, constructive and long-lasting relationships with suppliers and subcontractors is also reflected in the economic dependence indicator set up to ensure that suppliers are not put at risk by VINCI accounting for too high a percentage of their revenues. This indicator is reviewed each year, and special attention is paid to SMEs. If a supplier seems to be too dependent, a progress plan is put in place to encourage them to diversify their customer portfolio. More specifically, this indicator is monitored in cases when a contract is not renewed or when businesses are consulted for a new tender. Various actions are developed and the suppliers concerned are provided with support to help them find equivalent solutions and ensure their economic independence.
Approach to identify and assess purchasing-related risks
To define responsible purchases, VINCI considers that respect for human rights and international labour standards within its supply chain is essential. The Group also tends to look for innovative solutions that support the environment, address climate change and facilitate the energy transition with a view to not only preventing risks, but also further strengthening the environmental performance of its purchases. To achieve this, social and environmental criteria are incorporated into specifications and framework agreements at Group level, and factored in when selecting suppliers and products. They take into account the environmental impact of products and services, the workforce related arrangements for producing or providing them, and the social commitments made by suppliers. For the purchasing categories that are most strategic, due to their volume or potential risks, specific analyses are carried out in order to assess suppliers based on their issues and stakes.
The Group Purchasing Coordination unit conducts supplier assessments that factor in social and environmental performance, and the Group’s buyers have an individual target for including these criteria in each contract they negotiate. A dedicated committee with representatives from the teams focused on non-financial aspects and from the responsible purchasing team works on each tender in order to carry out an in-depth analysis of the specific features of each purchasing category concerned, to map its risks and to assess suppliers through a specific sustainability questionnaire that is adapted to the issues involved and added to the general questionnaire covering all types of purchases. Depending on the results of their sustainability assessment, suppliers may be excluded from the tender process or may be given a progress plan and action plan. Audits or checks are carried out to verify the implementation of these plans. The business lines and divisions have also adopted this approach to assess their suppliers.
To enable a more detailed analysis, factoring in the range of activities covered and the CSR issues involved for the various business lines, five maps were drawn up to identify the human rights, health-safety and environmental risks for VINCI’s core purchasing categories, covering VINCI Construction’s network of local companies in France (Building France, Civil Engineering France, Road France and Networks France divisions), VINCI Energies companies in France, VINCI Airports and VINCI Autoroutes. About 75% of VINCI’s overall expenditure in France was mapped, enabling a sixth Group-level map to be drawn up covering all purchasing categories that inherently involve the biggest impacts on society and the environment and/or are particularly critical to help ensure the continuity of supplies or the achievement of strategic objectives. To ensure its relevance and bring the divisions on board, this mapping was carried out with a collaborative approach, working with a large number of business, environmental and social experts and various operational teams. All the business lines apply the same rating methodology, which was developed following workshops and interviews with the various experts for each purchasing category.
This mapping process, which is particularly important for coordinating the responsible purchasing approach, resulted in the identification of the main social and environmental risks for around 60 strategic purchasing categories, grouped into 27 broader categories. Types of purchases that were found to be associated with a particularly high degree of CSR risk and criticality for certain divisions include subcontracting for rebar installation, waste collection and treatment services, and cable supplies. At the end of 2023, three pilot working groups, one for each of the three targeted purchasing categories, were set up, involving the Group and the relevant divisions: VINCI Energies in France (for cables) and Building France and Civil Engineering France (for subcontracting and waste). Their aim is to refine the risk mapping process by conducting a detailed CSR risk analysis for the main suppliers of the targeted goods and services, using a methodology that can then be replicated for all of the mapped purchasing categories. Using the CSR analysis, a specific road map can be drawn up for each purchasing category, adapting the actions to be taken and the resources to be allocated in line with each supplier’s CSR risk exposure level.
In addition to the specific work covering these three purchasing categories, the Group’s other divisions are carrying out in-depth work to draw up and roll out action plans. For example, following the risk mapping process, VINCI Construction’s Road France and Networks France divisions formalised a responsible purchasing road map for all their purchases. Specific action plans were then drawn up, focusing on three priority strategic purchasing categories: civil engineering site supplies, transport and hiring of machines with drivers, and waste management. Targeted actions concerning the controls to be reinforced, the reporting processes, the selection and assessment of suppliers, and the support provided to them were identified and prioritised for each purchasing category.
Training on responsible purchasing
Developing the level of knowledge and training all the employees handling purchases to systematically take into account sustainability aspects is vital to the successful implementation of VINCI’s responsible purchasing approach. The Group is therefore putting in place different approaches to further strengthen responsible purchasing skill levels and expertise:
