CSR Policy – Corporate Leisure Ltd / Gascoigne Clothing

Last Updated January 2016

Corporate Leisure Ltd / Gascoigne Clothing is a clothing supplier located in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

The method in which we carry out the service does have an impact on our customers, suppliers, local community, environment and our employees and families therefore, highlighting that we do not work in isolation nor do we simply exist as a means of making a profit.

Corporate social responsibility is about understanding how these impacts on the wider world and considering how we can use them to shape our company in a positive way. We must therefore think about how our ethical, social and environmental responsibilities fit alongside our corporate values of financial good practice, extensive UK and international market knowledge through staff development and training and business excellence.

A CSR committee was established to demonstrate our commitment to all of our stakeholders by ensuring we act ‘socially responsible’ and comprises of 3 employees covering all levels of staff. The committee are empowered to review and agree the CSR strategy, develop policies on various CSR related matters and monitor performance against its policies. Our commitment is defined into the following five key areas:

  1. Environment

Corporate Leisure Ltd / Gascoigne Clothing seeks excellence in every aspect of our business and is committed to minimising the environmental impacts of our business operations. In this policy we commit our company to:

  • Continuously improve our environmental performance and integrate recognised applicable best practice into our business operations
  • Protecting the environment by striving to prevent and minimise our contribution to pollution of land, air and water
  • Manage waste generated from our business operations according to the principles of reduction, reuse and recycling
  • Manage our business operations to prevent pollution
  • Ensure environmental criteria are taken into account in the procurement of goods and services
  • Comply with all relevant environmental legislation

The nature of our work as a clothing supplier means we do not inherently have a high environmental impact but we will take consideration of environmental issues in the service we provide.

We will ensure that the Company reduces the environmental impact by:

  • Reviewing environmental policies and performance on a quarterly basis
  • Communicating internally and externally our environmental policy and performance and encourage feedback and involvement. We communicate this via our website, through our tenders and in our new starter inductions
  • Facilitate ethical buying from suppliers by:

Educating and empowering people to shop responsibly and raise awareness

Using local suppliers for goods and services

  • Work together with our service partners and suppliers to encourage commitment towards improved environmental performance
  • Communicating the importance of environmental issues to our people by encouraging them to:

Ensure all lights and equipment are switched off when not required to reduce energy consumption

Print in mono and double sided when printing is necessary

Working towards a 90% reduction in paper usage by the end of September 2017 by filing electronically

Car share where possible

Recycle all waste in the dedicated recycle bins

Recycle stationery items, in particular re-use of folders

Shred business documentation and recycle

Source recycled materials wherever possible

Work with like-minded suppliers who take steps to minimise their environmental impact

Respect our rural surroundings and wildlife.

  1. Customers:

We invest in our people to provide a professional and knowledgeable solution which exceeds our customers’ expectations and deliver our promise. We are committed to the highest standards of business practices and also ensure that we deal responsibly, openly and fairly with clients and potential clients by:

  • Ensuring that all our advertising and documentation about the business is clear, informative, legal and honest
  • Providing a high standard of service to our clients by listening to their needs to ensure that we propose the correct items
  • Offering the client a number of choices to suit their budget and requirements
  • Adhering to the clients CSR buying guidelines
  • Raising awareness to our clients of our CSR policy
  • Dealing with any complaints efficiently and professionally
  • Treating our clients fairly
  • Acknowledging our responsibility to maintain the confidentiality and privacy of our customers
  1. Suppliers

Suppliers of Goods & Services

Gascoigne Clothing believe in sourcing goods and services from suppliers who operate in an ethical way and we select people we work with who share our values. We support our CSR values by:

  • Ensuring we use local suppliers as much as possible, this helps the local community and reduces energy wasted and carbon emissions from deliveries
  • Supporting young start-up companies in the local area
  • Using like-minded suppliers with a similar culture and values
  • Endeavouring to pay our suppliers on time
  • Remaining loyal to our suppliers and supporting them by being honest and fair in our dealings.
  1. Local Community

We recognise and value the local community that we operate in. Gascoigne Clothing encourages and enables our employees to take part in events and initiatives that support our local community by:

  • Voting on an annual basis for the charities of choice to support
  • Participate in local and national charity appeals
  • Donating clothes to local charity shops
  • Employing locally and within the company
  • Offering work experience placements to local students
  • Working alongside Government Agencies in support of the Return to Work schemes
  • Working alongside our neighbouring businesses to help each other when there are extreme weather conditions or other challenges
  • Supporting employees in community activities and fundraising efforts, through the provision of time off or financial contribution where possible.
  1. Our People

We are a happy, dynamic team who enjoy celebrating each other’s successes. As professionals in our field, we empower our people with the knowledge and efficiency to secure our position as market leaders. We recognise the value and importance of our employees and are enthusiastic about recruiting and retaining our staff by:

  • Including our CSR policy and mission statement in our new starter inductions
  • Providing a workplace in which diversity is valued and there are equal opportunities
  • Providing a mechanism by which employees can raise their views and be engaged in change and issues that affect the company
  • Continually investing in our staff
  • Organising social events to celebrate successes
  • Offering an HR support line for staff
  • Providing a safe and secure workplace which is conducive to the health and welfare of employees
  • Providing a pleasant and enjoyable working environment
  • Providing training and development to empower them in their daily work and reach their potential
  • Recognising and rewarding individuals and teams on their performance
  • Having always paid over the National Minimum and Leaving Wage