CSR enables sustainable business and encourages the best possible relationships with our communities and stakeholders. CSR enables us to operate in an open, accountable and transparent manner so we can demonstrate good business practice.

We recognise the impact on the world around us. The way we do business dictates the footprint we leave behind. If we take the time to maximise the benefits and minimise the downsides, then we can help create a better world.

In particular, we want to play our part in addressing the issues of global warming and sustainable development by reducing the environmental impact of our activities. These issues are no longer just theoretical – they are real problems that require practical action by us all.

We place CSR at the heart of our decision-making process to ensure that wherever possible we are:

-Acting in an ethical manner

-Improving the overall service we offer to clients

-Creating a positive working environment for our people

-Giving back to the community

-Minimising our impact on the environment

Our customers

We have always been in the forefront of providing added value services to our customers:

-We constantly strive to improve our operational efficiency, productivity, products and customer service and continually monitor the quality of both our products and services.

-Resolution of complaints – nobody is perfect and we accept that sometimes things go wrong. We take the resolution of complaints very seriously and we are proud of our record in dealing with them. We continually seek and manage feedback in an effort to improve.

Our people

We strive to be a great employer to work for and these are some of the initiatives we are proud of:

-We have introduced family friendly and flexible policies. the Company has introduced a Childcare Voucher Scheme which means that working parents can make significant savings on the cost of childcare.

-We recognise the need to listen to our people and we provide many opportunities for communication so that everybody’s voice can be heard

-We recognise the importance of diversity.

-The health & safety of our people is given the highest priority and is monitored by regular reviews.

-We encourage our employees to perform to the highest standards and support their development with training and recognise and value their success and contribution.

Our suppliers

We aim to work with our suppliers within a CSR framework. This means:

-We will treat our suppliers fairly and ethically.

-We will expect our suppliers to have their own CSR policies or to adhere to the basic principles of CSR.

-We will work with suppliers to reduce waste. This includes reducing the amount of packaging of goods and increasing recycling once goods have reached the end of their useful life.

-Our goal, in the long term, is for all our goods and services to be sourced from suppliers who share our vision of CSR.

Our community

We actively encourage community involvement. This covers involvement in community projects, volunteering and pro bono work. This means:

-The Company will continue to nominate a local Middlesbrough or Harrogate charity to support each year and staff will work together to raise funds and aid the charity as and when possible in a practical way.

-We also encourage our staff to support their own charities and causes. Should a member of our staff take part in a sponsored charity event then we will match the sponsorship money that they raise up to the value of £500.

-We recognise that involvement in the community benefits those with whom we engage, the individual members of staff who are engaged, and the Company itself through its involvement and association with and through those in the community with whom we interact. This is therefore a benefit for everyone involved.

Our World

We are fully engaged with environmental issues and the minimisation of the environmental impact in our business, manufacturing processes and product development programmes. We have developed an environmental management policy to ensure that we improve efficiency and productivity, cut costs, reduce risks and improve our environmental performance across both our Middlesbrough and Harrogate sites.  Under this policy:

-The environmental management team comprising of the senior management team discuss and raise any environmental issues at the monthly senior management meetings.

-We monitor and record our water usage on a monthly basis.

-Annually check the emissions from our boiler.

-Record and monitor our electricity usage on a monthly basis.

-Re-use all raw material packaging where possible. The cardboard layer pads from glass bottles are re-used on finished product pallets at our Middlesbrough site.

-Packaging waste in the form of glass, plastic, aluminium, paper and card is separated and collected for recycling.

-Office waste paper is collected and recycled.

-Lighting sensors are used in the offices to turn off lights when the office is unoccupied.

-We are aiming to reduce paper usage by electronically scanning and saving our documentation.