Corporate responsibility is integral to good business management. Active Risk strives to be responsible and ethical in its interaction with both our human and natural environments.
Corporate and social responsibility extends across every aspect of our business, from how we trade, develop our products, manage our offices, to how we treat and respect our customers, employees, neighbors and planet.
The principal corporate responsibility challenges Active Risk faces can be categorized into workplace, environmental and community issues. The key topics, which are monitored by the Board for the whole business, are:
- Employee skills and competence
- Customer service and satisfaction
- Business partner and supplier relationships
- Impact upon the local communities in which we work
- Shareholder value
- Energy use and efficiency, carbon and waste management
There are more detailed sets of indicators, which are monitored within our businesses, according to the challenges they face. Where appropriate, these are also reported to the Board.
This section deals with our corporate responsibility efforts, separated by activities concerning corporate governance, the workplace (including details regarding employee training and nurture, and health and safety), the environment, and our wider corporate and social responsibility.
Corporate Governance
The Company recognizes the importance of good corporate governance. As such the Company is guided by the principles and provisions of the Combined Code and the recommendations of the Higgs Report are followed to the extent that the Directors consider appropriate for a public company of its size and nature. Accordingly, the Company has established an audit committee and a remuneration and nominations committee.
The audit committee comprises Lynton Barker and Alastair Gordon, and is chaired by Mr. Gordon. Executive Directors will be involved as deemed appropriate. The audit committee is responsible for ensuring that the financial performance of the Group is properly reported on and monitored, and for reviewing the auditors’ reports relating to accounts and internal control systems.
The remuneration and nominations committee comprises Lynton Barker and Alastair Gordon and is chaired by Mr. Barker. Executive directors will be involved as deemed appropriate. The remuneration and nominations committee meets three times per annum, or as required, and is responsible for the review and recommendation of the scale and structure of remuneration for Executive Directors and senior management, including the award of share options, and will review any appointments to the Board which may be considered in future. The remunerations and nominations committee additionally has oversight responsibility across all reward structures and programs at Active Risk.
Environmental Policy
Our operational day-to-day activities are mostly office based, and by their nature, generally have minimal impact on the environment. However, we are keen to energetically encourage sound environmental practices. We recognize this as a responsible approach to protecting the environment and as an effective cost management practice.
We maintain environmental awareness within the business by advising staff on how to modify their work practices for environmental improvement. We include our recycling practices in our staff induction program. Our administration team sends regular emails to remind staff to minimize, and where possible, recycle the waste materials produced in our business.
We encourage all of our managers to ensure that they and their teams minimize waste and recycle wherever possible. This includes, but is not limited to: recycling our paper, cardboard boxes, toner cartridges and computer hardware. We have provided recycling stations for all types of paper throughout our UK offices and this is being rolled out in the US as well.
The company will provide a working environment that complies with all current environmental legislation including the WEEE directive. We have a relationship with PC World to recycle our computing hardware.
We manage operations such that we minimize our transport requirements. We ask managers and staff to consider carefully alternative ways of conducting business before travelling long-distances. We make extensive use of email and teleconference facilities to avoid non-essential travel. We also support the use of bicycles and provide storage space for those who ride to work.
Employee-led schemes are supported by the business, such as the placing of posters supplied by the Carbon Trust promoting energy efficiency. It is now corporate policy for all non-essential computers, monitors, and peripheral devices to be switched off over night, and all lighting is switched off overnight.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Active Risk seeks to build relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, business partners and the communities in which we work so as to meet the reasonable expectations placed on the Company by these self same stakeholders and by our shareholders. We do this by establishing enduring partnerships based on the universal principles of respect for the individual, integrity and honesty. Our company values of co-operation, collaboration, integrity, high standards, quality and creativity serve to support this.
Our company’s reputation, and the mutual trust and confidence of all of those parties we interact with, are vital and indispensable assets of our business. We therefore rely on all of our employees and business associates to uphold our business ethic and to conduct all business with regard to our company values. To protect our reputation and the integrity of our business ethic we expect our staff to be vigilant and to promptly report to any director or manager any potentially dangerous, illegal, improper or unethical conduct of which they become aware. This would be considered to be a valuable action and any person raising such an issue will not be disciplined, or otherwise discriminated against even if, after investigation, the suspected malpractice is not, or has not, taken place.
Employees
Respect for the individual underpins all of our employment policies and company values and mutual respect forms the basis of our peer-to-peer culture. We support our business goals by attracting, retaining and developing the potential of our high quality staff. We promote an open culture and encourage the involvement of all staff in the development of the business. We recognize and reward our staff for their effort and contribution towards achievement of individual objectives in support of whole company goals.
We are committed to providing our staff with good career development and training opportunities and providing fair and effective remuneration policies. The diversity of our company and the initiatives we have implemented for providing a flexible working environment support our principle of respect for the individual. Staff members are encouraged to discuss their progress and their ambitions with the managers responsible for them.
Customers
We believe that our commitment to fair value and open and an honest approach based on integrity is a prerequisite for successful and sustained business relationships with our customers and we seek to build mutually beneficial relationships based on quality. The quality of our people is the ultimate guarantee of customer satisfaction.
Business Partners and Suppliers
We believe that by doing business with our suppliers in a responsible way, and building and sustaining business partnerships based on mutual respect, we are able to grow our business alongside our suppliers and meet our business goals.
Community
At the local level we take pride in supporting those of our staff who volunteer their services to charitable causes and we also support a Give As You Earn scheme through the payroll. In general our business is environmentally friendly. Even so, consistent with the concerns of many of our staff, we promote the responsible use of our resources and we believe that this is so important that we have a separate environmental policy.
Shareholders
We recognize our obligation to provide shareholders with a reasonable return on their investment in Active Risk. We are committed to building our business to meet shareholders’ reasonable expectations in terms of dividends and long-term growth. In so doing we will keep our shareholders responsibly informed about the progress of the business.
Standards & Accreditations
Active Risk works to ensure that it provides the best possible working environment for its staff and therefore guarantee the quality of the product that it supplies its customers. The Company works to ISO 9001 quality standards. We have a defined quality system to manage our processes and activities following a best-practice model.
We recruit talented people with an interest in furthering their careers and working within a professional environment. Wherever possible we develop staff and promote from within. We are an equal opportunities employer.
