Ambition
To ensure Topps Group is an inclusive, inspiring and successful, great place to work for all colleagues.
Achievements
At Topps Group, our supply chain is diverse and can be complex, but we are committed to ensuring that our suppliers adhere to the highest standards of ethics and treat their workers with dignity and respect.
It is important that we build strong, collaborative partnerships with our manufacturers whose facilities extend across 18 countries. As a trusted group of companies it is a fundamental expectation of our supply partners that they provide safe and legal working conditions for the people that work for them.
During this year we have further reviewed our ethical sourcing policy to include all business units within the Group, which was signed off at Board level. We have reviewed our existing countries of supply, sought risk scores, and gathered further advice from external parties including Intertek our third-party CSR audit provider. The associated supply chain risks consider country, sector and product type. By having this data, we have been able to determine which countries that we will not source from as a business and established risk levels for others.
All our suppliers, irrespective of location, are required to comply with the Topps Responsible Sourcing Code and confirm their acceptance of its provisions. This code embraces the Ethical Trading Initiative (‘ETI’) base code, so is aligned with internationally recognised good labour standards. Suppliers are expected to adhere to this code and as a minimum should comply with national and applicable laws. Compliance with this code is a contractual condition of business for all suppliers.
Where geographical risks have been identified, factory approval and monitoring take place in partnership with Intertek, who provide third-party CSR audits. This is in the form of an annual Workplace Conditions Assessment Audit. To reduce audit fatigue, we accept other third-party audits from factories that have SMETA reports (SEDEX Members Ethical Trade Audits) and BSCI Audits providing that the audits have been carried out by an APSER-certified auditor. Where suppliers have repeated low facility scores, then the frequency of auditing will be increased with the audit being semi-announced.
Workplace Conditions Assessment Audits demonstrates compliance in the following areas:
Labour: including child labour, forced labour, discrimination, discipline, harassment, abuse, freedom of association, employment contracts and employment contracts
Wages and Hours: including wages, hours of work and benefits.
Health & Safety: including Work facilities, emergency preparedness, occupational injury, machine safety, hazardous materials, chemicals, dormitories, and canteen.
Environment: including systems, procedures, and certification
We are working closely with suppliers to ensure that all non-compliances are being addressed within the agreed timescales that are set by the auditor in the Corrective Action Plan. Our fundamental aim is to work with our suppliers on any issues using a continuous improvement model and we will not work with suppliers that fail to engage with us in this process. This process allows us to work with suppliers to eradicate any non-compliances and this engagement brings about positive change to the facility and its workforce.
This year we have partnered with Verisio to improve standards across our supply chain and to manage individual supplier risk gradings in line with our responsible sourcing code. Supplier performance is an important tool in making our commercial decisions and the interactive “live” scoring of suppliers supports this. Verisio manages the closing down of non-compliances once evidence has been uploaded onto their platform. Facilities are classified as zero tolerance, critical, high risk, medium risk or low risk.
During the year, surveillance visits have taken place at some of our high-risk suppliers by our Sustainability Manager to monitor factory performance, give support and guidance, and to progress the sign-off of any outstanding non-compliances. These visits are in addition to the audits that are carried out by third-party providers. Where no geographical risks have been identified, suppliers must complete the Topps Self-Assessment Questionnaire, which is graded by our Sustainability Team.
In 2015, the Modern Slavery Act came into force and Topps Tiles is committed to this act ensuring that no forms of modern-day slavery enter the Group’s business and its supply chains.
Well-being We have continued our focus on well-being via our Well-being Wheel, where the priority continues to be that of the mental health of our colleagues. We have done this by continuing to raise awareness via specific campaigns where we share information and advice, including appropriate signposting pathways, for World Mental Health Day, Mental Health Awareness Week, Dementia Action Week (working with our charity partner Alzheimer’s Society) and World Menopause Day. Our colleagues and their families can also access our Employee Assistance Programme provided via Health Assured.
We continue to support colleagues through our mental health first aiders (‘MHFAs’), all of which are accredited via Mental Health First Aid England. We have a community of 51 MHFAs across the Group. Our ratio of MHFAs to colleagues is approx. 1:39 MHFAs, which is ahead of the recommended benchmark of 1:100 for employers of more than 50 colleagues. This community also has access to the latest guidance and support via the accredited MHFA England portal. In addition, we have continued to focus on financial well-being and have been communicating information around the financial support colleagues have access to via the Health Assured EAP and through our Hardship Fund. Our Hapi benefits app has seen increased usage since its relaunch and via campaigns and offers we have seen it used almost 11,400 times in the year, with a total saving of £6,745 on a total spend of nearly £102,000, with the average user saving at least £38 on their purchases.
Words from our partners
We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Topps Group for their continued support and incredible dedication to Alzheimer’s Society. Our partnership has gone from strength to strength this year, and we are proud to announce that Topps Group has reached the incredible milestone of £500,000 raised for Alzheimer’s Society! We were thrilled to see remarkable growth through customer donations via Pennies the Digital Money Box and the unwavering commitment from Topps Group colleagues in their fundraising efforts. This continued generosity and hard work shows that dementia is a cause that remains close to the hearts of colleagues and customers and has enabled Alzheimer’s Society to continue our mission of providing life-changing services to people affected by dementia, campaigning the government to make dementia the priority it should be and driving forward ground-breaking research. We are immensely grateful for all that you do, your incredible commitment and generosity and look forward to building on this year’s success. With your help, we will change the devastating reality of dementia. Here’s to our continued partnership and providing help and hope to everyone affected by dementia.
KATE LEE OBE
CEO Alzheimer’s Society
We’re thrilled to celebrate nine years in partnership with Topps Tiles this year. The last few years have posed challenges for charities, and consumers, but Topps Tiles’ customers have remained incredibly generous when it comes to micro-donations. Since January 2022, when the partnership with Alzheimer’s Society launched, customers have made more than 800,000 donations with Pennies, when paying in stores and online, to support people living with dementia. Topps Tiles’ continued support of Pennies since the change of payments technology in store last year has resulted in a sustained increase in donations. Topps Tiles colleagues remain excellent ambassadors for Pennies too, sharing with customers how quickly donations add up for Alzheimer’s Society. These conversations help drive greater impact for charity every single year, and we continue to be both proud and grateful for this partnership. Pennies is a charity too, and it’s thanks to our wonderful partners, like Topps Tiles, that we’re able to grow the microdonation movement and support even more charities.
ALISON HUTCHINSON CBE
CEO, Pennies
Our Charity Partnerships
