Legal & General is the sole investor in a $60 million green bond issued by Singapore-based Valency International to fund cashew waste processing in Côte d'Ivoire. The bond, arranged by HSBC, is fully guaranteed by Green Guarantee Company and will be listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. Proceeds will fund part of Valency's $150 million programme to turn cashew shells into industrial chemicals, renewable fuels, fertilisers, and electricity. Financing for the remaining $90 million has not been disclosed. The facilities would process about 90,000 tons of shell residues a year and add five megawatts of power capacity. Climate Bonds Initiative, which certified the bond on October 15, 2026, estimates they could avoid 880,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over 20 years. In 2025, Valency secured a €37 million guaranteed loan for its cashew processing operations.

Sky UK, Bupa, Legal & General, and London Luton Airport show the EX-CX link at the UK Customer Experience Awards 2026. At the UK Customer Experience Awards (UK CXAs) 2026 in London, four of the night's winners showed that great customer experience starts with the people who deliver it. Employee experience has become central to how leading organisations think about CX. At the UK CXAs 2026, that link was hard to miss. The winners ranged from a field-based workforce at Sky UK and a culture-change programme at Bupa to colleague-led improvement at Legal & General. There was also a deeply personal team win at London Luton Airport. CXM caught up with them on the night. Sky UK: engaging a field-based workforce wins Best Employee Experience. Sky UK took home Best Employee Experience, a win the team said they were "super proud" of. Its challenge will be familiar to many large organisations. Much of Sky's workforce is field-based and remote, which makes it harder to keep people connected and engaged. The team credited the win to "the stuff we do for our people to make a difference". That means finding different ways to engage with colleagues and work alongside them, and building "a really inclusive place". For organisations with dispersed teams, the lesson is that engagement has to be designed in rather than left to chance. Bupa: using Learning and Development to change culture. Bupa won Best Learning and Development for a project that Adam Holmes has worked on for about two years. He was joined on the night by his colleague Anna Wilcox. The project goes beyond training. Adam described it as "changing the climate, changing the culture and changing the mindsets" behind how Bupa approaches customer experience. Learning and development, in other words, is being used as a lever for cultural change. Adam was quick to share the credit, pointing to "long-term focus" and the work of "countless" people. Everyone involved, he said, "deserves a good pat on the back". Legal & General: employee voice drives its CX improvements. For Legal & General, the Best Employee-Driven CX win rested on giving employees a voice. Paul Smith, Head of Operations, said the organisation's CX improvements were led by its people. "It was what our employees asked for and what they said," he explained. Listening to colleagues shaped how the business drove customer experience, and its results improved. His verdict was simple: "The results speak for themselves." London Luton Airport: A CX Team of the Year win dedicated to a colleague. CX Team of the Year (Over 1,000 Employees) is not strictly an employee experience category. Even so, London Luton Airport's win was one of the night's clearest reminders of how much colleague relationships matter. It was an emotional moment for the team, who dedicated the award to their colleague, who passed away in March. "This is for her," they said, adding that every presentation went perfectly "because she was in the room with CXM". Speaking of how proud they were of everyone at the airport, the team showed that strong CX teams are built on genuine connection, shared purpose, and colleagues who care about one another. What do these UK Customer Experience Awards 2026 winners have in common? Across all four winners, the message that customer experience is delivered by people shone through. The organisations getting it right (and winning awards as a result) are investing in the growth of their teams, listening to what they have to say, and building real connection between colleagues. Congratulations to Sky UK, Bupa, Legal & General, and London Luton Airport, and to all of this year's winners!

City Centre South reaches major milestone as first tower begins to rise. A major milestone has been reached at Coventry's transformational City Centre South regeneration project developed by The Hill Group, with the first tower now rising from the ground following the completion of demolition and extensive groundworks across the site. Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, Councillor George Duggins, Leader of Coventry Council and Councillor Lynnette Kelly, Coventry City Council's Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, joined Andy Hill OBE, Founder and Chief Executive of The Hill Group, and Regional Director, Stuart Bale, alongside Paul Loader, Director of Delivery & Aftercare at Legal & General, to celebrate the progress being made. The start of construction marks a significant step forward for one of the UK's most ambitious city centre regeneration projects, paving the way for the transformation of Coventry city centre over the coming years. Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: "City Centre South is exactly the sort of ambitious regeneration project that will help drive growth, create jobs and deliver the homes its region needs. Seeing the tower rise is a clear sign that progress is being made and this long-awaited development is becoming a reality. "Importantly, this first building includes 200 affordable homes, making it easier to get good quality housing right in the middle of Coventry. And with the skills hub recently opened on site, we are helping to train and offer job opportunities to local people too." Under an agreement with Legal & General, Hill is delivering the affordable homes in this first phase of the regeneration, comprising 145 homes for social rent and 55 for Shared Ownership. These new homes will help to address local housing need while providing high-quality homes for people and families in Coventry. Andy Hill OBE, Founder and Group Chief Executive of The Hill Group, said: "Seeing the first tower emerge from the ground is an incredibly exciting moment for everyone involved in the project at City Centre South. After years of planning, preparation, and with demolition and groundworks now complete, local people can now start to see tangible progress being made on site and the vision for this part of Coventry becoming a reality." The milestone follows significant demolition works, enabling and infrastructure works across the site, allowing construction of the first residential building to progress at pace. Paul Loader, Director of Delivery & Aftercare at Legal & General, said: "This is an important milestone for us and a visible sign of the progress being made. Through our partnership with Hill, we're proud to be delivering the first 200 affordable homes here, helping more people access high-quality housing while supporting the wider regeneration of Coventry city centre. Through our role in delivering these affordable homes, we are pleased to support a partnership that is focused on meeting local housing need, contributing to affordable housing targets and bringing forward energy-efficient homes that will benefit Coventry for the long term." City Centre South is transforming a large section of Coventry city centre, delivering up to 1,575 new homes, alongside vibrant public spaces, shops, restaurants, cafés and commercial opportunities. The first phase of the regeneration will provide 991 new homes, 8,000 square metres of commercial space and 17,000 square metres of public open space. As construction accelerates, the development is also creating employment and training opportunities for local people through a range of initiatives including The Skills Centre, which was recently launched to help local residents gain the qualifications needed to access careers in construction. Councillor Lynnette Kelly, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change at Coventry City Council, said: "This is a landmark moment for Coventry. Over the last few months the City Centre South site has been transformed, and people can see it taking shape before their eyes. This development will bring lasting benefits for generations to come. And of course, it will also enable us to make some improvements to the market, which we know is really important to local people and the traders." Naeem Akhtar, cabinet member for housing and communities, said, "The first tower rising from the ground represents much more than construction progress; it marks the delivery of much-needed affordable homes for local people, demonstrating our commitment to creating a city centre where people from all backgrounds can live, work and thrive."