Carphone Warehouse 2002 Annual Report Download - page 15

The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC Annual Report 2002 13
By putting its customers first and through its relationship with its employees, The Carphone
Warehouse has developed effective ways of making positive contributions to society and
the environment.
and in the past twelve months, The Phone House France raised £20,000
for the charity to help build a house in Madagascar for street orphans.
Acción Contra el Hambre
Every Christmas The Phone House Spain makes a donation to pay for
food for starving children through "Acción Contra el Hambre".
Local charities
The Group regularly supports local charities through donations of funds,
mobile phones and employee time. Store employees and direct
conversations initiate the majority of these donations. In July 2002 the
company is running the first non-profit making industry Golf tournament,
The Mobile Cup 2002, which will specifically raise funds for children’s
charities that do not receive nationwide support.
Environment
All of our stores have a requirement to ensure that all packaging and
store waste is returned to our warehouses to be recycled and re-used.
Systems are in place to ensure that all mobile phones and related
accessories are recycled, reconditioned and distributed for re-use. All UK
carrier bags are made of low-density recyclable polyethylene. The UK
monthly buyers’ guide distributed through our stores has a print run of
over one million each month, and the paper used is chlorine free and
made from wood from sustainable forests.
All old mobile phone batteries are disposed of by a licensed waste
management and recycling company. A new policy introduced this year
means that all company cars will be changed to diesel in order to lower
emissions. In addition the Group has made a commitment to ensure that
all cleaning products used in its stores and at the Support Centre are
non-toxic and eco-friendly.
Mobile phone crime
Unfortunately mobile phone crime rates have soared this year and
mobile phone theft now constitutes a reported 36% of all robberies in
London. In March 2002, we launched a national Combat Mobile Phone
Crime Week in all of our UK stores.
Alongside extensive radio and press advertising, we teamed up with
local police to UV mark handsets so that, if stolen, the police will now be
able to quickly identify the handset and return it to the rightful owner.
The Group ran a discounted handsfree amnesty offering all
handsfree kits at a reduced price to encourage more discreet use of
mobile phones in public, and an insurance amnesty to offer customers
another chance to take out insurance at a special discount. In addition
all sales consultants are trained to provide advice and tips on how to
avoid phone crime and we produce educational literature for customers
to take away from our stores to read, which is also available on
carphonewarehouse.com
Mobile phones and health concerns
The Carphone Warehouse has for a number of years recognised that
there is clearly customer confusion surrounding health and mobile
phones. In May 1998 the Group launched an independent service
regarding the issue, including regularly updated fact sheets. Currently on
its tenth issue the leaflet sets out all the facts relating to health and
mobile phones including new medical research, Government
announcements and industry comments. This allows customers to make
their own choices surrounding health and mobile phones.
In May 2000, The Carphone Warehouse was recognised by The
Stewart Report, the Government committee appointed to address the
issue. It stated:
"The Carphone Warehouse, an independent retailer, provided an
important example of good practice in the way it makes its information
readily available at mobile phone outlets."
Specific Absorption Rates (SAR) listings
The majority of mobile phone manufacturers have recently retested all
their radio wave emission rates under an approved harmonised standard.
To give customers direct access to this information, the Group lists all
these figures on a leaflet in all UK stores, on carphonewarehouse.com
and in our UK monthly buyers’ guide.
Government and industry research
Following on from The Stewart Report’s call for additional research, a
new independent research programme costing £7.5 million has been
commissioned, half of it funded jointly by industry and Government. The
Group has made a considerable financial contribution to this programme.
Mobile phones and driving concerns
The increasing use of handheld mobile phones whilst driving is a very real
concern in today’s society and drivers are reportedly four times more likely
to have an accident as a result of driving while using a mobile phone. To
encourage our own employees to drive safely the company installs a free
handsfree kit into every company car and provides every employee with a
free handsfree earpiece. We have also recently made it an employee
disciplinary offence to use a handheld mobile phone while driving.
Diversity and inclusion
The Group recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion, and has
systems in place to recruit employees of different genders, ages,
disabilities and ethnic origins. We recruit using totaljobs.com and
jobability.com, the leading job site for disabled people, as well as
through a number of ethnic magazines. The Group is implementing an
online recruitment system and is also committed to putting in systems to
measure diversity across the Group.
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