The Findel Report of 2022

2022 was a big year for Findel. Following our rebrand in January, we wanted to make sure we made an impact, and we’re happy to say we got up to a lot this year.

We’re proud to be high achievers, and this year it was good to be recognised.

*??????Firstly, our own developed product, Electronic Phonics, was Highly Commended in the Class Aid or Educator Support category at the Bett Awards 2022.

*??????Secondly, we’re delighted to announce that we have been named by Newsweek as one of their Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces in the UK. Newsweek surveyed more than 1.4 million employees over the country and we demonstrated to them a commitment to employee satisfaction above and beyond our competitors, which was fantastic to hear.

*??????In the same vein, we were so pleased to announce that we have been certified as a Mindful Employer, which is a UK-wide initiative run by Devon Partnership NHS Trust. We’re delighted to be recognised for our commitment to better mental health for all our employees.

*??????We were awarded special recognition for Excellence in ESG by the?British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA), which is an award that celebrates firms from across the private capital ecosystem that have made an outstanding commitment to ESG principles.

*??????We were accepted onto the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), which helps companies set targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and then holds them to account throughout their journey through recording and reporting publicly on their results.?

*??????We are certified supporters of the Terra Carta, which is a charter launched by His Majesty King Charles III, that provides nearly 100 actions businesses can take to help out Nature, People and the Planet at the heart of global value creation.

*??????And finally, Claire Woolley, who is our Executive and Business Support Manager, won the Excellence prize at the Manchester PA Award thanks to her tireless hard work and pushing boundaries.

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As well as winning awards though, we wanted to make sure people were recognised for their diligence and innovation and we were proud sponsors of several awards this year, including:

·??????Midnight Moon Nursery Awards

·??????NMT Nursery Awards

·??????National Fitness Awards.

It was a real honour to meet so many hardworking and talented people!

In August we acquired the newest member of the Findel Family, online Scandinavian nursery décor, furniture and baby toys brand Scandib?rn, which is a leading online brand for 0–4-year-old babies and toddlers. You can read more about the acquisition and our plans here: https://www.findel.co.uk/findel-acquires-scandiborn/

But we’re not just about commercial success here at Findel. A large part of our work this year was working on our commitments to Environmental, Social and Governance Causes (ESG). This year, we announced ten commitments to help make the world a better place by 2025.

1.??????Ending food poverty

We will expand our support of the Greggs Foundation Breakfast Club Programme, to support clubs in 5 areas across the United Kingdom mainland and Northern Ireland by the end of 2022. Our ambition is to expand this even further in future years.

2.??????No landfill waste

We continue to ensure none of our waste from our two UK sites, as well as the packaging waste we have direct control over, goes to landfill.

3.??????Creating a culture of diversity and inclusion

By 2025, we will have a well-established culture of diversity and inclusion, in which all Findel colleagues feel a strong sense of belonging to our organisation and are able to thrive.?This will be championed by our leaders who we will train in inclusive leadership practices.

4.??????Reducing Scope3 emissions

By 2025 we will be monitoring and reducing our Scope3 emissions in our supply chain, including wider distribution of our UK parcels on electric only vehicles.

5.??????Teaching sustainability in schools

By 2025 we will have developed resources and content to help teach sustainability and climate change in schools.

6.??????Launching the Findel Foundation

In November, we launched the Findel Foundation, which is a long-term initiative aiming to give back ￡200,000 annually to support children’s education, wellbeing, and environmental projects. At the launch we had guest talks and activities, and we got to present to the company all the exciting projects the Foundation has been working on this year. You can read more about what the Foundation has done so far and its goals here: https://www.findel.co.uk/findel-foundation/

7.??????Volunteering in our communities

By 2028 we will ensure over 30% of our colleagues in permanent locations are engaged in 15 hours or more volunteering to support children and their education. For example, career development, supporting children who are subject to deprivation, or creating engaging spaces to contribute towards the health and wellbeing of children.

Since launching our volunteering policy in January 2022, 24% of our colleagues have taken part in community volunteering activities, which has positively impacted over 2400 young persons’ lives.

8.??????Going carbon-neutral?

By 2030 we will be a carbon-neutral business, using 100% renewable electricity across our entire operations, investing in infrastructure and credible carbon offsetting, in line with limited global warming to 1.5oC

In 2020 we switched the energy supply for our two UK sites to a renewable supply. In October 2022, the gas supply was also switched to green gas, supporting significant reductions across both our Scope1 and Scope2 emissions and our Science Based Targets initiative pathway. All external lighting at our UK distribution centre has been converted to LED and projects are well underway to extend this across the entire site by 2023, in parallel with other energy-saving initiatives.

9.??????Making our core products a sustainable alternative?

By 2028 we will have switched 45% of our core product range for sustainable alternatives, or sustainably improved them with a focus on removing single-use plastics.

We have focused on improving the product packaging of our Classmates range in 2022, with 5% of the range already improved.

10.??Making sure our suppliers are ethical

By 2028 we will ensure that 100% of our tier 1 suppliers in higher-risk markets are fully audited with credible and recent sector-specific assessments.

We are now members of SEDEX and we are currently undergoing training on the SEDEX platform, to enable our suppliers to complete SEDEX SAQ and upload SMETA audits for high-risk factories.

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As well as these commitments, we have been working hard throughout the year to raise money and donate resources to charity where possible.

For our chosen partner charity Derian House Children’s Hospice, we have managed to raise ￡10,824 this year. This was done through an intrepid hike up Mount Snowdon, as well as five of our bravest colleagues Carrie Wilson, Leigha Parkinson-Leigh, Danielle Andrew, Jo Rowbotham and Amrita Sohal who took the plunge - literally – and skydived over the summer for the cause.

As well as Derian, we managed to raise money for other charities too. Thanks to our annual coffee morning, our colleagues came together with their delicious bakes to raise ￡171.80 for Macmillan. Great work everyone!

As part of our continued drive to further our sustainability performance, we have continued to support Just One Tree, planting one tree per colleague initially and more recently our repeated annual commitment, taking us to 1400 trees. But we want to take this to another level, so to do this we have introduced a new tree planting partner Ecologi, who innovatively display our tree planting commitments in an online virtual ‘Findel Forest’. We have immediately pledged 1000 trees to kick start our forest and we look forward to adding more trees and other carbon reduction initiatives as the strategy grows in 2023.

However, as an educational resources company, we have a unique opportunity to help those in need beyond cash donations. Here’s a summary of just a few clubs and groups we’ve helped this year.

·??????In February this year as the war between Russia and Ukraine escalated, we wanted to help however we could, so donated toys to the Play Action International Ukraine PlayBox campaign, which provided relief kits to Ukrainian families struggling.

·??????At the beginning of June, we were delighted to be able to help Hornsea Primary School with their Dictionary Day by donating several sets of dictionaries, which they could then use to play lots of different vocabulary games.

·??????While football fever swept England this year, we were happy to donate Davies Sport equipment to the Under 8s Grimsby Borough Titans.

·??????Helping out one of our local schools, Hodge Clough with funding the year 6 leavers hoodies for the whole year brought us delight knowing it had been an extra tough year for the pupils at that school.

·??????September can be a difficult time for families due to the demand of a school year, so we donated 70 Back 2 School stationery kits to our local food bank in Nottingham, Arnold Food Bank to give local Nottingham children the best start possible.

·??????Our Nominate a School scheme saw us giving away over ￡1500 in Hope Vouchers to schools in Tameside and Nottingham.

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Needless to say, it’s been a very busy year, and we’d like to thank everyone at Findel for the hard work they have put in. 2022 wouldn’t have been the same without you, and we can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store!