CSR – Grays Office Supplies

Corporate Social Responsibility

At GOS our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined as:

Conducting business in a socially responsible and ethical manner

Protecting the environment

Supporting human rights

Supporting local communities

All members of staff are informed of the obligation to protect the environment in which we operate and are sensitive to the needs and interests of our stakeholders. This obligation is reflected in the following commitments made by all staff within GOS and supported by the management team.

This policy is part of our induction for all staff and existing staff are reminded of our commitments on a regular basis. The policy applies to all staff whether office-based, home or hybrid working.

We want to be a responsible business that meets the highest standards of ethics and professionalism.

Business Ethics

GOS is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and governance practices in order to maintain excellence in daily operations, and to promote confidence in our systems. The company will:

Respect the law
Honour its internal policies
Conduct all business in an open, honest and ethical manner
Recognise the importance of protecting all of our human, financial, physical, informational, social, environmental, and reputational assets.
Promote safety and respect
Promote anti-bribery and anti-corruption practices

Protecting the environment

GOS recognise the need to protect the natural environment. Keeping our environment clean and unpolluted is a benefit to all. All staff will:

Promote recycling of all possible materials within the business, whether home, office or remote working. This includes paper, plastics and cans placed, as standard, in clearly marked reciprocals for regular recycling.
Maintain a power down policy of all related equipment, including building heating and all electrical appliances.
Where possible and practical, utilise video calling as opposed to travelling large distances to meet.
Where travel is required, use public transport or trains where practical, if this is not possible then try and travel in groups or make several appointments within the same journey to reduce the carbon and environmental impact of that journey.
Ensure environmental awareness amongst all employees and provide sufficient levels of training to allow them to meet their environmental responsibilities.
Encourage all suppliers & manufacturers to improve their environmental performance and provide products that meet the highest environmentally friendly standards possible.
Promote and market products from ethical manufacturers and partners that have excellent environmental characteristics and meet high efficiency demands.
Where we can, we reduce deliveries to our customers but without sacrificing service expectations and we also ask our suppliers to do the same.
We re use any possible cardboard when packing our products, again, not sacrificing service but with a care towards reusing waste
GOS run a fleet of ULEZ Compliant Delivery Vans which we use for our local based customers – 2 of which are eclectic vehicles
We do focus our business on buying and supporting other local businesses and are part of a national campaign, www.keep-it-local.co.uk
Our electricity supplier is purchased from 100% renewable energy
As part of our commitment to recycling waste, if any of our products has waste plastic or cardboard, we will remove this upon delivery and make sure it is recycled for you

Protecting people & human rights

We will ensure that:

Our activities do not risk the health and safety of our employees and community.
Employees are treated fairly and with dignity and consideration for their goals and aspirations and that diversity in the workplace is embraced
Equal opportunity is provided in all aspects of employment and will not engage in or tolerate unlawful workplace conduct, including discrimination, intimidation, or harassment.
GOS is dedicated to protecting human rights. We are a committed equal opportunity employer and will abide by all fair labour practices. We will ensure that our activities do not directly or indirectly violate human rights in any country.
The Company has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery, and we are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or in any of our supply chains.

Donations

GOS is part of a large group which has partnered with the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust to make direct donations from every ream of Our Earth copier paper and flipchart pads sold. The donations help Durrell continue their work saving species from extinction and creating a wilder, healthier, more colourful world.

GOS make a yearly donation to our friends at Essex Wildlife Trust where we are a Silver Corporate Sponsor. They are the county’s leading conservation charity, committed to protecting wildlife and inspiring a lifelong love of nature. We believe it is important as a business to support the Trust and also community projects like this.

Volunteering

GOS encourage employees to volunteer within their local community and our business community at large. They can volunteer through programmes organised internally or externally. The company may sponsor volunteering events from other organisations and will give considerations to employee requests for time within working hours for volunteering.

Community Engagement

GOS are part of a National Keep It Local Campaign in 2020 which continues to pro-actively encourage all stakeholders and their partners and customers to focus on supporting local businesses and communities to minimise environmental impact, grow local economies and create local jobs.

By adopting these values GOS look to not only reduce the environmental and carbon footprint of our operations but also encourage our partners and members alike to consider their environmental impact and social values.