Corporate Social Responsibility

At Gratnells, we want to be known as a socially responsible business that is trying to make a real difference to some of the global challenges society faces. That's why we strive in our business to do whatever we can to benefit society. Here are the main areas where we focus our attention:

Impact on Society

Gratnells actively encourages Directors and employees at all levels to engage with the communities in which they live and work. Our main projects are focused around our ‘Children In The Community’ initiative, where we partner with the local schools to offer educational projects that will help the local children of today to become leaders in, and for the communities of, tomorrow. Our current strategy is to provide school presentations in which our knowledge of science, as it relates to the local school curriculum, is shared with pupils and teachers.

Our focus on ‘Children In The Community’ extends to encouraging employees to involve themselves in supporting local recreational activities. Gratnells sponsors the local Broxbourne Rangers under-11 football team and employees are active in team training and coaching. Gratnells has made a commitment to fund equipment and kit to this local community project for the next five years.

Gratnells also sponsored a TechnoBotts team from a local college to compete in an international competition.

Environmental Impact

Gratnells believes in careful stewardship of the environment in which it operates and embodies this philosophy in its business strategy, having drawn up a Corporate Environmental Policy. To this end, we strive to continually improve our environmental performance by establishing and actioning plans and procedures to achieve defined objectives that are reviewed and revised on an annual basis.

These include:

• Providing an internal management framework within which our factory managers have clearly defined responsibilities for environmental management
• Compliance with UK legislation covering the control of pollution and emission levels, discharges and disposals
• Innovation in using environmentally safe, sustainable and recyclable resources wherever possible, with minimum waste and efficient use of energy
• Providing appropriate educating and training for our employees in the requirements of our environmental management.

In particular, Gratnells supports the initiatives of The Carbon Trust in seeking to reduce carbon emissions and is working towards attaining the Carbon Trust Standard certification in addressing its climate change impact.

Relations with Suppliers, Partners and Contractors

Gratnells policy is to work with suppliers and business partners who respect appropriate ethical policies and human rights. The framework within which such procurement takes places is guided by the three following principles:

Treating suppliers fairly

• Selecting vendors based on value, performance and price in accordance with the principles of fair competition and any applicable regulations
• Providing justifiable and transparent selection decisions ensuring confidentiality of supplier information ensuring that payments are made on time, especially for smaller businesses

Partnering in environmental challenges

• Encouraging suppliers and contractors to work to the same standards in environmental management as our own Corporate Environmental Standards set out

Respecting human rights

• Expect the workforce of any supplier or contractor to be in accord with human rights, prohibiting all forms of forced or compulsory labour
• Ensure that child labour is not used in any operations
• Expect the workforce of any supplier or contractor to provide safe, humane and respected working conditions for all their employees, which are free from discrimination, harassment or any other form of abuse

Relations with Employees

Gratnells is committed to being a responsible employer and strives to ensure that both the physical working environment and our business practices are safe and allow our people to develop and deliver their best. Our culture is to respect and make best use of the diversity of our people as individuals and encourage their involvement with the company at any level of employment. Our employee relationships are focused on ensuring that best practice is followed in the areas of:

Equality and diversity

• We respect and support the rights and dignity of every employee and treat employees fairly and without discrimination of race, colour, religion or disability
• We actively promote gender equality within the whole of the Gratnells enterprise
• We strive to ensure that employees are not subject to sexual, physical or mental harassment

Communication and consultation

• Encourage team working and the sharing of knowledge throughout the company
• Recognise an employee’s individual and team contribution, and give appropriate rewards
• Hold regular meetings with employees at all levels to communicate company plans, procedures and initiatives in which they are encouraged to participate
• Operate a 360-degree appraisal system to enable employees to engage in setting appropriate and realistic performance targets
• We hold to a ‘whistleblower’ policy that supports employees who bring to the attention of senior management any concerns of malpractice made in good faith. We will protect the employee against victimisation and will vigorously and thoroughly investigate any allegations made, and, where necessary, will appoint an independent party to lead enquiries. Gratnells has now incorporated this policy into its standard terms of employment

Health and Safety

• Operate a robust Health and Safety procedure which fully accords with all legislation
• Provide appropriate on-site healthcare (e.g. influenza inoculations) for employees at all levels on a voluntary basis
• Keep employees informed of new Health and Safety procedures and provide training where appropriate
• Maintain a work-life balance policy that enhances the physical and mental well-being of every employee

Relations with Customers

Gratnells has a strong bond with its customers that has been in place since the earliest foundations of the company. This is the best indicator that customer satisfaction is not only part of the overall business philosophy of the company, but is actively maintained on a daily basis. Gratnells will continue to strive for excellence in its customer relations, and will be driven by the following principles:

• The Gratnells ‘Customer Connection’ programme, which seeks to inform, communicate and support customers at all levels of authority, status and responsibility
• Collaboration with our customers, where we engage to understand their real business needs and deliver long-lasting value with tangible results, resulting in outcomes which create value and mitigate risk
• Encourage dialogue and feedback, using IT and personal contact to maintain strong associations with our customers, along with regular Gratnells Customer Satisfaction Surveys conducted via email and our website
• Ensure that communication with our overseas customers is conducted with respect for local and cultural values, and where possible communicate in their native language