Skip to content

Corporate social responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

SSP is committed to its stakeholders, working to improve social environmental and ethical issues in the local communities in which they operate.

SSP recognises the important contributions made by our wider community of stakeholders, in particular our employees, our clients and the local communities in which we operate. Our values, management systems and practices, as well as our association with local, national and international charities and organisations, all embrace our commitment to health, safety, continuous improvement, employee development and the well-being of all our stakeholders. The Board also takes into account social, environmental and ethical issues in its discussions and decision-making.

Employees
SSP recognises the value that its employees create for the business and is committed to the personal development and training of its employees. We provide a safe and secure workplace and promote good health and safety, and environmental practices.

People are at the heart of the business and the support and involvement of talented individuals is vital to its continued success. SSP has a strong culture of employee engagement and seeks to ensure alignment with our vision and values through regular management updates and employee briefing sessions.

We seek feedback from our staff through employee surveys where comments and suggestions from employees on the company’s performance and management are encouraged and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to contribute.

We are accredited to the Investors in People standard and our assessments against its criteria provide a regular and valuable external benchmark of our performance regarding our employees.

Clients
SSP has been built by establishing long-term relationships with its clients. We value each and every client and are proud of the long-standing nature of our client relationships. Many customers have been with SSP since 1984 and on average a customer stays for more than ten years. Continuing client satisfaction is central to our ongoing success and is regularly measured and monitored through customer surveys and direct feedback.

Our community
We are a company where people matter and we are committed to making an active contribution in our local communities. We work with local partners to offer new opportunities and to play our part in the development of neighbourhoods and communities. Our decision to refurbish an old mill in Halifax rather than move to purpose built office accommodation, was influenced by the fact that it would create 300 local construction jobs.

Over the last few years, we have been an active contributor, through weekly dress down collections and sponsored activities, to a range of local charitable organisations. These are identified by our staff through direct recommendation.

Our employees are also encouraged to participate in a range of volunteering activities and are allowed a maximum of two days paid leave per year to participate in these.

As Patron of The Prince’s Trust, we have made charitable donations, created structured work opportunities utilised the skills of our employees to improve the lives of disadvantaged young people across the UK.

The environment
Environmental responsibility is an integral part of SSP’s organisation. We consciously assess our impact on the environment and encourage everyone who works for us to contribute to an improved environment. This is shown in a number of ways, for example more of our software is being distributed electronically, avoiding packaging or paper documentation. Additionally, since we have centrally located offices worldwide, our customers can be reached more easily. We only offer cars with low emissions to company car drivers, and encourage the use of public transport and cycling to work. We are implementing measures to ensure compliance with the ESOS regulations so that our entire enterprise in the UK is as energy efficient as possible.

Our impact on the environment is therefore primarily related to energy consumption in our offices, and air travel.

We also:

  • Strive to reduce energy consumption, for example, with more efficient lighting and switching off electronic equipment when not in use.
  • Recycle as much as possible, such as paper, glass, plastics, toners, metal, batteries and other hazardous waste. Disposable packages are avoided wherever possible.
  • Use self-sustaining "forest-friendly" material for all our marketing collateral.
  • Give old computers to charity or recycle them.
  • Minimise printed material
  • Send documents electronically instead of by mail.
  • Avoid printing or, if unavoidable, print using both sides.
  • Use electronic equipment for virtual meetings to reduce travelling.