CSR Policy

Introduction

We believe in taking an ‘actions, not words’ approach when it comes to being socially, economically and environmentally responsible business. For us, this means providing a range of legal services that not only comply with relevant laws, regulations and principles but also taking measurable steps to ensure that we improve the positive impact our business has in the areas of workplace, community, environment and marketplace.

At Simpson & Marwick, being socially, economically and environmentally responsible is a journey which feeds into everything we do, from our company values and how we treat our employees, to being a good neighbour, our daily interactions with our clients and customers and the environmental impact our business has when delivering the services we provide.

Managing, planning and reporting

To ensure a continuous and realistic focus on the responsibilities of our business we have in place a firm wide social, economic and environmental objectives and KPI’s. We aim to ensure that these objectives are realistic and therefore achievable. Our objectives are split into four categories, reflecting the impact areas of workplace, community, environment and marketplace.

We report against our objectives annually, reviewing our overall progress at this time. New objectives for the business are set on an annual basis and are determined through consultation with our stakeholders. Our Annual Report is published on our website and details of each year’s current objectives and KPIs are published in our social, economic and environmental objectives and KPI’s document.

We utilise our internal communications channels to raise employee awareness as to our annual objectives and the various activities and initiatives that take place throughout the year in support of the achievement of our objectives.

Performance

We are committed to measuring our performance against our Social, Economic and Environmental Responsibility Policy through the achievement of the annually set aims and objectives and KPIs. We aim to ensure that all our objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound.

Responsibilities

Whilst we encourage all our employees to participate in our social, economic and environmental responsibility programme, ultimate responsibility for achieving our objectives lies with Simpson & Marwick’s Management Team.

Our social, economic and environmental objectives and progress against them are updated regularly and reviewed by the Management Team at the monthly Management Team meeting. This policy is reviewed regularly and updated as necessary.

Workplace

“People make a company. Our success comes directly from the energy, commitment and shared vision of all our people.”

People come first for us. We are keen to support the enthusiasm and creativity our people bring to the business and recognise that they are our most valuable asset. We want to give our people a working environment that encourages them to use the skills they have to the best of their ability, to create opportunities to learn new skills and in turn to develop as a person and as an employee.

At the centre of everything we do is a shared commitment to deliver a service of the highest quality and to continually improve the way in which we do this. The vision is directed at the marketplace we operate in and the clients we serve – and it embraces everyone who works for Simpson & Marwick.

Our commitment to our people is demonstrated through our people strategy which aims to ensure that we attract, develop and retain a talented and diverse workforce and that we deliver a first class service for our clients.

The key objective of our people strategy is to nurture a positive and open working culture. In support of this objective we:

• have in place a comprehensive induction programme, accessible via our company intranet, which also includes a number of online training modules and information resources including a firm-wide phone directory capturing photos, experience and expertise information for each colleague;
• support our managers across the business so that they themselves have the skills and resources to develop their team through training, coaching and empowering individuals;
• employ effective, transparent and ethical people processes – all our people policies are published on our intranet for our employees to access;
• engage with staff through a variety of formal and informal communication channels including staff forums, intranet, email broadcasts, team meetings and one-to-ones
• a comprehensive performance management programme including 360o feedback for our senior management team with formal annual appraisals for each employee linking back to our company values and objectives.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

We have in place a number of policies designed to ensure the health, safety and well being of our employees. All of these policies are widely available to our employees and located within our intranet site for ease of access. These policies include, but are not limited to:

• Anti harassment and bullying
• Equality and diversity
• Open door
• Annual, family, maternity and other leave
• Disciplinary and grievance

We recognise that we have a duty to our employees to ensure that we comply with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, the Management of Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1999, and all other appropriate regulations and approved codes of practice. As such all our employees, contractors, suppliers and other visitors to our offices must adhere to our Health and Safety Policy.

All of our health and safety policies and procedures are located in a central portal on our intranet site which is specifically devoted to health and safety.

Community and charitable support

We are committed to working within our local communities, seeking to build strong relationships with the local community and acting as a good neighbour.

Within our particular communities, our biggest social and economic challenges are in the areas of education and employability. As an employer within the legal services sector we could not provide the services we do without the right people. We recognise that the success of our business is dependent on our employees and that our ability to recruit and retain talented people from within our own communities is crucial to this success.

Our community work is focused on supporting education and employability within our local communities by sharing skills, community assignments and collections. We have in place a programme of community activity focused on these objectives which includes:

• Work placements and experience – Working with Schools, we offer short-term work placements to students who are looking to gain experience working in an office environment. These placements typically last for a two-week period and we make a conscious effort to give each student a varied and thorough experience. We don’t expect students to make teas and coffees for a fortnight;
• Modern Apprenticeships – In conjunction with Learning Innovations, we offer young people aged 16-19 who want to learn and work the opportunity to gain an SVQ in Business Administration over a 12-18 month period. During this time students attend SVQ sessions allowing them to gain a formal qualification whilst in employment.
• Community volunteering – We are committed to engaging with our local communities through a structured framework which provides access to a wide range of volunteering opportunities;

Charitable Support

We are proud of our long-standing tradition of supporting a wide variety of charitable organisations both through participation of employees and the firm.

