Social Value & Tackling Economic Inequality

Our business community: from Lancashire to the world

Granby is deeply rooted in the north west of England, even though we work with national and global companies. This is where our 3PL company was born in 1959; the heartland where we’ve grown from.

As a mature business, we’ve grown and benefited from a support network of other businesses, locally and nationally – even internationally. It’s within our gift to carry this ethos forward by supporting upcoming SMEs, entrepreneurs and micro businesses – these are the success stories of our future.

This Social Value theme is a great opportunity to ensure we’re doing all we can to help local businesses and the local workforce prosper. Below are some examples of how we’re meeting the requirements of the theme, plus insight into how we measure the effectiveness of our policy.

Snap insights 2021-22

• Granby worked with 20 local SMEs
• Where applicable 100% of our supply chain had a current Cyber Essentials certification
• We created 28 new roles
• We supported 15 apprentices through the Kickstart scheme
• 3 more successfully completed their apprenticeships

Granby’s influence in the supply chain

Supporting SMEs, mutuals, start-ups and VCSEs (some examples)

We should note that we’re aware of the natural tension between supporting large organisations (to ensure they retain the ability to employ their large number of staff) and encouraging smaller businesses to grow and establish themselves.

Also, our range of requirements in relation to procurement from local micro businesses, entrepreneurs and SMEs is limited. Our needs are mainly around packaging, IT, building and vehicle maintenance, training, office requirements, energy, banking and finance, and transport.

• Our procurement policies require at least 3 quotes, which allows us to invite potential suppliers to discuss requirements and understand the logistics.
• We provide as much notice as possible to suppliers in relation to new opportunities and seek potential future value as well as current contract value.
• Opportunities are given to tender to local businesses and we actively seek to develop relationships with all our suppliers in an open and honest way.
• Granby has policies around prompt payment, anti corruption and bribery to ensure fairness and equality of opportunity to all suppliers.
• We liaise with suppliers over design and keep communication open to preserve good relations and awareness of possible future requirements.
• As a company using advanced digital technology, we have pulled out the information security / cyber security elements of this theme separately.

Granby as an employer

We’re a conscientious employer within a community where some areas are in the top 10% most deprived in England with the 9th highest child poverty rates. Data published in Focus on: Employment and Jobs (2018) by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council showed a challenging employment picture (pre-pandemic):

• 4% of the population claimed Universal Credit
• There are around 66,000 employee jobs
• 22,000 are part time, higher than the national rate
• A decrease in skilled jobs since 2007

Employment, re-training and return to work (some examples)

• Create as many new roles as possible from the local community for any projects we are involved in.
• Implement best employment practices, which are aligned with the good work plan and are audited annually by Investors in People.
• Always aim to promote from within and invite internal applications for all vacancies that exist.
• Utilise our relationship with Blackburn College to empower and encourage employees to take vocational courses, and to provide apprenticeships across various departments.
• Provide training and other courses requested via our employee annual reviews.
• We employ people for fixed term contracts, which often lead to long term permanent contracts. We don’t employ zero hours agency staff.

How we measure our impact on economic inequality

In short, we look at the data – qualitative and quantitative – including surveys, audits and HR and Finance data for start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs, mutuals, and our employees. So, we measure our impact on tackling economic inequality using KPIs like:

• The number of contract opportunities awarded.
• The value of contract opportunities awarded in £.
• Percentage of companies in the supply chain with a current Cyber Essentials certification.
• Percentage of companies in the supply chain to have adopted the National Cyber Security Centre’s 10 ‘steps’.
• Number of FTE employment opportunities created by UK region.
• Number of apprenticeship opportunities (Level 2, 3, and 4+) created or retained by UK region.

And we listen to our staff, our apprentices, and our connections in the wider community too. As Investors In People members, we are independently audited against a range of indicators, including feedback from our employees.