Purpose and Scope
Armstrong Watson strives to be a responsible business in all aspects of its operations and activities. We recognise, as part of our business strategy, the need to have a clearly defined approach in relation to our impact on climate change, local communities and the working environment in which we operate. Our CSR policy, underpinned by our core values of Passion, Trust, Humanity, and Honesty, reflects this commitment.
This policy is discussed at our corporate welcome day which all new colleagues participate in and actions are reported to our board members
Our Commitments
Environment
We are dedicated to minimising the environmental impact of our business and encourage our colleagues, suppliers and clients to do likewise.: Our net zero strategy focuses on key areas where our business has the most significant environmental impact:
Our colleagues are encouraged to car share, use public transport, manage their diaries to reduce travel and utilise digital platforms such as MS Teams for meetings . We also offer hybrid and electric cars as part of our company vehicle scheme.
Colleagues are actively encouraged to understand their individual environmental footprint with an annual environmental survey and we continue to measure environmental impact to identify opportunities for improvement. We have taken significant steps in improving our carbon foot print at our head office, James Watson House in Carlisle. This has 89 solar panels and 4 dedicated electric charging points for visitors and staff.
We have added solar panels to our existing office in Hexham to improve carbon footprint.
Our new office in Newcastle is based at One Strawberry Lane, designed with sustainability at it’s core and has an EPC A energy efficiency rating as well as a BREEAM rating of excellent.
We actively monitor our other office facilities to look for opportunities to improve our carbon footprint.
Our commitment is to reduce, reuse and recycle. Each office recycles paper and card, toners, light bulbs, batteries, cans, plastic and glass. Old office and IT equipment is reused elsewhere in the business or donated to charities.
We no longer provide single use carrier bags to clients.
We aim for a paper free office culture where possible, reducing letters and paper correspondence where possible. Where paperwork is required, we use 100% recycled paper for printing, copying and letters. All paper that is shredded is recycled.
We strive to use recycled materials in our marketing publications. Our provider of printed materials commitment to the environment is listed below.
https://www.heatons.co.uk/our-sustainable-approach
Colleagues are encouraged to make use of electronic communications in the form of email and scanning and fully utilise the company intranet where possible.
Water hippos have been installed across the company which save one litre of water per toilet flush. Regular checks are done across each office to monitor for leaks. Dishwashers, hand dryers and other water saving, more energy efficient appliances have been installed where possible.
Our monitors and printers are set to enter into sleep mode when not in use, which is more energy efficient than switching off equipment every evening.
Air conditioning units are only use when required and office temperatures are regulated and reduced outside of working hours. We continue to consider a reduction in our energy consumption as we update or change our office locations.
Community
Colleagues are involved with a number of local charities, youth programmes and schools throughout the regions in which we operate. We proactively build and maintain these relationships providing careers advice and attending recruitment fairs. Our aim is to recruit local talent and invest in their development where possible. In addition, we sponsor a wide range of activities in the community. These range from sponsorship of individual colleagues, to sponsorship of local events – sporting, county shows, music, and awards.
We currently sponsor Carlisle Youth Zone Get a Future programme, showing our support to young people.
Our colleagues can nominate their chosen charity each month to receive £250. Information on these activities is reported on the company intranet. Colleagues are encouraged to be active in the community in their own right.
We endeavour to support our local charities by donating our time, in addition to financial contributions.
Corporate Compliance
Our approach to corporate compliance ensures that we continually assess our delivery against our compliance requirements to ensure that we are doing what we should be doing, at the right time.
We oppose the exploitation of workers and are committed to ensuring that our suppliers are committed to the same values as us. We take appropriate steps to ensure that these standards and values are maintained and have introduced a supplier charter to promote these standards
People
We take pride in recruiting the best people to deliver the best results to our clients. We recognise that in order to recruit and retain the best we need to create an engaging environment. In many of our offices we have been part of the community for many years, and seek to support our local communities. Our colleagues regularly get involved in local events to support good causes, a number of our colleagues involved in sponsored runs or walks and we regularly support charity bake sales. We support our people to get involved in charity events, via our Charity of the Month programme where we provide we make a contribution as a business to supplement colleagues fundraising efforts.
We have appointed Culture Champions across our business who design and deliver an engagement calendar including charitable events across office.
We are committed to the health and wellbeing of our colleagues and have trained and appointed Wellbeing Champions across our business to spot signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide appropriate support and guidance.
Document Management
Owner Chief Executive
Department Senior Leadership Team
Effective Date February 2024
