Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to an organisation's ethical responsibilities and commitments towards their stakeholders and the environment in which they operate. It is a concept which encourages organisations to look at how their business activities affect customers, suppliers, employees, communities and the environment.
As a responsible business, we believe that the long-term future of the business is best served by respecting the interests of all our stakeholders: Staff, customers, suppliers and the wider community. We look actively for opportunities to improve the environment and to contribute to the wellbeing of the community in which we trade. Our CSR policy sets out the principles we follow and the programmes we have developed to focus on the areas where we have significant impact or influence.
Environment:
We are working to reduce our office waste and ensure that all waste we do produce is handled by responsible sources and recycled wherever possible.
We have already introduced a recycling collection scheme for our waste paper, cardboard, tins, cans, plastic and printer cartridges and have recently added further recycling initiatives for batteries and computer equipment. We have also been successful in moving many of our customer booking confirmations and invoices from print to email, cutting down significantly on paper use. We have introduced further initiatives. These include using energy saving devices and implementing an energy saving policy encouraging all staff to switch off electrical appliances when they are not in use to ensure we conserve as much energy as possible.
Shared responsibility:
Social and environmental responsibility involves everyone. In our own case, The company’s structure means that we share the responsibilities of ownership as well as its rewards. We aim to develop and implement social and environmental policies which fit in with our staff and customers everyday activities and responsibilities. We are working with a number of local schools and colleges at various levels to provide workplace visits and assist with Business Studies and Leisure & Tourism coursework.
Honesty and accountability:
Family ownership means that we care more about our business and customers. We will communicate our environmental policies, objectives and performance openly and honestly to everyone with an interest in our activities, including customers and suppliers. We will encourage them to communicate with us and will seek their views.
Sustainable progress:
We are committed to improving our performance. We will take into account technical developments, changing scientific evidence, costs and customer concerns and expectations in the development and implementation of all new social and environmental policies and procedures. We will monitor our performance and set objectives for improvements.
Demonstrable compliance:
As an absolute minimum, we will meet or exceed all relevant legislation. Where no legislation exists we will seek to develop and implement our own appropriate standards.
Relationships:
We will conduct our business relationships with integrity and courtesy, and honour our trading commitments. Our aim is to build long-term relationships with our suppliers and customers and provide support for small, specialist suppliers. We are committed to trading fairly with all our suppliers and customers, and will communicate our responsible sourcing expectations to them in the areas of health, safety and worker welfare, sustainable and profitable agriculture, high animal welfare standards, biodiversity and good environmental practice.
Staff:
We will respect our staff and encourage their development and training. We will promote equality as differences in responsibilities permit and consider the interests of our staff including their welfare, health and safety. We aim to empower our staff and we will recognise individual contributions and reward our staff fairly. Our ultimate aim is the happiness of our staff through their worthwhile and satisfying employment in a successful business.
