The Sykes Staycation Index 2025
Welcome to the Sykes Staycation Index which showcases the UK's latest travel trends, top staycation destinations and factors influencing...
by Steph Boal / News
We’re delighted to introduce the Sykes Impact Report for 2024 which details how we’re making a positive contribution to our people, planet and communities.
In the report, you will find everything we’ve achieved in 2024, how we’ve lived up to our promise of becoming a better business and our plans for the rest of 2025.
Continue reading to find out more about the activities so far…
As part of our commitment to creating lasting holiday memories while delivering a positive social and environmental impact, in 2021 we introduced our profit with a purpose strategy. And we’ve had laser focus on this and our six long-term environmental and social pledges, ever since.
At Sykes, having a positive contribution on people and the planet is central to our operations, and these ambitions influence the business’ activities and day-to-day decision making!
In FY24 we celebrated our one-year anniversary of achieving B Corp Status. Throughout the year, we made significant progress against each of our environmental and social goals and have a clear vision for the future, with clarity on the steps needed to get there. We know that more needs to be done and will continue to develop our strategy to ensure our efforts remain focused in the right places.
In 2023 Sykes Holiday Cottages achieved B Corp Certification, demonstrating our commitment to operating responsibly and making a positive impact in the wider community.
B Corp is a certification awarded to companies that meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. The certification alongside our impact commitments show our colleagues, customers, partners and other stakeholders that we’re a business that’s doing good.
Thanks to this certification we are proud to be a part of Travel by B Corp, a group of companies collaborating and sharing knowledge to drive sustainable and ethical travel forward.
We’re also a part of the Better Business Act, a collection of over 3,00 organisation calling on the Government to ensure companies are held legally accountable for their environmental and societal impact; supporting a cleaner, greener and fairer future for all.
Ultimately, our purpose strategy continues to be underpinned by four key values. We expect colleagues to:
We continue to work towards the following pledges that will allow us to make a positive contribution to our people and the planet.
Reduce Carbon Emissions by at least 50% by 2030… and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050
Work with at least 20 biodiversity projects each year, across the regions we operate in through volunteering and sponsorship of initiatives
Continue to improve as we became a single-use plastic free business in 2025.
Inspire and enable 100% of our team to volunteer every year, supporting charities, community projects and social enterprises
We helped 80 families experience a well-deserved break through our Time Away partnership in FY24. This included 183 adults, 164 children and 19 dogs. We aim to facilitate more family holidays.
Positively impact at least 10 community and charity initiatives every year, strengthening existing relationships while building new ones
There were a number of milestone moments and initiatives that stood out for us during FY24.
Agreed a three-year partnership with Chester Zoo to support its Networks for Nature biodiversity project – a collaboration to restore native habitat in North West Cheshire.
Hosted UK for Good’s second Business for Good Festival at our Chester head office.
More than 80 colleagues braved hot coals for our fire walk, raising nearly £40,000 in sponsorship (with match funding) for our charity partners.
As an ongoing National Parks ‘Parks Protector’, we made a commitment to support six additional biodiversity projects across the three-year partnership.
Marked our 1st anniversary of becoming a certified B Corp.
26 colleagues across five Sykes and Regional teams took part in the ‘Million Mile Clean’ mass litter pick, collecting more than 30 bags of rubbish in total.
Plastic audit conducted at our Head Office with removal of single-use coffee cups, blue roll and plastic washing up bottles introduced as a result and further changes planned.
The 200th family living with life-changing illness enjoyed a free holiday, thanks to our Time Away partnership and owners’ generosity.
Arranged a charity football match, Sykes Aid, with teams raising more than £8,300 for The Stroke Association and Hospice of the Good Shepherd.
1,640 days – or 12,300 hours – of volunteering time donated since the launch of Sykes’ volunteering initiative three years ago.
Agreed a three-year partnership with Chester Zoo to support its Networks for Nature biodiversity project – a collaboration to restore native habitat in North West Cheshire.
Hosted UK for Good’s second Business for Good Festival at our Chester head office.
More than 80 colleagues braved hot coals for our fire walk, raising nearly £40,000 in sponsorship (with match funding) for our charity partners.
As an ongoing National Parks ‘Parks Protector’, we made a commitment to support six additional biodiversity projects across the three-year partnership.
Marked our 1st anniversary of becoming a certified B Corp.
26 colleagues across five Sykes and Regional teams took part in the ‘Million Mile Clean’ mass litter pick, collecting more than 30 bags of rubbish in total.
Plastic audit conducted at our Head Office with removal of single-use coffee cups, blue roll and plastic washing up bottles introduced as a result and further changes planned.
The 200th family living with life-changing illness enjoyed a free holiday, thanks to our Time Away partnership and owners’ generosity.
Arranged a charity football match, Sykes Aid, with teams raising more than £8,300 for The Stroke Association and Hospice of the Good Shepherd.
1,640 days – or 12,300 hours – of volunteering time donated since the launch of Sykes’ volunteering initiative three years ago.
Our regional brands are equally committed to making a positive impact in local communities across the country.
Sykes Holiday Cottages lets out more than 22,500 holiday homes across the UK, so it’s only right that we support the communities where our guests holiday across the country. We strive to support causes close to the hearts of our colleagues and customers. Teams from our regional offices joined in various charity events, contributed to fundraising initiatives and took part in hands-on volunteering.
Read more about the wonderful work of our regional teams below…
Looking ahead to FY25, we’re taking a hyper-localised approach to our charity partnerships, building new relationships that align with our regional brands. We’re also committing to two-year partnerships to ensure we’re driving long-term impact and sustained support.
Some of our valued charity partners for the year ahead include Cornwall Air Ambulance, Dartmoor Rescue, Windermere and District Foodbank, Age UK Cymru, East Anglia Children’s Hospices and Sunflowers Suicide Support.
At Sykes Holiday Cottages, we believe that our responsibility goes beyond providing exceptional holidays. It’s about having a meaningful impact on the people and places that make our destinations special.
This year we’ve dedicated time to volunteering, supporting biodiversity projects in the UK and elsewhere, and empowering our colleagues to drive positive change within their communities.
FY24 saw us raise more money than ever before for our charitable partners and achieve a record employee engagement rate with volunteering.
But our journey doesn’t stop here. In the years to come, we plan to find new ways to cut our carbon and plastic footprint, protect UK wildlife and landscapes, create more career opportunities and improve access to Britain’s best holiday locations for disadvantaged groups.
We’re proud of the progress we’ve made and are excited about the opportunities ahead.
If this report has left you wanting to learn more visit our Impact section to keep up to date with our activities. You can also read more about our Impact Misson.
by Steph Boal / News
Hi, I'm Steph and I joined the Sykes team in 2022. I grew up in the North East of England so unsurprisingly I love exploring the w...
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