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Corporate Social Responsibility report
Code of EthicsThe Group’s Code of Ethics (the ‘Code’) sets out a number of fundamental principles which all Group companies and employees are required to follow. The Code covers many areas including fair competition, compliance with laws, including anti-trust laws, and maintenance of the Group’s reputation for integrity, including a prohibition on bribery and general principles for dealing with suppliers and authorities. The Code can be viewed on the Company’s website at www.wolseley.com or a printed copy is available from the Company Secretary.
In keeping with our decentralised approach, businesses are required to adopt their own codes which respect local cultures and businesses but which also set clear standards which are no less exacting than those detailed in the Code. These individual codes are appropriate to the scope of the local operation and endorse existing practices. All new companies joining the Group are required to adopt codes of ethics on the same basis as existing businesses.
Achievements during the year
- PBM was the first trading company in France to be awarded a ‘Two Leaf’ rating from Le Commerce du Bois.
- Wolseley UK was awarded a ‘Best in Class’ in the 2006 CiB National Communications Excellence Strategy Awards.
- Stock Building Supply was presented with Liberty Mutual’s Gold Fleet Safety Award.
- Wolseley UK was awarded the Royal Society of the Prevention of Accidents Gold Award for Occupational Health & Safety.
- Wolseley Canada was awarded ‘Work Safe Alberta Best Safety Performer Award’.
The workplaceOne of the Board’s objectives is to ensure that Wolseley provides a workplace environment that encourages and supports all employees to achieve their best personal performance. Wolseley continues to operate, through its ‘International Leadership Development Programme’, a global training programme designed to develop and improve the management and leadership skills of its senior and high potential managers. To date, over 700 employees have attended Wolseley management training programmes and 30 senior executives have attended leadership development programmes at Harvard and other universities. Training programmes for all levels of employee continue to be a high priority for the Company with over £14 million spent on employee training during the year.
Wolseley UK undertook its second annual company-wide employee survey during the year, inviting employees to suggest areas for improvement and voice any concerns. Its 2006 survey highlighted improvements needed in internal communications and, in response, the company has continued the roll-out of a series of employee engagement initiatives. Employees are now kept informed and involved through a wide range of communication channels, ranging from a regular newsletter to programmes with a strong platform for two-way dialogue. These include face-to-face meeting forums for all levels of management and employees, as well as the expansion of a monthly online chat session, which generated over 2,300 questions during the year. Each session is hosted by a senior manager from Wolseley UK. Themes and topics that do not receive sufficient coverage during the online sessions gain a response in the weeks following the live event and all questions and answers are posted on the company’s intranet to allow employees who were not able to join the live event an opportunity to participate.
A ‘Back to the Floor’ programme involving office-based employees spending time in the branch network has helped to improve understanding of business operations and the evaluation and feedback from this has been very encouraging. This initiative, as part of a suite of programmes, received external recognition including a ‘Best in Class’ in the 2006 CiB National Communications Excellence Strategy Awards.
Community relationsThe Group recognises its responsibility to support the communities in which our businesses operate and to act as a good corporate citizen.
Wolseley is a member of Business in the Community in the UK and continues to work with that organisation to help develop our approach and practice.
The Group’s businesses are involved in a wide range of initiatives for the benefit of local communities.
Wolseley UK is supporting British Gymnastics, the UK national governing body for the sport, as part of the FTSE-British Olympic Association initiative. As the UK builds up to hosting the Olympic Games in 2012, the initiative aims to link companies with sports’ governing bodies to help improve the effectiveness of their business delivery and performance. The initial focus of the Wolseley UK-British Gymnastics partnership will be executive level consultation, strategic marketing guidance, commercial proposition development, customer research and targeted marketing activities. Over the coming months and years, it is hoped that many Wolseley UK employees will be able to get involved with the partnership, especially at a local level, where British Gymnastics promotes its sport at schools and clubs in employees’ communities.
Ferguson in the USA actively promotes the education and development of young people in Newport News, where Ferguson’s head office is based. Involvement with organisations such as the Boy Scouts of America, the Boys & Girls Club, Achievable Dream, Preschool Partners and the Rita Welsh Adult Literacy Program emphasise the company’s commitment to the development of future community leaders. Ferguson and Stock also made substantial donations to the Jamestown Foundation, the Virginia State Agency that manages the Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center history museums, supporting the acquisition of artefacts, new exhibit features and educational programmes.
Silvan, one of DT Group’s subsidiaries in Denmark, has embarked on a programme to encourage the employment of people aged over 50 and receiving unemployment or disability benefit. The programme offers flexible working hours, practical training with hands-on experience in one of Silvan’s stores, personal coaching and mentoring and continued personal monitoring with the aim of over 70 per cent of participants obtaining paid employment at the end of the programme.
The Group’s North American businesses continued their support for Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organisation that seeks to eliminate substandard housing and homelessness. As part of this programme, in excess of $2 million in cash and goods in kind was contributed across North America and a national partnership has been established whereby branches throughout North America make donations of materials for every Habitat house built. This is expected to benefit up to 5,000 houses in the next year.
Ferguson also donates to ReStores across the USA through both product donation and employees’ volunteer time. ReStore is a network of building material warehouses that collects donated materials from individuals, businesses and building contractors to be resold to the public for a profit. The profits made from the sale of these materials fund the construction of Habitat for Humanity homes across North America.
DonationsThe Group supports charities relevant to the countries and locations in which its businesses operate. These are wide-ranging and cover health, welfare, education, civic and community projects as well as culture and the arts. Each year, several hundred donations are made. Many of our employees in North America make regular contributions to the United Way, an organisation which distributes funds to charities. A Give As You Earn Scheme operates in the UK with the assistance of the Charities Aid Foundation which distributes funds to UK charities. During the year, employees in the UK raised £400,000 for the children’s charity NCH by undertaking a Grand Trek. DT Group in Denmark has made significant donations to charities caring for the mentally and physically disabled and other charities including the Red Cross and Danish Cancer Society. Further details of the amount of donations made during the year are set out in Report of the Directors.