Activator Summit: Show Me the Performance

Contents

• Show me the Activator Summit
• Show me the Performance
• Show me the Shape of Sustainability
• Show me ROI²
• Show me the Advantage
• Show me the Momentum
• Show me what's next
• Contact us

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Show me the Activator Summit

The tone was set before this year’s Anthesis UK Activator Summit even began. 

The event was set against the backdrop of the Kia Oval, one of the world’s most historic and prestigious sports grounds. A venue built for performance, where precision, output and results matter. 

That context mattered. It framed this year’s summit, our fifth and largest to date, with a clear expectation. Performance matters. 

Because the question facing organisations now is not whether sustainability matters. It is whether it performs. 

Show me the Performance

For anyone over a certain age, they’ll recognise the famous line from the 90’s film, Jerry Maguire. But “show me the money” was never really about money. 

It was about proof. Evidence. Accountability. Trust. 

That was also the intent behind this year’s Activator Summit theme, ‘Show Me the Performance‘.

Not intent. Not activity. Not reporting in isolation. Performance. 

That challenge ran through every session, from new research that was revealed, to the workshops and panel discussions.  

Sustainability has always needed to sit inside commercial reality.  This year’s summit returned its focus to this idea, providing practical steps on how functions within an organisation collaborate to ensure upsides extend to more than just impact metrics. 

Show me the Shape of Sustainability 

The first response to that challenge came through a preview of a new global research piece, The Shape of Sustainability. 

Anthesis strategy and transformation lead, Ben Hayman, delivered a data-led and thought-provoking presentation around the skills and partnerships that lead to performance. 

The premise of the research is not only to examine how sustainability teams evaluate the current shape of their profession, but also how their colleagues in other functions rate it too. 

Where are sustainability teams flourishing and where are they faltering – and which are the alliances they should spend their energy cultivating now? 

The conference heard fresh insights on the future shape of the sustainability function in the face of AI, geopolitical and budgetary headwinds. In 10 years, will the sustainability team have disappeared, or will we see a strengthened and more deeply integrated function? 

Learn more about the Shape of Sustainability, coming Summer 2026.

Show me ROI²

Sustainability initiatives must demonstrate return on investment alongside return on impact. This is the principle behind our concept, ROI². 

Circularity lead, Debbie Hitchen led a panel exploring how that plays out in practice across organisations and functions. The discussion stayed grounded in execution: how do sustainability teams build cases that resonate with finance, operations and leadership in practice?  

Guest panellists were:  

• Alex Plant, CEO at Scottish Water,  
• Ben Farrell MBE, CEO at the Chartered Institute for Procurement and Supply,  
• Sophie Graham, Chief Sustainability Officer at IFS and  
• Stuart Reid, Managing Director and UK Head of Value Creation at Interpath 

Several themes came through in this panel discussion. 

Language matters. The panel discussed which language and metrics can help provide an unlock for sustainability teams. For example, is the term “resilience”, and its risk-based implications, a useful framing for sustainability going forwards? 

Capability matters. Sophie Graham shared how AI has reduced reporting workload by up to 70 percent at her organisation, releasing capacity for her team to focus on other activity. 

Partnerships matter. Ben Farrell emphasised the role of procurement in driving change across supply chains, identifying this alliance as key for progress on sustainability. While Stuart Reid gave examples of how organisations can align sustainability activity with core business targets. 

And leadership matters. Alex Plant pointed to the limits of short-term cycles when organisations are trying to create long-term value. 

Taken together, the discussion reinforced a consistent message. Sustainability delivers when it is used to help the business make commercial decisions – and can talk in metrics used by other teams. 

Show me the Advantage 

Four concurrent workshops took that discussion into application. 

Across circularity, decarbonisation, regeneration and empowerment, the focus shifted from intent to execution. Each session explored what performance looks like in practice.  

In the circularity workshop, regulation was reframed from a compliance burden to a source of competitive advantage, emphasising that circularity is now integral to core business performance rather than a parallel agenda. 

“Compliance is not a differentiator, if everyone has to include eco design, comply with packaging regulations, and report on EUDR, the real opportunity relates to going beyond compliance.”

– Activator Summit circularity workshop attendee

Meanwhile, in the decarbonisation workshop the group was split into architect and disruptor archetypes. The critical focus was on how these types of teams and personalities can work together, lean into their skillsets and channel enthusiasm to pursue actions.  

Understanding each other’s motivation, and improving relationships is key to seeing performance unlocked across the organisation

Show me the Momentum 

Alongside evidence and execution, the final panel session addressed a constraint many organisations still underestimate. 

Communication. 

The earlier Shape of Sustainability research highlighted a gap. Sustainability teams often struggle to build effective relationships with marketing, brand & comms functions. 

Sustainability is frequently not simple, and it can be hard to tell a story around what is a complex set of criteria. Afraid of greenwashing, marketing teams may fall into the trap of saying nothing at all.  

Businesses are not telling their sustainability story frequently enough or well enough. This affects performance. 

Revolt’s Olly Lawder took us through a new report being commissioned examining the value of sustainability communications, Show Me the Green.  

In partnership with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), Oxford Said Business School and Kantar, Anthesis will later this year publish a definitive report assessing what role sustainability communications play in commercial performance. 

The panel discussion that followed brought a focus to how leading organisations are approaching this area. 

Louise Walton shared how HSBC approaches sustainability communications in a regulated environment, ensuring messages are relevant, credible and connected to audience needs. 

Michelle McEvoy (WFA) pointed to examples where sustainability and customer value are closely linked. Programmes that combine environmental benefit with tangible consumer advantage create stronger commercial outcomes. 

The Hugging the Bear ‘frame game’ reinforced the same point. How sustainability is framed shapes how it is received. 

Momentum is not created by activity alone. It is created when sustainability is understood, relevant and actionable. 

Sign up here to be the first to receive our new Hugging the Bear report – due out this year.

Show me what’s next 

Each year the Activator Summit brings together a community working through a shared set of challenges, underpinned by a sense of hope and optimism.  

The idea is not to resolve every question – far from it. With so much expertise in the room both from our network and our guides, each question leads to another. 

Here are four of the key themes from the event: 

• Sustainability must be expressed in commercial terms 
• Capability needs to sit across the business, not in a single team 
• Performance is driven by relationships as much as strategy 
• Value is lost when it is not communicated 

Sustainability is no longer judged by intent or disclosure alone. It is judged by what it delivers. 

If you missed out on the Activator Summit, or want to catch up on one of the workshop sessions you can contact us below.  

Or take a look at our London Climate Action Week activities (22-26 June), where will be hosting a number of in-person and online events.