Ethics and Sustainability
Our Ethical Policy
General Principles
The company and its employees will at all times uphold the highest standards of ethical and professional integrity in order to uphold both personal and corporate reputations and to inspire confidence and trust in their respective actions. The company will conduct its business in a competent, fair, impartial, and efficient manner. Mission Statement
Health and Safety
The company is committed to providing a safe working environment for all of its employees and visitors. The company will also hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in the performance of its duties. There is a programme of regular health and safety audits, and first aid training. The company rigorously applies its standards to all site visitors.
Environment
The company respects the environment and the need to protect it and minimise the impact its operations have on it. It is engaged in a continuous programme of improvement on environmental issues and the company monitors its carbon usage in total, and by employee. Sustainability Statement
Employees
All employees are treated with dignity and respect with equal employment opportunities given to all irrespective of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, maternity, marital status, family status, disability, age, or national origin. Employees are offered a safe and healthy workplace and the company has a zero tolerance policy towards harassment.
Customers
The company will treat customers fairly at all times and will take all reasonable care to avoid misleading statements in all of its advertising and public statements. It will seek to build long term partnerships with its customers by being honest and straightforward. It will respect the confidentiality of any information it may obtain in relation to its customers. Privacy Policy
Suppliers
Suppliers will be chosen on the basis of factors such as price, quality, delivery, service, and integrity. The company’s choice of suppliers will be made objectively. Honesty, ethics and openness will be paramount in the company’s dealings with its suppliers. Modern Slavery Statement
Competitors
The company will build its reputation on the basis of its performance alone. It will compete lawfully and will not compete unfairly with others. It will not seek to damage the reputation of its competitors either directly or by implication.
Government, Regulators and Legislators
The company will seek to comply with all international, national, and local legislation affecting its operations. It will strive to follow the best practice in corporate governance. It will meet its tax obligations. It will not make any financial contributions or offer support to any political party.
Giving and Receiving Gifts and Entertainment
Employees will neither seek nor accept for themselves or others any gifts, favours, or entertainment without a legitimate purpose from any person or business organisation that does or seeks to do business with, or is a competitor of Baker Ross. Gifts, favours, and entertainment may be given to others at the expense of the company as long as these are consistent with customary business practice and are not excessive in value.
Bribes and Corrupt Practice
The company does not allow the direct or indirect offer, payment, solicitation, or acceptance of bribes in any form. The company has a separate Bribery Policy in place which examines in detail the procedures all employees must follow to avoid involvement in any situation which might lead to the offer of bribes. The policy makes it clear that any employee found to be involved in any kind of corrupt practice is likely to be immediately dismissed and may well have committed a criminal act which could lead to prosecution.
Our Sustainability Policy
Across our business we are committed to making positive changes by putting sustainability at the forefront of what we do and the great value products we create.
By working with responsible partners, we strive to give our customers the very best in products and services that are kind and conscious to the planet. Customers can trust that our craft kits are made using FSC certified materials and are sustainably sourced.
Our target is to have 100% recyclable polybag packaging by 2026 and be completely polystyrene free by 2030.
Product packaging
Approximately 99% of the polybags we use are recyclable. Our goal is to have 100% recyclable polybag packaging within the next two years.
Polystyrene packaging is only used to protect some of our ceramic products. We are looking at new ways to package these products to be completely polystyrene free.
Products and catalogue
Our paper, card and wood are sustainably sourced from commercial forests in China where the cutting down and replanting of trees is strictly controlled.
Our catalogues are 100% recyclable and can be included within your household recycling collections. We only send our catalogues to customers and organisations who have explicitly requested one so to keep waste to a minimum.
We source our paper from suppliers who abide by sustainable forest management practices and who are PEFC certified. PEFC certification assures that forests are managed in line with challenging environmental, social and economic requirements and the end-to-end supply chain is closely monitored.
The printers we use are accredited to ISO:14001 which is the global standard for effective environmental management systems and ensures there is continual assessment of environmental impact and improvements.
Recycling waste
Our target as a business is to recycle 100% of materials that can be recycled.
We use the Cartridge Collection Programs with Lexmark, Canon and HP for our printer toners. This helps us reduce our impact on the environment as every spent toner that is returned to the manufacturer is either reused or recycled, with 0% going to landfill.
All our electrical and electronic equipment is disposed of by a certified partner using the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive). We make sure that all our IT equipment is recycled ethically and responsibly by closely adhering to a zero-landfill policy.
Distribution packaging
Our packaging partner is a responsible packaging supplier who operates an Environmental Management System and complies with the requirements of ISO 14001. We only use FSC certified material for our packaging.
The cardboard packaging we send out to customers is designed to be utilised many times before reaching the end of their usable life and can then be recycled. These products are made from approximately 86% of recycled content currently.
Our mailer bags are FSC certified using 60% recycled content for the paper liner and 30% for the bubble inner.
Inks used on all our packaging are water based.