This year, we have become involved with the Carbon Disclosure Project Secretariat in expressing our views and involvement in greenhouse gas emissions, although it is recognised that, as a predominantly non-manufacturing company, our emissions in this area are not significant.

The Findel company secretary, Dr I J Bolton, has overall responsibility for all corporate social responsibility affairs and he devolves day to day responsibility to the group director of health & safety. The latter chairs a review body which meets to assess legislative or other directives in order to set strategy and targets, and review the group’s progress against these. This review body comprises senior facilities and purchasing managers from the group’s major operating companies. We have now been compiling figures for four years on which to base our future targets.

Environmental Policy
With the increasing importance across the world and the UK of energy consumption and global warming, we have identified that, as a predominantly distribution company with minimal manufacturing involvement, our environmental policy concentrates on energy consumption, waste disposal and, on a wider scope, product sourcing.

Our overall aim within this is to reduce our effect on the environment year on year as measured against our sales growth.

In particular, we are:

• Working with key suppliers to improve both their compliance and performance with, for example, electrical appliances that we sell;
• Actively considering and, where relevant, implementing recommendations to improve our environmental performance;
• Monitoring and seeking to achieve our set targets on best practice in these areas;
• Ensuring that we comply with all environmental legislation.

As a mail order distribution company, one of our key areas of focus is reducing the consumption of materials, especially paper and packaging. Significant studies have been taken across the past year to harmonise best principles across the group. For example, changing from carbon infill materials and corrugated paper, bubble wrap, greenfill chips, etc. to a bag in the box style. This has now been introduced across almost the whole of the group’s operations.

Waste reduction and re-cycling has also been rolled out across the group with increasing success. A major concentration is currently taking place on reducing the number of parcels required to effect individual customer’s deliveries. This has a dual benefit of both reducing packaging and transport, and hence CO² emissions.

Energy
Our major use of energy is in heating, lighting and powered conveying equipment, and in the internal vehicle fleet. Consolidation of the group’s activities has enabled us to dispose of one major office site and significant warehouse space during the year, which has a significant effect on our overall energy usage.

Vehicles fleet’s CO² emissions are calculated and measured monthly and we have continued our move toward a more diesel oriented fleet in order to further reduce this.

Material consumption and waste management
With ever increasing volumes of product emanating from the Far East and India, our well-established Ethical Trading Policy documents remain key to our selection and ongoing trading with suppliers in those regions. This policy document clearly lays out our contractual standards in order to meet both United Nations and local laws on working conditions, employment, pay rates, holidays, etc. Resident staff in both India and Hong Kong enable us to ensure that these standards are met on an ongoing basis. Regular and surprise visits to suppliers are a key part in ensuring compliance.

Human resources
With the exception of some 25 staff based in India and Hong Kong, the group is a UK based employer. Many of our sites are located in multi-cultural areas and we work hard to create and run a fair, equal opportunities employment culture that embraces this multi-culturism, of which prayer areas on some sites are representative. We are also committed to promotion on merit and filling job opportunities in-house wherever possible.

Community Support
Both the company and its employees work to support local communities, predominantly in the areas where we have group facilities. Our Home Shopping and Educational Supplies products are also much in demand for donating to less privileged schools, good causes and establishments, both in the UK and abroad.