A year ago, we took an important step in our journey to do good beyond profit - formally establishing the Collinson Foundation to focus and scale the positive impact we can create in communities around the world.
For decades, our people have quietly supported charitable causes. The launch of the Foundation allowed us to bring this spirit together – giving it structure, ambition, and long-term commitment to driving impact at scale.
Through the Collinson Foundation, we’re opening doors to opportunity and creating lasting, positive change where it’s needed most.
In just one year, we’ve shown what’s possible when purpose meets action. We invested nearly 3% of our profits - well on our way to our 5% target - and rapidly expanded our impact, increasing the number of charities we support and deepening the measurable difference our people are making around the world.
Our Purpose and Vision:
The Collinson Group is a family business and a family of businesses, unified behind shared values, a deep belief in the importance of giving back, and an ambition to deliver Good beyond profit.
Entrepreneurial at heart, we seek to innovate, create and invest in businesses, products and services that enrich the journeys of millions of consumers worldwide, while delivering value to our clients and partners. Just as importantly, we are driven by purpose, guided by our values and a legacy of ethical and compassionate decision-making.
At Collinson, Good beyond profit is a philosophy that forms the foundation of how we operate. It shapes how we show up each day for our colleagues, clients, customers, and communities, and how we act to protect our planet and future generations.
This ethos has been the catalyst for the launch of the Collinson Foundation. Together, these initiatives embed Good beyond profit into our business strategy, ensuring that our growth and success are always aligned with making a positive impact.
Through the Collinson Foundation, our work focuses on three areas where we know we can make a meaningful difference:
Supporting people in times of crisis – helping individuals and families through life’s toughest moments.
Education & Employment – equipping people with the skills and opportunities to succeed.
Entrepreneurship & Innovation – backing bold ideas that drive sustainable, long-term impact.
Through global partnerships and local programmes, we take action to tackle inequality and accelerate access to opportunity, today and tomorrow.
1. Partnering for Impact: Supporting People in Times of Crisis
With colleagues, partners, and customers in every corner of the world, we see first-hand how global events can disrupt lives and livelihoods and how crises often hit the most vulnerable the hardest. Whether it’s a natural disaster, conflict, or humanitarian emergency, we believe businesses with a global footprint have a responsibility to respond.
That’s why one of our first priorities was to ensure we could act quickly and effectively when it matters most.
Through our partnership with Save the Children, we support the Emergency Fund via unrestricted funding, ensuring children and families receive immediate assistance when crises occur.
Last year, the fund reached more people than ever, supporting programmes in 71 countries. Nearly a third (29%) of funding decisions were made within two days, ensuring vital help reached communities within the first 48 hours.
We’re proud to have joined as a founding member of the Humanitarian Network, which raised £2.5 million for the Emergency Fund last year. Our colleagues played a vital role too; from joining Save the Children’s Flag Day in Hong Kong, to running the London Marathon, and raising over £13,000 through our Matched Giving programme.
Closer to home, our support for The Felix Project in the UK helped provide 41,970 meals to people in need. Globally, around 35% of our charitable funding supported crisis response initiatives, benefiting more than 200 organisations and tens of thousands of people receiving support when they needed it most.
2. Partnering for Impact: Education and Employment
Our business is built on people — from the customers we serve to the colleagues and partners who bring our experiences to life every day. We know that access to education and decent work can transform lives, families, and communities. Yet too often, opportunity depends on where you’re born or the resources available to you.
That’s why education and employment are central to the Collinson Foundation’s mission. We’re committed to helping people unlock their potential, gain the skills they need, and build meaningful careers that create long-term change for themselves and others.
Over the past year, we’ve expanded our Education & Employment partnerships — adding new regional partners alongside our long-standing relationships with Coach Core, Save the Children’s Girls Impact Fund, and the University of Birmingham.
Our new partnerships with Shadow Careers (South Africa), Teach HK (Hong Kong), and Big Brothers Big Sisters (USA) are helping young people build brighter futures through mentorship, training, and employment.
Highlights include:
Teach for HK: Sponsoring three teachers who inspired over 350 students to improve academically.
Coach Core: Supporting 18 apprentices who deliver coaching sessions to thousands of participants.
Big Brothers Big Sisters USA: Funding the BIGFutures programme for young people aged 16–25+.
University of Birmingham: Providing seven scholarships through the Pathways to Birmingham programme.
Shadow Careers South Africa: Supporting a 14-week training programme guaranteeing full-time employment for graduates — including several who joined Collinson as full-time employees.
Globally, 38% of our charitable funding supported education and employment initiatives, providing support to more than 500 direct beneficiaries, and thousands more indirectly.
3. Partnering for Impact: Entrepreneurship and Innovation
We’ve always believed entrepreneurial thinking can unlock fresh solutions to big challenges. It’s the mindset that built Collinson – and one we’re now using to power social change. While this pillar is still developing, we’re laying strong foundations for growth. In the coming year, we’ll partner with charities and social enterprises to explore microfinancing, impact investing, and new models for social innovation.
We have also launched the Collinson Community Grants programme, empowering colleagues to nominate and champion charities they care about most — driving community impact through entrepreneurial action.
Engaging our people
Over the past year, our people have come together like never before – giving their time, energy, and generosity to causes close to their hearts. When we launched the Collinson Foundation, we set an ambitious goal: for 50% of our people to actively support the Foundation by 2030, building from just 3% engagement in 2022. We’re incredibly proud to have achieved that milestone in our first year.
Today, more than half of our global team contribute to the Foundation through volunteering, fundraising, or donations — a powerful reminder of what’s possible when shared purpose unites us.
Amplifying impact through matched giving
Our Matched Giving Programme offers up to £1000 in matched funding per employee – amplifying the generosity of our people by matching the funds they raise or donate to charities they care about. Last year, participation grew by nearly 50%, with over 40% of colleagues taking part. In total, the Foundation donated more than £150,000 through the programme to over 600 charities worldwide - a 50% increase from the previous year.
Volunteering around the world
Volunteering sits at the heart of Collinson’s culture. Every colleague receives three paid volunteering days each year to give their time and skills to causes they care about.
The results speak for themselves: more than 400 colleagues took part over the last year, contributing over 6,000 volunteer hours, up from 4,000 in FY24 and 750 in FY23. In several locations, including Hong Kong, Malta and São Paulo, over 70% of colleagues participated, with our senior leaders leading by example.
We launched our first-ever Global Volunteering Month, an initiative encouraging colleagues everywhere to use their volunteering days. From preparing meals for food banks and packing hygiene kits to supporting animal shelters, the enthusiasm was incredible.
Partnering for Broader Impact
Beyond engaging our colleagues, we’re finding new ways to extend the reach of the Collinson Foundation through our clients, partners, and customers.
At Airport Dimensions, we make community donations when opening new lounges, often focused on food relief. For example, when opening The Club MDW, we donated USD $10,000 to the Chicago Food Bank and introduced in-lounge QR codes so guests could contribute directly.
Within Collinson International, we piloted donations to the Save the Children Emergency Fund via the Priority Pass app, giving travelers an easy way to give back while on the move. Following the success of this pilot, we plan to expand the initiative to all Priority Pass direct customers in the coming year.
Looking to the future
As we reflect on the Foundation’s first year, we’re proud of what our people have achieved — from record volunteering hours to impactful donations and community partnerships around the world.
What began as an idea to formalise our giving has become something much bigger: a movement powered by our people, our partners, and our shared belief that business can be a force for good.
We know this is only the start. With the full reach of the Collinson Group and the commitment of our teams behind us, we’re ready to scale the impact of the Foundation even further — and we’re just getting started.
