Corporate Social Responsibility

Here at Aurora Kendrick James, we have made a commitment to our employees to provide a quality working environment within a safe and healthy workplace whilst continuing to minimise any potential impact on the environment we may cause through our business.

We now operate in compliance with all relevant legislation and intend to regularly monitor and assess our environmental impact whilst seeking to improve our overall environmental performance.

n We promote environmental awareness among all our employees and encourage them to work in an environmentally responsible manner. We encourage all staff to consider how their actions have consequences on the environment. Therefore we have introduced energy saving schemes for example we encourage all staff to shut down their computers and monitors each evening instead of leaving them on standby.

n We train, educate and inform our employees about environmental issues that may affect their work. We also make sure each email signature has the message:

P please consider the environment before printing this email

n We reduce waste through re-use and recycling and by purchasing recycled or recyclable products. We maintain a recycling policy in house for paper, cardboard and cans. We take our responsibilities as a software provider very seriously. We dispose of our older computers and monitors through a charity which then reconditions the units and sends them abroad to third world countries giving these redundant machines a new lease of life and a chance to help educate others less fortunate than ourselves. We try to reduce the amount of non environmentally friendly resources such as we are printing card CD cases instead of using plastic, non recyclable cases.

n We purchase and use environmentally responsible products accordingly. Even the little things mean a small step in the right direction. We make sure we use recycled lavatory paper, hand towels and paper where we can. We provide our staff with fair-trade tea and coffee as well as a constant supply of fresh fruit to encourage healthier staff.

n We promote efficient use of materials and resources throughout our office including water, electricity, raw materials and other resources, particularly those that are non-renewable. We encourage staff to use the air conditioning sparingly and to instead open windows to create a fresh breeze throughout the office which in turns helps to reduce illness within the office. We have introduced localised lighting for staff who work late so that offices need not be illuminated by strip lighting on a continual basis. We also have a 'lights off' policy which requests the last person to leave to ensure all lights are switched out.

n We avoid unnecessary use of hazardous materials and products and take all reasonable steps to protect human health and the environment when such materials must be used or disposed of.

n We continue to work alongside new technologies in order to improve communication throughout the company. With the use of sophisticated video conferencing systems we will be able limit the amount of travel required by our staff. Meetings will be much more time and energy efficient as the time travelling and energy used will be cut as personal contact will be enabled through a simple internet connection.

n We communicate our environmental commitment to clients, customers and the public and encourage them to support it. We will be soon asking all our clients to contribute to a charity scheme which will be run by Computer Aid International. We will be aiming to recycle a certain amount of computers within a set period of time to be reconditioned for third world countries to reuse.

n We maintain an equal opportunities recruitment system where every staff member is valued for their skills that contribute to our company.

n We encourage the use of local suppliers in order to reduce unnecessary travel and to increase local trade. We also maintain a travel policy of encouraging public transport via the train system. We believe that this is a more environmentally friendly form of transport and promote this form of travel as and when we can.

n We will strive to continually improve our environmental performance and minimise the social impact and damage by periodically reviewing our environmental policy in light of our current and planned future activities. We are committed and dedicated to monitoring our carbon footprint and continuously trying to reduce and keep this as low as possible as we are fully aware that our actions, both on a personal basis and that of a corporate level, affect our environment in a myriad of ways we will endeavour to maintain the highest standards of corporate social responsibility.