At Accord we are at the forefront of responsible trading within our industry. We are committed to minimising the impact of our business activities on our employees, our marketplace, our community and the environment.

Employees

Employee development is integral to Accord's success and we use a variety of methods to meet the development needs of the individual, from in-house courses and mentoring to job shadowing and supporting professional qualifications.

Health & Safety

We are committed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of our employees.  All employees receive health and safety awareness training. Our senior operations managers now hold British Safety Council Level Two certificates in health and safety and all of our delivery drivers must undertake an internet-based road safety assessment before they are allowed to drive. 

External assessors audit all of our company sites, each of which has been audited twice. The second audit confirmed that each site had improved considerably and as part of the Office2Office Group we surpassed the industry sector average in the prevention of accidents and ill health.

Download our Quality, Environmental and Health & Safety Policy for more information.  

In the community

We also recognise that our business is part of a wider community, which we have a responsibility to support. We seek opportunities to help local businesses and charitable organisations and encourage our staff to do likewise.

Many of our employees give their personal time, knowledge and experience to a wide range of community organisations, from children’s football clubs to acting as a governor of their local school.

We offer work experience placements to students and understand the importance of our role in carving out careers in the future. We ensure that they have the chance to engage in meaningful activities during their time with us and we encourage the students to express their views and opinions.

In the marketplace

Accord is committed to supporting both customers and suppliers in delivering best practice in CSR.

Ethical sourcing

We source from a large supplier base located all over the world and are committed to ensuring that our suppliers maintain ethical and sustainable business practices. We actively encourage our suppliers to implement environmental management systems and will not knowingly source from companies who fail to meet our stringent ethical and environmental criteria.

Globe & Tick™ products

Our Globe & Tick™ accreditation scheme makes it easy to select environmentally preferred products, all of which have been stringently assessed using criteria laid down by an independent expert. Since its launch 15 years ago, the range has been expanded and now features over 1,100 products, which equates to 17% of our total product lines.

Green Guide

The Green Guide, now in its sixth edition, secured a Green Apple Award in 2009. It includes details of our range of Globe & Tick™ products as well as information about sustainable services and in-house environmental initiatives. By offering the Green Guide online we reduce the number of paper catalogues we produce, reducing paper consumption and distribution costs.

Download our CSR Review for more information.