People
Planet
Community
We recognise that the decisions we make today can impact the planet and our communities in the future.
That’s why we’re working to limit our negative environmental impact while also positively contributing to society.
Ethical supply chains:
Operating a responsible supply chain is at the core of our business practices, and we have implemented several controls to minimise the risk of unethical occurrences.
This includes our:
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Supplier Code of Conduct — this was developed to ensure our partners work ethically and we have embedded expectations around fair worker’s rights. We will continue to collaborate closely with our suppliers, to monitor and manage their carbon footprint, and weigh ethical supply chain standards on any supply tender.
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Whistle-blower Policy — this policy encourages our people, customers, and business partners to report any concerns related unethical practices.
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Training — we provide annual Ethical Business Practices training to relevant staff, particularly those involved in establishing and implementing our procurement and contracting processes. Our procurement team have all completed the Ethical Procurement and Supply Chain test and have undergone CIPS Ethical Supply Chain training.
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Risk assessments — we use a third-party risk verification software platform. This tool undertakes a desk-based analysis of the financial, political and governance risks associated with a supplier. If anything is identified, remediation work is rolled out as quickly as possible, with regular supplier reviews taking place to ensure compliance.
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Health and safety reports and audits — our Health, Safety, Environment and Quality Manager produces a quarterly summary report for each of our contractors. The report summarizes trends in health, safety and environment compliance and opportunities for improvement which are discussed with each contractor over the quarterly health and safety meetings. This process has allowed all contractors to show continuous improvement over time to their performance. In 2022, we conducted around 2,000 audits.
Environmental sustainability is a growing area of focus for us. We realise that as we grow, our impact will too, and we are taking it seriously.
We value that fibre optic is an inherently sustainable and energy-efficient material offering a longer lifespan, lower electromagnetic-radiating source for producing high-bandwidth broadband. It uses 70% less energy to transmit data compared to traditional copper wire and is made from silicone, a plentiful and naturally-occurring material.
We measure our carbon emissions yearly and use this information to identify ways to reduce our footprint. So far, we have implemented decarbonisation actions by beginning to electrify our fleet; reviewed our packaging usage with suppliers to reduce waste and improve our recycling practices by returning reusable packaging; are working to improve our energy usage by moving all of our directly contracted power to sustainable providers; and are taking steps to understand what material changes we can make to meet international carbon reduction agreements.
We believe it is critical to support the communities we operate in and rely on. That’s why we are committed to helping those who may be digitally excluded due to financial and educational circumstances.
We work with landlords across London to provide free 1,000 Mbps 100% full fibre broadband connectivity for some of their community spaces and libraries. So far, we have connected 500 community spaces across 19 London boroughs (as of April 2023). We also provide sponsorship to 12 local sport teams.
We are helping bridge the digital divide through our Digital Ambassadors Programme by upskilling residents and training them to become Digital Ambassadors who can support their local community members in learning digital skills. This work is done in conjunction with charity and council partners, like Westminster City Council and Mind to best meet the needs of our community. In addition, we provide all staff with two volunteering days a year to volunteer in the community.
In 2022, we held 186 digital inclusion events across London with the support of our team of around 70 Digital Ambassadors who volunteer in the community. To learn more about our work in the communities we serve, please visit our Community Investment page.
Reporting, policies and verifications
- We are certified with ISO45001 (Health & Safety Management), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), ISO27001 (Information Security Management) and ISO 9001 (Quality Management).
- Health & Safety, Environment and Quality Policy
- Gender pay gap report
- Vulnerable customer policy