Carphone Warehouse 2011 Annual Report Download - page 32

28 Carphone Warehouse Group plc Annual Report 2011
BUSINESS REVIEW
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
The Carphone Warehouse Foundation is
a fund to which employees or charities
can apply for donations or support with
individual causes. For example, if there
is a local community charity that needs
support or a charity that means a lot to
an employee personally, then the fund
can help. The foundation will match an
employee’s fundraising up to a maximum
of £200. For national charity campaigns
or emergency disaster funds, it also
makes donations on behalf of Best Buy
Europe. During the year the Carphone
Warehouse Foundation provided £107,000
to support a range of charities and causes.
Environment
The Group’s businesses are not by their
nature particularly high impact in terms of
carbon emissions and waste. Nonetheless,
we are committed to reducing our impact
and continue to look at all aspects of the
business to contribute to environmental
sustainability. The key strategy and focus
of Best Buy Europe is to reduce carbon
emissions by 10% over the next 12 months.
Some of the environmental initiatives
over the past year include:
• installation of smart electricity meters
to allow the effectiveness of any new
initiatives to be measured;
• upgrade of air-conditioning and
lighting at the main warehouse
in Wednesbury, to reduce
carbon emissions;
• roll-out of motion-sensor lighting
across parts of the business; and
• installation of mains-fed water coolers
which also raised money to provide
clean drinking water wells to
communities in Africa.
Community & charity
Best Buy Europe has always been about
connecting people and helping them
realise what’s possible in their lives. That’s
why it supports Get Connected, its chosen
charity partner, whose purpose is to
ensure that every child and young person
in the UK can connect with the support
they need, when they need it. Best Buy
Europe in the UK has had the privilege of
working with Get Connected for over eight
years and in that time more than 107,000
young people have been connected to
confidential help, advice and support for
their emotional and physical well-being.
Best Buy Europe’s dedicated corporate
responsibility team has worked closely
with Get Connected, supporting exciting
charity events like auctions, dare-devil
sky diving and adventure treks, as well
as providing office space and technical
support for the charity’s vital work. This
is a true partnership and a special
nationwide fundraising week is held
across the UK business each year.
In November 2010, 24 employees travelled
to Ecuador to help with vital building work
on a school in a small rural community
near Cotopaxi National Park. These
employees lived and worked alongside
the locals, helping to create a much
needed school where the local children
could get a better education in improved
facilities. Each participant raised over
£2,500 in order to participate, with this
money contributing to building materials,
and £65,000 was raised in total for
Get Connected.
Best Buy Europe again held a charity
auction for Get Connected, and through
the generosity of the guests and sponsors,
was able to raise £160,000.
Whilst all businesses of the Group
seek to operate in a socially
responsible way, given its relative
size, this effort is focused especially
within Best Buy Europe.
During the year Best Buy Europe devised
a clear corporate and social responsibility
strategy which focuses on the following
key areas:
• Community & charity
• Environment
• People
By focusing on one or two projects in
each area the aim has been to make
positive, long-term, sustainable changes
which can be measured and reported on.
By focusing on one or two
projects in each area the aim
has been to make positive,
long-term, sustainable
changes which can be
measured and reported on.
CORPORATE
RESPONSIBILITY
The Board is committed to high standards of corporate
and social responsibility and expects the same from the
investments of the Group.