The Index found that the food industry has gained a good level of recognition for the value they create, across every pillar.

With food producers being the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, high levels of capital investment and innovation have boosted the perception of the industry as a producer and venture.

The challenge now is how all businesses within the industry keep up with the high performance and expectations of the sector and respond to issues such as obesity and plastics which continue to dominate the news agenda.

The Index revealed that the sector ranks first, above eight other major sectors of the UK economy in creating value for society.

It also found the sector is undervalued as an employer, producer and citizen. Recent scandals have marred the perceived value of TMT businesses.

In the face of rising social expectations and regulatory pressures, the industry can no longer rely on its longstanding association with innovation. Businesses across the technology, media and telecoms sector must work harder to demonstrate their value to society.

The retail industry is perceived to be the second most valuable industry to British society and performs well in gaining recognition as a good employer and citizen, with its perceived value to society higher than the reality of what retailers do in these areas.

The Index shows that efforts towards community engagement, plastics initiatives, employee benefits and job creation, dominated by a select few industry leaders, have driven this strong recognition.

However, high street struggles and concerns around the competitiveness of the retail sector continue to dominate the news agenda. Retailers who do not keep pace with industry leaders are at greater risk of damaging the perceived value they bring to society.

The banking sector has most successfully communicated their value to society, with the smallest difference between perceived and actual Total Value across all industries.

The Index shows the work the sector has done to demonstrate its social contribution since the financial crash. Banks, through focusing on communicating their commitment to diversity and inclusion, have re-established themselves as not only a good employer, but as a vital part of today’s society.

The sector’s challenge is that it has yet to address criticism of their products and issues such as data breaches. The failure to respond to this could easily undo the good work they have made, especially as social initiatives are increasingly expected and in danger of being taken for granted.

The pharmaceutical industry ranks the least successful sector in demonstrating its value to society as a producer of goods and services, and has the second largest opportunity gap overall. This is despite pharmaceutical companies producing life-saving medications and coming in the top three for actual value.

Pharmaceutical company’s large opportunity gap demonstrates the need for the sector to greater explain the life-changing nature of the medicines that they create.

The pharmaceutical industry can no longer rely on old narratives of large research and development investment to raise its reputation. To cut-through individual companies must re-focus communications to centre on the life-changing impact of their treatments for patients.

The automotive sector is not recognised for its contribution to society, according to the Index.

The Index found that there was a large perception gap for the value the industry creates for the UK economy as a producer of goods and services and a venture for investment.

The potential of electric vehicles provides an opportunity to revamp the sector. Automotive businesses must demonstrate they can respond to the challenges of Brexit and maintain innovation. By answering the fundamental questions about the value of their business model they can show the industry is at the forefront of this transition.

Ultimately, automotive production is too important to fall behind, and it must revamp communications to ensure the sector is more trusted and prosperous.

The real estate industry ranks the least successful sector in demonstrating its value to society as it has the largest gap between actual and perceived value of all nine sectors.

Stories about executive pay and the potential end of government support to the sector through schemes such as Help to Buy have created far more negative perceptions of the sector than the companies’ actual value suggested.

Businesses in real estate need to ensure they have strong business cases to tell their story, and stand out from the negative pressures on their sector.

The Index finds the oil & gas industry is one of the least valued industries in the UK, and is currently creating the lowest value for society of any of the nine sectors.

The sector as a producer of goods and services is largely perceived poorly by external audiences. While it is understood the industry has moved forward with the growth of renewables, there remains scepticism of the sector’s ability to remain relevant as policies shift to focus on green energy.

There is concern about the sector’s future energy mix. While the sector should look to address this challenge, there is a clear opportunity to improve the role the industry plays in society, as an employer and a citizen, and demonstrate this to stakeholders.

The research has found that the water industry has the third largest value gap between the actual value it creates and how well it is perceived.

The sector comes ahead of oil & gas for the actual value it brings to society, but falls behind when it comes to the value an external informed audience perceives it to generate.

The water industry is critical for a functioning society. It now has a real opportunity to look at how it tells the story of its total value to ensure it is being recognised for the positive impact it has on society.