Making an impact

Delivering social value in the UK   How we recruit, spend and engage with our local communities

As a business working in the UK, we are proud to be part of our local communities. We recruit locally, spend locally and believe it's important to support community organisations working with local people who face additional barriers to wellbeing and employment. We therefore aim to make a positive impact that extends beyond our business and into local communities to support people and businesses in the areas around us.

Local recruitment

With offices around the country, we recognise that one of the biggest social impacts we can have is employing local people. From promoting our strong culture of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, to exploring ways to recruit people from harder to reach backgrounds, we aim to connect effectively and sensitively with local communities when we recruit people to join our team.

Local spending

We believe our procurement standards are a tool for positive social, economic and environmental change. Our aim is to move away from simple customer/supplier transactions to a partnership model that benefits our local communities. We aim to, and ask our supply chain partners to, align with the following:

• Sourcing of goods and services from local suppliers.
• Prioritising the use of small and medium Enterprises (SMEs).
• Commitment to prompt payment terms.
• Ensuring both the company and our supply chain has zero tolerance of any form of modern slavery.
• Commitment to reporting scope 1 and 2 emissions, having a plan for Net Zero, and minimising waste by the use of recycled products and packaging. 

Local engagement

In the UK, we plan and deliver an annual social value programme that responds to some of the needs of our local communities, particularly in areas of the UK that are affected by higher levels of deprivation. Here are just some of the elements that regularly feature in our plan.

• We support sustainable skills development by engaging with both primary and secondary school students in our local areas to raise aspirations and support educational attainment.
• We support charities and community organisations that work to address inequalities in our local communities through volunteering and financial contributions.
• We support community wellbeing through initiatives and events promoting mental health and community connection.

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