Corporate Social Responsibility
The Group operates with an underlying awareness of its wider responsibilities to society.
Communities and charities
In addition to the Group's Charity of the Year, during 2008 the Group launched a new initiative called .Community aimed at harnessing the energy and enthusiasm of its employees to benefit the communities in which it operates.
The .Community initiative is focused on helping charities within a few miles of the Group's offices in Ewloe and so support is targeted primarily in Flintshire and Cheshire. From the inception of the .Community scheme the Group has set aside £7,680 in 2008 and expects to set aside £2,000 per month in 2009 via the Charities Aid Foundation. The .Community initiative is administered by the Group's employees who identify causes and make donations.
Since its launch in August 2008 the .Community scheme has already supported the following charities:
- Miles of Smiles
- The Club House, Mold
- St John's Ambulance Cheshire Young Carers
- Chester Gang Show (Scouts & Guides)
- Denbighshire Home Start
- Delyn Women's Aid
In addition to .Community initiative, the Group continues to select and support a charity on an annual basis. The 2007/08 Charity of the Year was Brain Injury Rehabilitation and Development (BIRD). BIRD is a Chester based charity which provides a unique programme to aid the rehabilitation of people with neurological impairment. Over the course of the year employees raised £9,976 for BIRD with the Group donating £13,042 making a total donation in the year of £23,018.
Employees have selected the Hospice of the Good Shepherd for the Group's 2008/09 Charity of the Year. The Hospice, which is on the outskirts of Chester, exists to provide highly specialised palliative care for people living with advanced diseases from the communities of Chester, Deeside, Ellesmere Port and rural Cheshire. During the year, employees raised £2,227 for the Hospice with the Group donating £3,760 making a total donation in the year of £5,987.
Environment
The Group strives to reduce energy and raw material usage to support environmental and financial performance.
The Group has launched a new initiative called Team Green to focus on environmental and sustainability improvements in the way the Group operates. The team is focusing on recycling and energy use within the Group as well as other areas such as local and ethical sourcing.
The Group has chosen not to set environmental key performance indicators due to its relative size and the limited impact it has on the environment. The Group does however participate in the Carbon Disclosure Project.
Employees
The Group actively encourages employee involvement and consultation and places emphasis on keeping its employees informed of the Group's activities via its intranet which was launched in 2008, regular briefings and the circulation to employees of relevant information including corporate announcements. This also helps to achieve a common awareness amongst employees of the financial and economic factors affecting the performance of the Group.
The Group also operates an employee forum through which nominated representatives ensure that employees' views are taken into account regarding issues that are likely to affect them. An employee opinion survey process is also in place to ensure that employees are given a voice in the organisation and that the Group can take action based on employee feedback.
The Group is committed to an equal opportunities policy. The Group aims to ensure that no employee is discriminated against, directly or indirectly, on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic and national origins, nationality (citizenship), sex, sexual orientation or gender, marital status, disability, religion or belief, being part time or on the grounds of age.
The Group recognises the importance of health and safety and the positive benefits to the Group. Therefore the Group's commitment to health and safety makes good business sense.
The Group has a health and safety policy which is communicated to all employees through a health and safety handbook, which is regularly reviewed and updated.
Supporting students
In order to build links between the Group and local schools and colleges, work experience and placements are offered to a number of students. In doing so, the Group strives to make work placements positive, challenging and relevant to participants' current studies and their future job prospects.
Customers
The Group is committed to providing a high quality price comparison service to its customers, enabling them to compare a wide range of products in the money, insurance, travel and home services markets, and to find the product most suited to their needs.
To maintain high levels of customer satisfaction, the Group is constantly assessing the views of its customers and undertaking customer testing of its websites. The Group provides customers with information from a variety of sources such as editorial content, customer and expert reviews, forums and community features to enrich their experience.
