Cirrus

Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

Cirrus Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

“Social Responsibility” means the manner in which the Company affects the communities in which it operates, or from which it acquires its products, through its policies and practices involving any of the following:

  • Environmental impact
  • Client and Supplier work-place conditions and employment practices
  • Community affairs
  • Corporate charitable giving
  • Diversity

The operational and ultimate responsibility for the commitment to our corporate social responsibility principles lie with the CSR Manager but all our employees are expected to give their full co-operation to the agreed principles in their activities at work.

The Purpose of the CSR Manager role is to

  1. Review and evaluate management’s goals, initiatives and practices for Social Responsibility
  2. Recommend goals, initiatives and practices for Social Responsibility to the Board of Directors.

Duties and Responsibilities

  • To identify and bring to the attention of the Board Key Social Responsibility issues that may affect the business operations, brand image or reputation of the Company
  • To re-evaluate Social Responsibility, from time to time, in light of changes in public perception, industry best practices, and evolving priorities and needs in the communities where the Company does business
  • To provide overview of Social Responsibility

Authority and Funding

The CSR Manager shall have all authority necessary or implied in order to carry out their duties and responsibilities.

Our Policy and Actions Towards Best Practice of CSR

Environment

The protection of our environment is a key part of our values and principles, and we consider it to be essential for best business practice.

Our plan is to improve our performance and look to make such improvements to ensure wherever possible we are:

  • Complying with all relevant environmental legislation, regulations and approved codes of practice
  • Seeking to keep wastage to a minimum and maximise the efficient use of materials and resources.
  • Managing and disposing of all waste in a responsible manner.
  • Providing training for our staff so that we all work in accordance with this policy statement and within an environmentally aware culture.
  • Periodically communicating our environmental performance to our employees and other significant stakeholders.
  • Developing our management processes to ensure that environmental factors are considered during planning and implementation.
  • Monitoring and continuously improving our environmental performance.

Whilst we do not have a high environmental impact, the CSR Manager will ensure that the Company reduces its environmental impact by:

  • Reducing all our transportation requirements wherever possible and utilising public transport and conference call facilities
  • By using vehicles that are regularly serviced and checked with regards to their emission levels and economically use their fuel.
  • Sourcing and buying locally to save fuel costs wherever possible.
  • Ensuring that all lights and equipment is switched off when not required.
  • Ensuring that water is used efficiently.
  • Recycling all waste (shredding all business documentation)
  • Sourcing recycled materials wherever possible.
  • Working with like-minded suppliers who take steps to minimise their environmental impact.

Local Community

Our work with the local community involves:

  • Working and supporting local and national charities. We will review these charities annually to ensure a fair representation. Our current charity focus is highlighted on our website.
  • Encouraging volunteer work in community activities including allowing employees authorised absence to undertake social action focused work.
  • Supporting local schools – all online purchases are run through a ink which donates a percentage of the sale to the school.
  • We have a thriving apprenticeship program working with the local community to give young people key experience in a difficult job market and have a high percentage who end up placing a full-time job with us.
  • We have both flexible and home working policies to ensure that we are inclusive of single parent families with childcare arrangements, those with disabilities, and for any other potential employee that could find a 9 – 5.30 office-based job otherwise unworkable. We also run partnership schemes for childcare and transport.

Clients

We will deal responsibly, openly and fairly with clients and potential clients by:

  • Ensuring that all our advertising and documentation regarding the business and its activities are clear, informative, legal, decent, honest and truthful
  • Being open and honest about our products and services and telling customers what they want to know, including what we do to be socially responsible
  • Avoiding pressure selling techniques.
  • Ensuring that if there is an issue we will acknowledge the problem and deal with it.
  • Listening to our clients so we improve the products and services we offer
  • Respecting client confidentiality
  • Ensuring that we benchmark and evaluate what we do in order to improve our competitive edge

Suppliers

We will deal responsibly, openly and fairly with suppliers by:

  • Using local suppliers as much as possible.
  • Paying within agreed timescales

We expect all Delivery Partners, organisations and other companies we engage with to ensure their goods, materials and labour-related supply chains are:

  • Fully comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015; and are
  • Transparent, accountable and auditable; and are
  • Free from ethical ambiguities.

Diversity

We are a business which recognises the contribution of all our employees, contractors and suppliers.

Our aims are to be supportive, fair, just and free from discrimination. In line with these objectives, management will ensure that recruitment, selection, training, development and promotion procedures result in no job applicant or employee receiving less favourable treatment because of a protected characteristic i.e. race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability, trade union membership or non-membership, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, age, or on the basis of being a part-time or fixed term worker.  The Company’s objective is to ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and otherwise treated solely on the basis of their relevant aptitudes, skills and abilities.

We will actively promote equality and diversity; and ensure that the legislation and policy requirements within the protected characteristics of equality and diversity are implemented into all our working practices.

Our vision for equality and diversity goes beyond establishing leading edge processes to ensure we meet changing equality and diversity requirements and expectations. As part of our interaction with our employees, contractors and suppliers, we will endeavour to be pro-active and monitor progress made towards meeting our objectives to:

  • Encourage diversity and eliminate unfair treatment and discrimination through a comprehensive range of policies and procedures.
  • Recognise that employees have rights to work in a supportive, safe and harassment-free environment and have individual and collective responsibility to value and respect each other’s contributions.
  • Ensuring that there is no inducing or attempting to induce others to practise unlawful discrimination; and
  • Bringing to the attention of employees that they will be subject to action under the Disciplinary Procedure for unlawful discrimination of any kind.

Corporate Responsibility Objectives

Cirrus understands that our business activities could affect people and the communities where we operate. We will continue to lead our industry by conducting our business ethically and maintaining our standards for quality and sustainability.

This ensures that we strive to:

  • Protect the interests of the Board through responsible business decisions that reflect the integrity of the brand in both the short and long term.
  • Improve the environmental performance of Cirrus, our supply chain and our industry.

We will achieve these results by:

  • Continuously improving the corporate responsibility programs in all aspects of our business.
  • Setting corporate responsibility goals and targets and measuring performance.
  • Working with our employees, supply chain, shareholders and local communities to strengthen our social impact and minimize our environmental impact.
  • Complying with all applicable legal requirements, industry best practices and meaningful and rigorous voluntary standards.

Policies and Procedures

The policy provides principles which employees are expected to adhere to and to advocate in the performance of their corporate duties.

The policy sets forth expectations of employees, including compliance with all relevant laws and regulations. This policy sets expectations in areas such as potential conflicts of interest. All employees are required to review the policy upon hire to make sure that they understand these standards. Except where prohibited by local law, employees must confirm their understanding of the policy and either confirm their compliance with this policy or report any exceptions or violations of which they are aware.

Cirrus provides employees with means to anonymously report ethical or other concerns. Matters reported through these mechanisms are evaluated and, if necessary, investigated as appropriate.

We are focused on implementing and enhancing our policies and procedures relating to environmental protection and social impacts.