Welcome & About Whistl
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Sustainable supply chain
We believe our people make the difference, and the right behaviours and actions are embedded in our culture. This isn’t just internal; it extends to the business relationships we have with our suppliers and customers. We invest in these relationships as we believe they make a difference to the service we provide to our customers, and, importantly, they have a significant role to play in managing the impact we have on the environments and societies in which we operate.” Gareth Hughes, Business Services and ESG Director
Whistl’s procurement team has a responsibility to ensure the goods and services it procures are fit for purpose and are from reputable suppliers. The team also has the responsibility of understanding the impact these goods and services have on the environment and society.
Whistl’s ESG strategy
This includes:
• paying a fair price for goods and services • paying suppliers on time • providing long-term contractual commitment (where relevant) • supporting local suppliers and SMEs • supporting and promoting environmental protection • complying with laws and regulations • working in an ethical manner • identifying and reporting any instances which go against these practices. Our procurement policy dictates how Whistl expects employees to manage gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest and payments to suppliers. It also sets our Whistl’s responsibilities in relation to ESG, modern slavery and introducing new suppliers. The procurement practices at Whistl follow a standard seven-step sourcing process to ensure that any new sourcing exercise is fully considered and managed. This enables Whistl to clearly communicate the planned procurement process, including selection criteria, to suppliers upfront to ensure a fair and transparent supplier selection process is followed. A web-based supplier portal is used to manage due diligence activities on potential and existing suppliers, including any tender activity. This enables suppliers to see what is expected of them through a tender process upfront, before committing time to participating. We then provide commitment to suppliers in the form of contracts and purchase orders. In 2023, we launched our new supplier charter, enabling us to establish and communicate more clearly the expectations we have of our suppliers in terms of environmental performance, ethics, human rights, modern slavery, EDI, health and safety and information security.
Valuing colleagues
We aim to keep things simple and seek feedback from stakeholders to make sure our procurement practices are fit for purpose. For example, our onboarding and tender processes have been recently reviewed and updated, taking on board feedback from Whistl’s tender team and suppliers. Their feedback has resulted in changes to the final process to ensure it is not overly onerous whilst including all the due diligence required. The process has also been updated so that suppliers’ time is not wasted answering questions which are irrelevant to the goods/ services being provided. 91% of strategic suppliers signed up to supplier charter 2023 performance: 80% of strategic suppliers to have signed up to the Whistl supplier charter by 2024 Targets:
Ahead of our 2024 target, 91% of our strategic suppliers (by spend) had signed up to our charter by the end of 2023; from 2024 onwards, our supplier contracts will include a contractual obligation to sign our supplier charter. Simply put, our supplier charter outlines the expectations of our suppliers to:
Fulfilling opportunities
• adhere to applicable laws and regulations • behave ethically
• provide safe and secure working conditions for their employees and ensure the same in their supply chains • treat their employees fairly, providing equal opportunities,
Preserving our natural environment
being inclusive and encouraging diversity • minimise their impact on the environment.
We know that effective communication is a two-way practice and conduct regular supplier engagement sessions such as webinars and in-person events. We utilise our annual ‘Supplier Day’ to collaborate with our suppliers across key areas and recognise stand-out performance across our teams. The theme for 2023 was ‘Getting Stuff Done’, with a focus on how we can be more efficient, capture innovation and remove waste. The day included a business update from our Executive Chairman, an update on our ESG strategy and carbon footprint, and shared information on the part suppliers play in our reporting and achieving net zero.
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures
Appendices
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2023 ESG Report
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