Our Business

Defining the INSTOCK Group

 

Our Vision

our_vision

Helping customers transform the catering and accommodation experiences of everyone in the UK to help create great and memorable events.

  

Our Mission

our_mission

To create an organisation that has a deep client-oriented culture, strong values and a common purpose.

We aim to provide flexible and innovative services and to consider the consequences of our commercial activities.

By focusing on client service, encouraging positive behaviours and implementing ethical operations, we want our staff to feel proud of what we do.

 

Our Culture

our_culture

A thorough but flexible approach to our work.

We recognise that communication and teamwork are vital to our group learning, to improve our service and increase our ability to create innovative solutions.

We have a passion to serve our customers together with pride in our values and we want to have fun doing it.

  

Values

our_values

The values we adhere to will define our corporate DNA.

It is more than a list of words.

These are the traits and behaviours we insist upon when recruiting and appointing our staff.

Our management teams are expected to commit to and demonstrate these values in their role and to cultivate these values in our staff.

  • Honesty - Fundamental in all dealings
  • Integrity - Reliability, decency, fairness, meeting commitments
  • Professionalism - Raising our standards compared to our competition, look for excellent rather than good
  • Commitment to customers - Core to success
  • Accountability - Taking ownership, giving all we have to the task, the role, the mission
  • Respect - Colleagues, Suppliers, Customers
  • Consideration - Human and environmental impact of our decisions and activities

 

Fair Work Practices

We are commited to supporting our staff, provide meaningful employment and embedding Fair Work Practices within our business and supply chain.

 

Fair Pay

living_wage

We are an accredited Living Wage employer.  We vet all suppliers and conduct annual audits encouraging them to pay the real living wage.

 

Effective Voice

We maintain an Open Door Policy and culture of honesty and transparency set out in our Health/Wellbeing Policy, which empowers staff and promotes engagement/discussion of work/non-work-related issues. Our omnichannel approach includes:

  • Staff appraisals (monthly) with line-manager to discuss queries/ideas/development opportunities
  • Support progressive workforce engagement through Employee Forums
  • Annual third-party staff feedback surveys
  • Anonymous feedback boxes
  • 'Meet the Shareholders Evenings' to engage/ask questions
  • Trade Union Engagement
  • Mental Health help lines/Mental Health First Aiders (currently 6 employees) provide a channel for concerns, a listening ear and advice/support

 

Workforce Development

To achieve a quality service for our customers, we invest heavily in each employee’s development to obtain commitment, effective decision-making, and efficiency. This is evidenced by our annual staff retention-rate of c95% and average length of service: 

  • Sales 6-years
  • Customer Services 15-years
  • Warehouse 13-years
  • Admin 40+years

 

To ensure continuous improvement we have a Training and Compliance Manager who is responsible for guiding our annual training.  Our Training Matrix is monitored regularly and staff are provided training and development opportunities relevant to their roles and aspirations (informed by our appraisals).  Our employees receive ROSPA Accredited module training and we have staff trained for SMSTS, SSSTS and CITB as well as Mental Health and First Aid trained staff.  We financially support time-off to encourage all staff who wish to attend further education and continue to support apprenticeships and skills training programmes in our local areas.

  

No Zero-Hour Contracts

To prevent exploitative employment practices, we have No Zero-Hours Contracts Policy. We vet/audit our suppliers ensuring they comply as part of our Ethical Purchasing/Modern Slavery Policy.

 

Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace

Currently within our organisation there is zero gender pay gap.  To ensure this continues we will monitor/report on the diversity of our workforce throughout each year. Our annually reviewed/circulated Equality & Diversity Policy ensures we:

  • Harness the individual talents of staff from different backgrounds and skill-sets
  • Promote mutual understanding of people’s differences
  • Provide free language courses
  • Offer work placements to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds

We will continue to recruit a diverse pool of employees with a focus on seeking to recruit more women, people with disabilities and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have reviewed our recruitment process to ensure inclusive recruitment and that diversity is positively promoted in our job advertisements. For example, we guarantee disabled applicants who meet minimum role-criteria will be taken to the next stage.
All our facilities have been adapted to support diversity/inclusion:

  • Disability ramps in all depots
  • Gender neutral toilets
  • Assigning a Diversity Representative within our Employee Forum to provide an active voice for all employees

 

Flexible working

We provide flexible working arrangements to support our employees work-life balance, family arrangements and personal circumstance. We encourage employees to request options including:

  • Flexi-time
  • Staggered hours
  • Compressed hours
  • Part-time working
  • Working from home
  • Career breaks

 

Opposing fire/rehire practices

We never use fire/rehire practices within our company and audit our suppliers annually to ensure they also comply.

