Corporate & Social Responsibility Policy

We are fully committed to the highest possible standards of openness, honesty and accountability. In line with that commitment, in accordance with our Whistleblowing Policy, we actively encourage all staff members who have serious concerns about any real or perceived departure from the high ethical standard that we set to voice those concerns openly. Our Whistleblowing Policy can be found in our Office Manual.

We are committed to ensuring our policy remains effective. As part of our ongoing commitment, this policy is reviewed at least annually to verify its effective operation. Records of the reviews are maintained, and any necessary amendments are made to the policy, as appropriate.

Our CSR principles 

Our conduct

We aim to adopt the highest professional standards and not to act in such a way as to compromise our firm’s integrity.

We actively promote respect between our staff members in their dealings with each other and with clients and other third parties.

Our working environment

We recognise that our staff are our most important resource. We actively seek to offer our staff a positive and healthy working environment and ensure that they have rewarding careers and job satisfaction.

We maintain an Office Manual, which sets out the rights and expectations of all members of staff.

We seek to ensure that all staff have access to the training they need both for their own development and to enable them to deliver a high-quality service. Our procedures in relation to training and development can be found within our Training and Competency policy.

We consider all staff members to be equal and we aim to create a working environment which is free of unlawful discrimination. In this regard, we maintain an Equality and Diversity Policy.

Our community

In considering our impact on the community we have resolved to sponsor or otherwise support local charities.

We will allow members of staff time off work to enable them to carry out work in support of their chosen charity and to encourage dialogue with local communities and groups for mutual benefit.

Our clients 

We are committed to delivering a high level of service to all our clients. We understand that our business exists in a very competitive market and in order to retain our clients we need to deliver a professional and courteous service.

Wherever possible, we take steps to promote equal opportunity in relation to access to the financial services that we provide. We take account of the diversity of the communities we serve in order to ensure that, subject to funding constraints, our services are accessible to all clients.

We have a Treating Clients Fairly Policy which can be found in our Office Manual.

Suppliers

We are committed to eliminating unlawful discrimination and to promoting equality and diversity in our professional dealings with suppliers and other third parties. Our Equality and Diversity Policy can be found in our Office Manual.

We endeavour to enter into clear and fair contracts with our suppliers. We commit to the timely settlement of suppliers’ invoices.

Wherever possible, we aim to support the local economy by contracting with local suppliers.

Environment 

We are committed to behaving responsibly and to minimising our impact on the environment. We aim to minimise our impact on the environment by:

• Minimising waste and adopting sensible recycling policies in respect of our paper and food consumption
• Actively encouraging the reduction of the use of paper
• Encouraging staff to car share where possible
• Ensuring that electrical equipment and lights are off when not in use
• Ensuring that heating is turned off or down outside office hours
• Considering use of public transport for business travel

Responsibility

Christina Clegg – Managing Director is responsible for this policy, including an annual review of the policy to:

Ensure that it remains up to date, compliant and relevant to the needs of the organisation and its clients

Verify it is in effective operation across the practice.