We recognise that our employees have their own charitable preferences and acknowledge, support and facilitate this through a combination of different activities throughout the year. These activities include:

• Monthly dress down days – employees are encouraged to suggest charities of their choice and everyone who chooses to dress down makes a £1 donation, the proceeds of which are sent to the chosen charity.
• Special fund raising days – dedicated to specific events throughout the year typically including Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day and Children in Need. Employees are encouraged to organise, promote and participate in a number of activities on these days according to their preference.
• Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Appeals – We recognise that charitable support should not be restricted to our local communities and UK-based charitable organisations but that we also have a responsibility to help and support the wider global community. We demonstrate this commitment by supporting Disaster Emergency Committee appeals as and when support is called for.

Feedback and communication

We believe in celebrating our achievements and promoting the success of our charitable activity as this encourages employee participation and commitment. To ensure effective communication of our charitable activity we make a point of ensuring that all charitable activity is published through our various communication channels, as a minimum our intranet and internal email broadcast. Details of our charitable support are also externally published.

Environmental Policy – Endorsement and scope

As a specialist law firm, we are focused on the provision of property, litigation and professional negligence services for the UK lending market. Our commitment to the UK lending market means that we tailor our business and culture to mirror both the principles of customer service and the strict regulatory framework within which our clients operate. This includes our approach to managing the environmental impact of our business.

Our Environmental Policy applies to our whole operation and is available to our staff via our company intranet and to our clients on request.

Simpson & Marwick’s Environment Policy and approach is fully endorsed by the Management Team.

Committed to continuous improvement

We are committed to continuously improving the environmental performance of our business. We recognise that our day-to-day activities impact on the environment in ways which are positive and negative. We wish to minimise any harmful effects our business has on the environment wherever and whenever practicable. To facilitate this we are committed to reviewing, discussing and setting environmental objectives that enable us to responsibly manage the environmental effects arising from our business activities. We take our responsibilities to the environment seriously and have implemented an Environmental Policy which includes:

• complying with all relevant and existing environmental legislation and other requirements;
• ensuring efficient use of materials and where practicable seeking to reduce consumption of materials;
• encouraging re-use, recycling and the use of recycled materials or those from sustainable sources including:
  • confidential paper waste recycling
  • toner cartridge recycling
  • plastic cup recycling facilities
  • use of recycled paper in envelopes
  • inclusion of green statement on all emails
  • group wide scanning facilities
  • the promotion of a paperless office
  • direct links to third party resources i.e. Registers of Scotland
  • online resources – eLearning, induction and directories which minimise paper use within our offices;
• managing energy and waste usage by setting annual energy reduction targets;
• incorporating environmental considerations into the procurement of goods and services (see also Supplier Guidance);
• a Travel Policy which promotes the use of public transport for all business travel.

To achieve these activities we:

• allocate sufficient management resources to ensure the effective implementation of our environmental programme;
• monitor and report against our environmental objectives each month to the Senior Management Team;
• measure, monitor and report on key indicators of our environmental performance annually;
• motivate, educate and communicate with our employees to promote the undertaking of activities in an environmentally friendly manner;
• encourage and consult with our employees regarding environmental issues affecting our business through staff forums and other feedback channels;
• review our policy on a regular basis to take account of new developments in environmental management and legislation and also our stakeholder expectations;
• perform periodic audits of our activities to ensure compliance with company requirements, legislation and policy requirements.

We recognise that the effective implementation of our Environmental Policy not only impacts on the environment but also represents an opportunity to improve the performance of our business by reducing environmental risks and impacts whilst increasing the efficiency of our business.

Marketplace (economic)

We understand that our social responsibilities extend far beyond those activities which are within our immediate control and that we have a duty to acknowledge external influences and also to undertake a certain amount of influencing ourselves, specifically in relation to our supply chain.

Treating Customers Fairly

We have in place a Treating Customers Fairly Policy which is based on the Financial Services Authority’s Treating Customers Fairly principles. This policy ensures that the TCF principles are embedded within all aspects of our business from the services we provide to the various interactions we have with our clients and customers throughout our professional relationships.

Our TCF Policy is available to all our stakeholders and includes:

• Code of Conduct;
• Plain English and effective, clear and concise communication;
• Performance Management;
• Approach to dealing with vulnerable clients and customers;
• Complaint handling;
• Supporting Policies and Procedures.
• Supplier Guidance

We recognise that the process of continual improvement depends on the involvement and commitment of all our business partners.

We expect our key suppliers to take an active role in supporting our policy by adhering to the following principles:

• to have in place an Environmental Policy Statement or similar and a nominated company representative supported by an appropriate level of management to ensure effective implementation;
• be aware of the environmental impact of their own business and supply chain including the products, raw materials and services they provide. Objectives and targets should be set to reduce significant environmental impacts and reports on progress should be readily available;
• comply with all relevant legislation, ensuring that all products or services supplied at least meet or exceed these requirements;
• take account of the principles of sustainable development in design, production use and end-of-life disposal of their supplied products and services. In particular, they should:
• use the minimum amount of raw materials consistent with being fit for purpose;
• use energy efficiently; and
• minimise the impacts during use and disposal;
• provide on request data on the environmental performance of the processes and materials used in the products or services supplied;
• be willing to work in partnership to progress environmental initiatives that continually improve the performance of the products and services supplied.

Additional Information

Any enquiries or requests for additional information regarding any aspect of our social responsibility programme, including other related policy documents, should be addressed to:

Simpson & Marwick