In this special summer series, members of the responsible investment industry share their staycations and sustainable holiday activities with ESG Clarity readers.
Following our popular Working from Home with… and A Sustainable Xmas with… series off the back of the Covid-19 pandemic, we wanted to find out how holiday plans have changed – and become more environmentally and socially friendly – in a year where travel abroad looks challenging.
Here, Angela Wellock, senior operations assistant at RSMR, shares her walking holiday in Yorkshire.
Where did you holiday this year and with whom? How did you travel there?
Living near RSMR’s HQ, as I’ve done since RSMR’s launch in 2004, means staycations are always a fantastic option. We (Yorkshire that is, not RSMR) have two national parks, one of which, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, is visible from our office – together they cover 3,205 square kms.
My husband, Robert, and I love being by the sea, and this year we walked the East Yorkshire coastline southwards, from Saltburn by the Sea to Scarborough. Four days walking and four days rest and relaxation in Scarborough.
How did it differ from your ‘usual’ holidays?
It was our first ever walking holiday!
It has been a very tough year. How did this holiday help you reset and refresh?
We chose this holiday because we were feeling more reflective than in normal years. This may sound pretentious, but with no clocks to live by and just nature and the sea for company (oh and our dog, Wilfred, pictured) it was bliss.
How did you ensure your holiday was environmentally friendly?
We thought having a holiday in the same county we live in was a very sensible decision environmentally. Unfortunately, though, public transport in rural Yorkshire is sparse. So despite spending most of the holiday on foot, we needed the help of a car and two buses to get to our start point.
Share some (sustainable) activities on your staycation?
We hate litter and any we came across went in the nearest recycling bin. We also decided to eat only locally sourced and sustainable food. Yorkshire grows plenty of potatoes and, switching from traditional fish and chips to Scarborough oysters (delicious) and chips was no problem at all.
What was your holiday reading?
Usually I visit one of our local charity shops in Skipton for my holiday reading, but I decided not to have the extra weight in my rucksack.
What’s the verdict? Do you think you will be staycationing more in the future? Or are you looking forward to travelling abroad?
We will definitely be staycationing more, probably walking more coastal paths. If we go abroad, we may consider Lancashire…
How do you think the Covid-19 pandemic will impact business travel long term?
There’s a strong case for business travel to large conferences such as ours in Harrogate, where we put a large number of advisers together with a number of RSMR-rated fund managers, for a day of insight sharing and networking. At the same time, helping to replace the need for business travel, we’ll be running regular webinar panel discussions and recording videos and podcasts from the RSMR studio at HQ.
What’s on your radar for the ESG investment industry for the rest of the year?
- A clarification of what the regulator requires fund houses to demonstrate/provide to illustrate the different approaches and standards they follow. This will allow for better comparisons between fund management groups and funds.
- More funds will include explanations of their specific stance in their standard information and literature to help clients understand their position on areas like ESG.
- New launches and fund repositioning. Advisers will need to be careful that each option has a clear explanation of its stance to avoid any potential misinterpretation by clients.
