A key CSR priority is to maintain a highly ethical approach to regulatory responsibilities, obligations under licences, public positioning and marketing of products and services. The Group aims to be transparent and ethical in all its dealings with third parties and has a number of policies in place to underpin this objective. Policies include internal ethical dealing and ‘whistleblowing’ procedures as well as the Group’s corporate governance arrangements.

The Group’s procurement policy is to source equipment, goods and services from a wide range of suppliers throughout the EU and beyond in accordance with commercial practices based on fairness and transparency. The Group recognises the important role that suppliers play in its business, and works to ensure that payments are made to them in accordance with agreed contractual terms.

As a major purchaser the Group recognises that it has an opportunity to encourage suppliers of materials and services to deliver good environmental and safety performance and to maintain responsible practices towards their employees and the communities in which they operate. The Group subscribes to the Achilles utilities vendor database to pre-qualify potential suppliers for major contracts; this assessment includes environmental and health and safety practices. All potential suppliers are pre-qualified on a fair and equal basis. In addition the Group’s procurement team assesses suppliers’ CSR practices through questionnaires issued with invitation-to-tender documents.

The Group has contributed £1m to the Viridian Growth Fund since it was established in 2001. This venture capital fund supports the growth of small Northern Ireland high technology and/or export-orientated businesses via early stage and expansion financing.