NED Holding ESG; Sustainability Statement 2021/22

NED Holdings is the parent company of Oxford Analytical, STAR Index, Piota, Rural Business Awards, SMS Expert, Atmosphere and Storacall, all UK registered Limited
companies.

We are embedded through our own businesses in ESG and Sustainability, but equally on our own journey in regards to Environmental Social Governance within our own operations. We see business as a force for good and are committed to doing our part in achieving a better world. Our Company Board oversees our policies, targets and control measures form sustainability, environmental and social governance and regulatory risk.

In January 2022, NED Holdings formed a freely elected Sustainability Steering Group, composed of members from all the key individual companies within NED Holdings, to provide a forum for guidance and ongoing policies in order to ensure NED Holdings plays its part in developing and maintaining a responsible, sustainable, equitable, healthy and diverse business. The Steering Group, chaired by a nominated management representative, meets on a monthly basis and reports to the Managing Director on progress in relation to goals, actions and initiatives to be considered and signed off.

Two initial key actions resulting from the Steering Group are to instigate an independent environmental impact report across all companies and sites and also an assessment using our own STAR Index tool of our own supply chains from a responsible compliance perspective. These will provide an initial baseline from which to move forward. In addition we are actively seeking solutions to mitigate our Carbon impact and outcomes, in the short term embracing schemes that offset our limited impact at Scope 1 and 2, such as piloting ‘Sustainably Run’ within our STAR Index Business https://www.sustainably.run/, and mapping our own limited supply chain and impact using proprietary tools within STAR Index.

We aim to be a supportive, compassionate and considerate employer for all our employees. We actively recruit from the local area thus supporting our local communities and reducing the carbon footprint of journey’s to the office. We have embraced ‘hybrid working’, and encourage working from home and virtual meetings, significantly reducing our carbon impact.

All Management personnel are encouraged to demonstrate an “open door policy” and all employees are encouraged to provide feedback via anonymised surveys and through ongoing communication with line- managers. We are an equal opportunities employer. Our recruitment policy actively encourages diversity in all its forms, irrespective of religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity or cultural background. We also have our own Modern Slavery program and statement, in line with the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, which underpins ETI and ILO conventions.

We fully support the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the NED Holdings Steering Group is using these as guidance for our policies and targets going forward. In time we will be identifying priority areas following our initial assessment, and these will be published with KPI’s in this statement in 2022/23. NED Holdings is a proud supporter of a charitable organisation called Society of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is a charity founded in Ireland and involved in providing education to underprivileged families and street children in India, which is where NED Holdings also has an office. Managing Director Stephen Whyte has been massively touched by his visits to Chennai. The plight of the local children and the work of the charity had such an impact, that since 2015, NED Holdings has donated to and supported the charity, providing much needed education, community colleges and teacher training institutes, all directed to children from poor and underprivileged backgrounds taking education diploma’s. The Sustainability Steering Group is currently looking at ways in which we can increase our support for this critical charity, as well as other good causes going forward.