Corps Security’s most recent Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) report is now published. Our ESG report is a data-driven document to show important changes made, and we are proud to share our progress across 2023. In this blog post, we’ll cover some of the main highlights from the report.
Environment
Corps is committed to driving positive environmental change through transparency and impactful sustainability practices. In 2023, we achieved silver status from EcoVadis. This places us in the top 15% of organisations committed to the environment, sustainable procurement ethics, labour, and human rights.
We decarbonised our car fleets by replacing some of our existing un-eco-friendly cars with hybrid or electric cars. Our offices in London and Glasgow now have charging points installed. Due to the complexities of infrastructure and charging points across the UK slowing progress, we chose to focus on reducing even more carbon by tackling our Scope 3 emissions.
Supporting the previous government’s Cycle to Work scheme has been a priority in achieving sustainable commuting. We increased our commitment to £1,000 per employee, meaning Corps employees overall saved £31,868.48.
We have been going as paperless as possible. After switching to e-files in April 2023, we focused on paperless new starter paperwork and vetting files. This saved around 48,000 sheets of paper: equalling five trees, combined with the 200,000 sheets saved from Electronic Daily Occurrence Books. Corps has also made use of online dashboards for new starters, rather than distributing printed materials. Where not possible, we have used Avena Group to provide zero-landfill document recycling services. We also work with Avena to process discarded garments, saving around 26.7Kg in carbon emissions.
Social
In the spirit of the values created by Captain Sir Edward Walter, who founded the Corps of Commissionaires in 1859, we aim to aid the brave veterans who return to civilian life.
We invite customers to allocate 1% of revenue from new contracts to Combat Stress, a mental health support service for veterans. This amounts to more than £30,000 per year. Our fundraising activities for Combat Stress, alongside the Army Benevolent Fund and SSAFA (Soldiers’, Sailors’ & Airmen’s Families Association), raised over £26,000. We have also partnered with Change Please, a social enterprise focused on ending homelessness, and donated old uniforms to Suited & Booted, a charity that helps vulnerable, unemployed and low-income men get into employment by providing suitable interview clothing, interview advice and mentoring.
To boost diversity and support for our disabled colleagues, we partnered with Pre-image Learning and Action (PILAA) and took part in the Disability Confident Scheme.
Corps Security continues to be a Real Living Wage recognised service provider. During the 2023/24 financial year, 99.09% of colleagues were paid the Living Wage Foundation rates appropriate to their area, with a higher rate in London. Our CEO Mike Bullock is also the co-chair of the leadership group for the Living Wage Foundation.
In 2023, we listed new benefits for our colleagues:
- Enhanced (occupational) maternity and paternity pay.
- Improved parental bereavement and early pregnancy loss pay.
- An extended volunteering policy.
- The Corps Advantage Pension Sacrifice scheme, which helps colleagues to save money.
- A death in service policy for all colleagues.
- Expanded discounts and perks through Corps Connect, which enables colleagues to save money on various products.
Our ESG report also covers how we have contributed £36,000 into the colleague welfare fund for emergency situations, as well as refining our policies in health and safety and modern slavery.
At Corps Security, we believe that everyone matters. We aim to provide a safe and welcoming workplace through Corps Together. Last year, we expanded our guardian network even further to encompass seven new colleague groups focused on supporting age diversity, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicities, (dis)ability, faith, the LGBTQIA+ community, parents & carers and the Women’s Network.
We’re proud that Corps Together won two awards; the Security and Fire Diversity & Inclusion Champion award, as well as the ED&I Initiative of the Year award at the Security Institute Awards. Our wellbeing work was recognised by the British Safety Council and we were shortlisted for their Wellbeing Initiative award.
Governance
As we don’t pay shareholders, we can commit all profits to re-investment and donations to our nominated charities. We do this with the Audit Committee and Renumeration Committee, working collaboratively to improve internal processes and present transparent procedures.
In 2023, we formed the ESG Scrutiny Group to help achieve performance objectives across the organisation. They are committed to uphold the five Nolan principles of good governance: integrity, objectivity, accountability, honesty, and transparency. They support work on sustainability, work culture, diversity, reporting methods, and supporting the surrounding community.
We work with stakeholders to collaborate with partners who share our goals. This includes our customers, and making sure that they pay the Real Living Wage as we do.
What 2024 holds
There’s much to be proud of in our 2023 ESG report and we will continue be progressive in 2024, doing all we can for people and planet.
Here’s what we aim to do by the next ESG report:
- Change the way we process and document travel activity; to create better visibility and accountability by tracking flights, taxis, and trains.
- Achieve Gold in an EcoVadis rating.
- Reach Level 3 in the Disability Confident scheme by 2025
- From April 2024, grant staff access to Digital GP to access quicker healthcare.
Download our full report here.
