CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
The Board as a whole is responsible for decisions relating to the long-term success of the Company and the way in which
their duties have been discharged during the year in terms of the strategic, operational and risk management decisions and
these can be found within the Strategic Report on pages 9 to 15.
As set out below and in line with Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006, through engagement the interests and views of the
Group’s employees and other stakeholders are considered by the Board within its decision-making process as well as the
impact they have on the environment, our reputation and the surrounding communities. Unless otherwise stated, the
principal decisions made in the year, impacting its stakeholders, were the routine decisions that are made on a year-on-year
basis as part of running the business, such as setting the base increase in salaries and increasing the Group’s charitable
donations to support the local community in the local Stoke-on-Trent area. The Board also made the decision to proceed with
the installation of a 1 MW solar array field, that has taken the Group’s worldwide solar capacity to 6.7 MW and to sign an
agreement with a contractor to start planting over 500,000 trees that will be over 80% grant funded, as part of its carbon offset
site in Wales.
Non-Financial and Sustainability Information Statement
As per the latest disclosure requirement, under the Companies Regulations 2022, disclosures on Climate related financial
information, Company’s employees, community issues, social matters, human rights and anti-corruption and bribery can be
found on pages 16 to 23 of the Annual Report.
The Company has implemented a range of policies addressing employee wellbeing, diversity, community engagement,
human rights, and anti-corruption, which have led to improved staff retention, stronger community ties, and no reported
material breaches or compliance failures during the year. Principal risks in these areas include talent retention challenges,
supply chain ethical risks, potential human rights issues in high-risk regions, and exposure to anti-corruption violations.
These matters are regularly reviewed through our risk management framework under Board oversight.
Employees
Health and Safety: The Group acknowledges that many of its manufacturing processes and some materials that it handles
and sells are hazardous and that providing a safe environment for people at all of our facilities is an unconditional priority for
all of those charged with governance, in addition to each member of the workforce. In the year, as operations change, the
Group has managed the continually evolving risks that are inherent in manufacturing businesses by ensuring risk
assessments are carried out by all departments as soon as an operational change is envisaged. Such assessments enable
the introduction of the appropriate controls to help ensure that the workforce is protected from foreseeable hazards.
Furthermore, awareness and training to continually reduce risk and improve safety is a mind-set that is reinforced on a daily
basis through the Group’s global “Safety Spectrum” programme.
Employee consultation: The Group takes seriously its responsibilities to employees and, as a policy, communicates with
employees systematically with information on matters of concern to them. It is also the policy of the Group to consult where
appropriate, on an annual basis, with employees or their representatives so that their views may be taken into account in
making decisions likely to affect their interests. The Board considers the most effective form of engagement and involvement
of its employees for its size and complexity is by way of informal daily discussions between the employees, the Senior
Management and Board members who walk the floor, and the Company encourages its employees through its salary and
bonus arrangements. Engagement in the year is further supported through workforce representative meetings, local working
groups, team meetings, training, and an honest and open culture.
Employment of disabled persons: The policy of the Group is to offer the same opportunity, including training, development
and promotion, to disabled people, and those who become disabled, as to all others in respect of recruitment and career
advancement, provided their disability does not prevent them from carrying out the duties required of them in accordance
with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.
Diversity Policy: The Group is committed to promoting diversity of gender, social and ethnic backgrounds and personal
strengths, in addition to ensuring that everyone has the same opportunities for employment and promotion based on ability,
qualifications and suitability for the work in question. The Group invests in training and development of skills for the Group’s
future and has a long-term aim that the composition of our workforce should reflect that of the community it serves. The
Group continues to strive to improve the balance of diversity by reviewing gender reporting and promoting diversity through
training and development, recruitment, our business culture and the Board’s Strategy. Whilst the two independent director
roles are held by Mrs. J. E. Kelly and Ms. C. A. McNamara, following the assessment that was carried out on 30th April, 2025,
the Board does not comply fully with the “comply or explain” listing disclosure requirements that have come into effect, which
require 40% of the Board to be female and for at least one Board member to be from an ethnic minority background. Whilst
we fully acknowledge the necessity and benefits of a diversified leadership, we are unable to currently meet these specific
targets due to the Board consisting of primarily executive Directors because of its size and complexity, as set out on page 24.
This coupled with the fact that the appointments of the Board are made with the utmost consideration for the individual’s
qualifications, experience, and ability to contribute to the strategic direction of the Company, we have found ourselves at
present, based on these criteria, unable to make the necessary adjustments without compromising the integrity and
efficiency of our Board. Nonetheless, we are continually examining ways of meeting these requirements over the long term
by continuing to promote diversity at all levels of the Company, whilst also maintaining the Board’s dynamism and the
required level of experience, ability and qualifications. The latest development is that on 2nd October, 2024, the Board
appointed one additional Non-Executive Director to the Board, Ms. C.A. McNamara, who, with effect from 30th April, 2025,
sits on the Audit Committee along with Mrs. J. E. Kelly and the Group Chairman, thereby putting the Group in line with Audit
Committee composition requirements, as set out within The Listing Rules.