News

We have achieved our strongest ever performance in the 2026 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), securing a score of 99.1 out of 100, achieving a 5-Star GRESB Rating, and recognition as both a GRESB Infrastructure Asset Class Leader and Infrastructure Super Class Leader for the M25.

The achievement places the M25 amongst the highest-performing infrastructure assets assessed globally. The 2026 GRESB assessment benchmarked the M25 against 569 infrastructure assets worldwide.

In addition to Sector Leader recognition, the M25 ranked third within the European Motorways peer group, improving its overall GRESB score by 3.8 points compared with 2025 and increasing its rating by two levels to achieve the maximum 5-Star status.

GRESB is the leading global ESG benchmark used by infrastructure investors to assess how effectively assets manage environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities. The assessment covers areas including governance and leadership, sustainability management systems, health and safety, climate resilience, stakeholder engagement, employee wellbeing, customer outcomes, biodiversity, carbon management and environmental performance.

The result demonstrates that Connect Plus has embedded ESG considerations into the management of the M25 concession and is delivering performance that compares favourably with both national and international peers. The outcome provides independent assurance to shareholders and investors that ESG risks are being effectively managed and that the asset is operating in a resilient, responsible and sustainable manner.

Strength across all ESG pillars
The assessment recognised exceptionally strong performance across all three ESG pillars.

• Governance
  Strong leadership, risk management, stakeholder engagement, governance policies and sustainability reporting. We achieved full or near-full scores across all governance categories.
• Social
  Outstanding results in health and safety, employee engagement, human capital and customer satisfaction, with maximum scores achieved across most social performance measures.
• Environmental
  Full scores were achieved across energy, waste, biodiversity, air quality, water management and greenhouse gas reporting.

The assessment also recognised our mature climate risk governance arrangements, including climate vulnerability assessments, carbon management systems and long-term Net Zero planning.

Driving continuous improvement
The improvement from 95.3 to 99.1 reflects significant progress over the past year, including:

• Strengthened ESG governance and Board oversight.
• Continued development of climate resilience and climate risk management processes.
• Enhanced sustainability reporting supported by robust evidence.
• Mature health, safety and wellbeing arrangements for both road users and road workers.
• Strong stakeholder and supply chain engagement.
• Ongoing implementation of our Carbon Strategy, Net Zero transition plan and commitment to achieving PAS 2080 carbon management certification with BSI over the next 12 months.

While the result represents a significant achievement, maintaining Sector Leader status will require continued focus on transparency, sustainability reporting and carbon reduction.

Key priorities for 2027 include:

• Publishing a dedicated Connect Plus ESG report aligned to the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs (VSME) on the Connect Plus and Connect Plus Services website.
• Achieving PAS 2080 Carbon Management certification and accreditation with BSI.
• Continuing delivery of carbon reduction targets and climate resilience actions.
• Maintaining leading performance across health, safety, governance and stakeholder engagement.

A collective achievement
Philip Bentley, Chief Operating Officer at Connect Plus, said:

"The 2026 GRESB outcome represents independent confirmation that we are operating the M25 to an internationally recognised standard of ESG excellence. Achieving a 99.1/100 score, a 5-Star GRESB Rating and Infrastructure Sector Leader status demonstrates the strength of our governance, safety culture, environmental stewardship and long-term stewardship of one of the UK's most important infrastructure assets."

This outstanding result reflects a truly collaborative effort across both Connect Plus and Connect Plus Services. Particular thanks go to the CPS Environmental and Sustainability Team, led by Nicola Steel, for coordinating and providing the robust environmental and social performance data that underpins many aspects of the assessment.

The achievement is also the product of contributions from colleagues across a wide range of disciplines within Connect Plus and Connect Plus Services. Achieving a score of 99.1/100, a 5-Star Rating and Sector Leader recognition is testament to the collective commitment, expertise and professionalism demonstrated across both organisations throughout the year.