Corporate Social Responsibility
Introduction to Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR refers to the way in which businesses regulate themselves in order to ensure that all of their activities positively affect society as a whole. CSR policies aim to guarantee that companies work ethically, considering human rights as well as the social, economic and environmental impacts of what they do as a business. Businesses should meet, and aim to exceed, any relevant legislation, and if legislation does not exist in a particular area, the company should ensure they carry out best practices anyway.
We at Gold Leaf Supplies are committed to ensuring that any business undertakings are conducted as ethically as possible by following the below policy.
Who We Are And What We Do
Gold Leaf Supplies is a family-led company founded to supply gilding and other decorative trades with the raw materials and tools need to do their trade effectively and to a high standard. Since our founding in 1973 by Kenneth Rees, we have been family owned and family-led, and the current owners and directors are Kenneth’s son and daughter.
Our mission has always been to provide the best quality goods and services to our customers, and to strive for a better knowledge of our products and the processes they are used for to better advise our customers on their use. We currently have one premise based in South Wales, but thanks to the Internet, we have a global customer base.
Looking After Employees
At Gold Leaf Supplies we treat our employees like family. Our tight knit team all works together collaboratively from our open-plan office, allowing for quick and responsive communication always.
We are also committed to treating our employees well, and more than meet all our legal and regulatory requirements, and pay above the National Living Wage, as well as ensuring that all our employees are enrolled in good pension schemes.
To build our employees skills we host workshops where they can come and learn how to gild, both to better help them in their roles and aiding customers, but also to help unlock their creative potential!
Looking after Customers
Our aim is to provide the best possible service and products to our customers. We collaborate closely with them, getting both their feedback on our performance and new ideas or products to better aid us in our mission. Several products that we stock are made by our frequent customers!
Gilding requires the best possible materials to make a beautiful and long-lasting finish, so we are committed to only supply to customers the best possible products at a reasonable price and do a lot of work to source the most suitable products to sell on.
Suppliers’ Standards
Our suppliers are another important element to our business. We work only with suppliers we can trust and everyone we buy from has gone through vetting to ensure their products are top-notch and that they work ethically.
Due to the unique challenges regarding precious metals, which is a large part of our business, we only deal with suppliers who source conflict-free gold and other precious metals.
As part of our responsibility to be a good business we also deal fairly with all our suppliers, paying on time and always dealing with them in good faith.
Protecting the Environment
Where possible we do what we can to minimise our environmental impact. The courier companies we use for deliveries all have decarbonisation initiatives and a commitment to reducing their own environmental footprint.
On our premises we educate our employees on the importance of energy conservation, turning off lights and equipment that are not in use and switching to more efficient devices and recycling or donating the older equipment.
We are committed to reducing the waste from our packaging and have switched over to sending the majority of our orders in fully-recyclable cardboard boxes and are always investigating ways to send our parcels in more environmentally-friendly ways.
Community Engagement
As a business we like to do our part to support local charities and organisations that are near and dear to us. These include donations to the Royal Welsh Guards and sponsoring local artists with materials for charitable projects.
Measurement
This policy will be reviewed annually and monitored on an ongoing basis, if legislation or best practice guidance changes before an annual review is due, amendments will be made and communicated as necessary.