To ensure we maintain a high performance/healthy workforce we will report on our fair work progress, regularly updating clients on new measures implemented to support effective voice, new commitments to investment in our workforce, workplace diversity statistics, examples of flexible work practices and evidence of no use of exploitative work practices or pay below the living wage.

 

 

Net Zero Commitment

Instock Group Ltd is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050 for emissions scopes 1, 2 and 3. The commitment was made on 07/10/24 by the Board of Directors, chaired by Michael Payne, M.D.

  

Carbon Reduction Plan

Instock Ltd is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. We have set a science based target to reduce our emissions in line with the ambition criteria of the SBTI and verified by Planet Mark.

 

Baseline Emissions Footprint

Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases that have been produced in the past and were produced prior to the introduction of any strategies to reduce emissions. Baseline emissions are the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.

 

Baseline Year

Our emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 are externally audited and assured by Planet Mark. Our baseline year spans from 01/01/2022 – 31/12/2022.

 

Baseline Year: 2022 

Additional Details relating to the Baseline Emissions calculations.

Our annual Carbon Footprint Recording is aligned with the GHG protocol and as such, tracks material sources of emissions, which for Instock Ltd include Scope 3 emissions from waste, water and business travel.

Baseline year emissions:

EMISSIONS

TOTAL (tCO2e)

Scope 1

542

Scope 2

49

Scope 3

(Included Sources)

108

Total Emissions

Market Based

Location Based

Per employee

 

694.8 

699.9

6.4

 

Current Emissions Reporting

Reporting Year:  2023 

EMISSIONS

TOTAL (tCO2e)

Scope 1  

580

Scope 2

30

Scope 3

(Included Sources)

91

Total Emissions

Market Based

Location Based

Per employee

 

671.7

701

5.8

 

Emissions reduction targets

Instock Group Ltd reduction target has been set in line with the ambition criteria of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI).  We have set an ambitious target to reduce our Scope 1 & 2 emissions in line with the ambition criteria of the SBTI, by at least 30% by 2030. This decrease will see our Scope 1 and 2 emissions drop from 610 tCO2e to 427 tCO2e by 2030.

 

 

 

Carbon Reduction Projects

The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed or implemented since the 2022 baseline.

Euro 6 and Hybrid Vehicles: The company has Euro 6 standard vehicles and some hybrid vehicles in its fleet, significantly lowering emissions from transportation.

ISO14001 Implementation: Implementing ISO14001 Environmental Management Standard to improve environmental performance and ensure sustainable practices.

ISO9001 Implementation: Implementing ISO9001 Quality Management Standard to ensure quality of products and services.

PAS2060 Carbon Footprint Verification: Working with Planet Mark to verify the company’s annual carbon footprint.

Renewable Energy: Purchase 100% of energy from renewable sources across all company sites.

NavMan Software: Using NavMan software to improve driver performance, reducing wear and tear on vehicles, reducing number of idling alerts and CO2 emissions.

ERP Routing Module: Allows us to manage our distribution effectively, consolidating deliveries.

Staff Training: Undertaking Environmental Awareness Training for all staff

Working with Suppliers: Extending the range of environmentally friendly, low carbon products by working with suppliers, reducing plastic waste.

Zero Waste to Landfill: Working with our Waste Contractor we have pledged to send zero waste to landfill.

 

In the future we hope to implement further measures such as:

 

Signing up to SBTI

Aligning with Sustainable Development Goals

Feasibility study for onsite renewable energy sources through solar panel installation.

Further transition to zero emission vehicles

Requiring key suppliers to report their carbon footprint data to us to improve he accuracy of carbon measurement and engaging with suppliers to support our net zero goal.

Include staff commute in Scope 3 Carbon footprint from 2024

Develop partnerships to implement carbon offsetting that comprise traditional carbon credit projects alongside carbon capture process.

  

Declaration and Sign Off

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.

Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard[1] and uses the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting[2].

Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard[3].

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors (or equivalent management body).