Why sustainability is key to Intrum’s mission

“Sustainability is a high priority at Intrum. We have launched a long-term sustainability strategy ranging from 2020 to 2023, and a climate target until 2030. We have developed a strong sustainability governance internally, which has really enabled anchoring of the agenda from top management all the way through to our employees,” says Vanessa Söderberg, Sustainability Director.

What are Intrum’s five sustainability targets?

1. Ethical collection by treating customers fairly:

   Maintain our value index above 80 out of 100. 

2. Sound economy for our clients:

   Increase client satisfaction index above 75 out of 100.

3. Reduced environmental impact:

   By 2030, achieve climate neutrality and reduce our total emissions by at least 20 % compared to 2019.

4. Attract and retain talents including well-being of employees:

   Increase employee engagement index above 80 out of 100.

5. Diversity and inclusion:

   Reach a balanced gender representation (60/40) in all the leadership positions, and among all employees in our organisation. 

"When we combine these targets with our purpose – leading the way to a sound economy – that gives us Intrum’s take on sustainability. We are also led in our day-to-day business by our company values - Empathy, Ethics, Dedication and Solutions - as they guide us in everything we do. There’s a strong connection between our values and sustainability targets and I’m proud of the progress we’ve made" says Vanessa.

Our sustainability targets are aligned to the United Nations SDGs

The sustainability targets also align with three of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the United Nations Agenda 2030:

• Goal 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (Intrum target #5)

• Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth (Intrum targets #1, 2 and 4)

• Goal 13 – Climate Action (Intrum target #3)

Why is sustainability important to Intrum?

Sustainability is often framed by the ESG: the Environmental, Social and Governance perspective. For us at Intrum, the social aspect is most relevant and the ethical treatment of customers is of the highest priority.

“Our mission is to help companies prosper by caring for their customers,” explains Vanessa, “and both of those stakeholder groups – the companies who are our clients and the people who are their customers - are equally important to our business.”

“We want to ensure our clients are satisfied with the services we provide for them and ensure we can deal with often vulnerable people with respect and understanding, so they can give us a call whenever they need help.”

When people talk about sustainability, they rightly mention climate action too. Our commitment to reducing our environmental impact is clear from the target of being climate-neutral by 2030.

The UN’s SDGs also define sustainability in terms of anti-corruption, human rights and labour rights. These are all areas in which Intrum is actively engaged. In 2016 Intrum became a signatory to the UN Global Compact, a global, voluntary commitment by companies to adopt sustainable and socially responsible business policies. These areas are all incorporated under Intrum’s sustainability agenda.

We’re not just doing things because we’re supposed to. It’s about driving the development of our business in a direction that our stakeholders – clients, their customers, our employees, our shareholders and society - want and expect from us. We’re the largest player in our business sector and we feel it’s important to lead the development in our industry to more sustainable values and business practices,