Boosting our Responsible Business Score, Site Visits & ACS Conference
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Published 3 May 2024 in Phil's blog
This week, I am delighted to announce that Business in the Community (BITC), the leading organisation that champions business as a force for good, and which has been supported by the King for over 40 years, has given us great recognition for the work we’ve done together over the last year.
For those who don’t know, every year we take part in the BITC responsible business tracker. The results just published show that we have improved our score from 81% in 2023, to 87% in 2024. This puts us in the top 3 of the 67 member businesses assessed, which includes over 50 large or National companies, and way above the average score of 47%.
I’m especially pleased that the report highlights many things that we do as part of our day to day – from volunteering to energy saving, and from supporting community partners to developing young people. The report also highlights our strengths as a Co-op in areas like Governance through our elected Board, and that our strategies are well aligned with our Purpose.
Thank you to all of you for the work you do every day that has helped achieve this score. We’ll celebrate & highlight some of these achievements at the Fairer Living Festival on 11 May.
Site visits to our Gloucestershire areas
Last week, members of our senior leadership team and I visited some of our sites in Gloucestershire ahead of our regular team meeting held at the Stroud Brewery, one of our local suppliers. In teams of 2 and 3, we visited 14 sites in total including food stores, nurseries and travel branches. On my visits to Cainscross supermarket and our Nursery at the same site, I was joined by the Chief Operating Officer for Travel, Claire Evans and one of our Thrive future leaders, Emily Sandilands. Our visits gave us a great opportunity to meet with colleagues and discuss a range of matters. We also focused specifically on fire safety and the testing and evacuation protocols, and I am pleased to say that the operations were compliant in this area.
Visiting our Gloucestershire sites - with Thrive Future Leader member, Emily Sandilands, Cainscross Nursery manager Karolyn Oakey & Chief Operating Officer for Travel, Claire Evans
Attending the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) Conference
On Tuesday, joined by Head of Trading for Food, Sarah Yates, plus seven of our Thrive Future Leaders’ group along with three members of the Senior Food team on the ACS Futures Leader programme, I attended the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) conference in Birmingham. This is the flagship event for the ACS and is part of a huge convenience retail show. We heard from retailers across the country from large multiple operations to individual shop owners and it was a great experience for us all.
At the ACS conference with Sarah Yates, Head of Trading along with members of the Thrive Future Leaders group and the Senior Food team
Look forward to seeing you all at the Fairer Living Festival & AGM
As highlighted in my blog last week, the Fairer Living Festival & AGM is just over a week away and I hope to see many of you there.
Held at the Bescot Stadium for the first time, our teams have been busy adding the final touches to what will be a fantastic celebration at the venue showcasing the good work we are all doing together in our local communities.
It’s going to be a great day with fun activities, live music from local artists and bands. As a member, you can also take part in our AGM. So come and see first-hand the positive impact we are making in the community and enjoy a good time with colleagues, family and friends.
If you can join us on the day, come up and say hi to me and the team. Plus, if you bring along a friend or a family member on the day, you could win £150 worth of Society vouchers. More reasons to come! See you there…
Colleague Pulse Survey goes live
Just a quick reminder that the latest pulse survey on wellbeing is now live. I look forward to hearing your views on how we can support your wellbeing. So please share your thoughts by clicking here.
And finally, as we head into the Bank holiday weekend, why not pop into one of our Food stores and get 20% off your shop, or plan that summer getaway with up to £500 discount? Our enhanced colleague discounts are still ongoing, so do take advantage of them.
Wishing you all a great weekend whatever you have planned, let’s hope the weather brightens up!
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