Maintaining high standards in how we operate our company is critical to the sustainability of our business.

We recognise that operating our company in a responsible and ethical manner, positively impacts our relationships with our stakeholders. By identifying and understanding the key components of our operations, we can make responsible decisions that will ensure the sustainability and future success of our business.

We have implemented the Business in the Community CORE Standard across our company as we recognise the value Corporate Responsibility adds to our business. We achieved the Gold CORE Standard in 2020. CORE is a framework for identifying and measuring Corporate Responsibility activity and performance which enables us to develop and improve our CR activity with our employees, supply chain, clients, communities in which we operate and all other stakeholders. CORE is third party verified by Business in the Community to ensure we continue to meet the requirements of the standard.

Sustainable Design, Procurement & Construction

We are committed to designing and constructing sustainable buildings that will continue to perform and add value for our clients. Our Design Team and BREEAM Assessors engage with stakeholders to ensure we deliver a building that meets all expectations. The number of ‘BREEAM Excellent’ projects we deliver clearly demonstrates our ability to design and build sustainable buildings.

We recognise the socio-economic impact our procurement choices can have on communities both at a local and global level. In accordance with our Sustainable Procurement Policy, our procurement teams continually investigate the market to identify alternative, responsible and sustainable products and materials.

Our project teams operate sustainable construction practices to ensure we protect, and where possible, enhance the natural environment while maximising the positive impact we can have in the communities in which we operate.

Supply Chain

We work collaboratively with our Supply Chain Partners to develop innovative and cost-effective solutions that add value to our Clients. We aim to work with like-minded companies and have produced the Gilbert-Ash Supply Chain Charter setting out what we expect from our supply chain, and in turn what they can expect from working with us. We are working hard to build our network of local Supply Chain Partners across the UK to maximise the economic impact we can have in the communities we operate.

At Gilbert-Ash we want to be a partner of choice. We recognise the value of building a strong diverse supply chain by working with companies that can add value. We aim to build mutually beneficial relationships with our Supply Chain Partners and have developed a process that will encourage engagement and collaboration throughout all stages of our projects.

Gilbert-Ash is also committed to ensuring that modern slavery and/or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or across our supply chain. We have therefore developed controls to ensure we take appropriate action whenever any concerns are raised from either within or outside of our business.

Our Human Resources Department has a comprehensive and transparent recruitment process that includes stringent vetting for all candidates together with an internal audit process for approved recruitment agencies.

Our Supply Chain Charter outlines our expectations with regards to compliance and all partners are signed up to the Charter on approval. As part of our procedure to identify and mitigate associated risk, we aim to build strong professional relationships with our Supply Chain Partners and we encourage full compliance with the Charter.

In collaboration with one of our Clients we have completed a 4-pillar SMETA Audit and we are a registered SEDEX member. This has resulted in a review of our supply chain management, the delivery of awareness/good practice sessions to staff and supply chain members and the establishment of a regular internal audit process which we hope will have an impact in reducing modern slavery in construction.

We provide training to relevant employees, including our board of directors, to ensure a high level of understanding of the risks associated with modern slavery and human trafficking within our business and across our supply chain.

Please see our Modern Slavery Act Statement.

We're committed to creating a more sustainable future. Please see our Climate Action pledge.

For more information, please see our Supply Chain page.