Risk Management
Price competition The Group operates in a highly competitive market but Whistl provides high levels of customer service at prices that offer customers best value. It also seeks to maintain strong relationships with major customers and develop new services, aiding mitigation of the competition risk. Business continuity The Group has detailed business continuity plans in place for all sites to ensure an immediate and appropriate response to a business continuity issue or disaster scenario. During the year under review, the Group successfully completed its IT disaster recovery migration for certain business critical applications and services. Whistleblowing The Group has in place a Whistleblowing Policy, which all employees and other defined individuals are required to adhere to, and is open to suppliers and customers to use if they wish to report any concerns. The Whistleblowing Policy sets out the ethical standards expected of all persons the policy legally applies to and includes the procedure for raising concerns in strict confidence. Employees are encouraged to raise their genuine concerns regarding any malpractice within the Group without fear of harassment or victimisation. Any instances of employee disclosures concerning malpractice are reported to the Executive Board. Modern Slavery Act compliance We actively work to demonstrate appropriate due diligence of our supply chain and we maintain a Modern Slavery Policy and Statement as required by the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Anti-bribery and corruption The Group operates an anti-bribery and corruption policy which was put in place in response to the UK Bribery Act 2010. This policy sets out the responsibilities of employees of the Group in observing and maintaining the Group’s position on bribery and corruption, which is that Whistl will uphold all laws relevant to countering bribery and corruption in all the jurisdictions in which it operates. All employees are required to undertake a Bribery Corruption Awareness training programme as part of their induction process upon joining the Group. We publish our anti-bribery procedure on our intranet and each member of staff has to complete an annual assessment through the Group’s My Academy online training portal. We are committed to actively investigating any reports of a breach in policy. No breaches were reported this year. 2016 developments Throughout 2016 the Group has continued to develop an integrated approach to its risk and assurance activities. Specifically, the following improvements have been implemented: We have set up an Audit Committee and formed a Risk Management Committee to ensure risk management is embedded into business function across the Group.
Strategic Report | Whistl Annual Report 2016
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