S172 statement

Section 172 statement

The Directors understand and appreciate their duty under s.172 of the Companies Act 2006 to act in the way in which they consider, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the Group for  the benefit of its members, and in doing so have regard (amongst other matters) to:

• the likely consequences of any decision in the long term;
• the interests of the Group’s employees;
• the need to foster the Group’s business relationships with suppliers, customers and others;
• the impact of the Group’s operations on the community and the environment;
• the desirability of the Group maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct; and
• the need to act fairly as between members of the Group.

Employees
The Group considers itself a ‘people led business’ whose culture is collaborative, inclusive and nurturing against a background of high standards and demanding results expectations. A core belief at the Group is that motivated people who are passionate about what they do and who enjoy their work, create high-performing, successful businesses. Developing people is something the Group takes seriously as evidenced by the significant investments made in leadership and management development, as well as cultural programmes.

Throughout the pandemic, employee safety and wellbeing has been a key priority and the Group has
endeavoured to provide a supportive environment for all its staff. Employees have been encouraged to work flexibly to suit their personal situations and a comprehensive support programme of health, social and well-being resources has been put in place for everyone. Management also regularly held well-attended update meetings where information was shared with regard to Group performance and organisational priorities. Feedback was encouraged during the updates and on a frequent basis.
The Group respects and values differences and is committed to pursuing equality, diversity and inclusion in all its employment activities. It embraces equality, diversity and inclusion in its people, policies and practices – from hiring, developing, promoting, motivating, and retaining its workforce. The Group is developing partnerships with diversity recruitment specialists and groups working with under-represented communities to broaden its recruitment pool and ensure it attracts as broad range of talent as possible. In order to support this, help drive change and hold the Group accountable to its objectives, Management have created a clear strategy which includes establishing diversity and inclusion network groups, education and training, and processes which support diversity and inclusion. The Group is developing a set of diversity editorial guidelines, led by senior editorial leads and external diversity experts, to ensure its content is representative and inclusive across all its platforms and brands.

Customers
The Group is committed to putting customers at the heart of decision making in its business. Its largest customer base, consumers of its magazines and websites, are supported by dedicated service teams and it has minimum service thresholds set for its most loyal customers, its magazine subscribers. For website consumers, the Group has transparent privacy policies in place and has adopted The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Consent Framework to ensure digital advertising is fully compliant with all relevant legislation and is fully GDPR compliant. B2B customers, advertisers and exhibitors, are supported by dedicated sales and support teams.

Suppliers
The Group follows a code of ethics to guide relationships with external stakeholders such as suppliers and valuing sustainability strategies to minimise the Group’s carbon footprint on the environment. The Group has a strategy to purchase renewable energy where possible.