This year has been a year unlike any other, with the global COVID-19 pandemic bringing enormous personal, professional and societal disruption. It has proven to be a major catalyst for change, driving us to think and work differently, and brought with it a raft of unforeseen challenges. Throughout this period, our focus has been on the health, safety and wellbeing of our people; who have stood together and made remarkable efforts to support each other, our firms and our communities.
In the year ahead, we will continue to invest in technology and in our people — both of which have already proved invaluable. We will also continue our key global strategic aim to consistently deliver exceptional, high-quality services. The topic of sustainability is also firmly on our agenda as we aim to inspire, educate and lead an unstoppable movement for sustainable business practice in our markets and in our organisation. We recognise the need to continually adapt our strategy, our service offering and the way we operate to meet the sustainability demands of all our stakeholders — our clients, our employees, our communities and our regulators — to protect our business and the interests of generations to come.
We recognise that engaging our people is key to our success on this journey. Our employees want to see BDO ‘doing the right thing’ and feel proud. As such, sustainability will continue to evolve as a key element of our WHY: People helping people to achieve their dreams. As we move forward on this journey, we hope that this approach will help our brand to continue to attract and retain the best talent, whilst at the same time future-proofing our business and contributing to a better world for all.
Also, remind you that on April 30, 2021 BDO in Ukraine introduced 2020 Integrated Transparency Report meets the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Auditing Financial Statements and Auditing Activities” and International Standards on Integrated Reporting (IIRF) and discloses our integrated organizational performance (Financial and Sustainability) against the International Integrated Reporting Framework. Feedback on the report is very welcome so we continue to reflect the information needs of our key stakeholders.