Annual Report PDF - Carphone Warehouse Group plc

www.cpwplc.com 17GovernanceCorporate ResponsibilityTREEHOUSE BECOMESA NEW CHARITY PARTNERGET CONNECTED AUCTIONRAISES OVER £100,000The Group has a strong track record as a responsibleemployer, consumer and distributor. This year wehave demonstrated a further increase in our level ofcommitment in all key areas of corporate responsibilityfrom our charity, community and employee activitiesto our social and regulatory responsibilities.We have a dedicated Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) manager who co-ordinates strategy andactions across both elements, interacting withsenior management within business operations,human resources and communications. Followingthe retirement of Martin Dawes at last year’s AnnualGeneral Meeting, we are delighted that Sally Morganhas agreed to act as Board sponsor of the Group’sCSR activities.Charity, community and employee activitiesThe Carphone Warehouse continued its support of itstwo partner charities, Barnardo’s and Get Connected,with a wide range of activities. The expansion ofTalkTalk, The Carphone Warehouse’s fixed line service,has enabled it to take on its own partner charity,TreeHouse, supporting the needs of children withautism throughout the UK. The Carphone WarehouseUK Foundation has also maintained its work,supporting smaller charities nominated by employees,and this year will expand its activities to provide moresupport for local communities. The Group supportsthe partnership in many ways, from donating gifts forsales and raffles, offering extra holiday for employeesundertaking overseas treks and other specificvolunteering activities, to donating profits from salesof accessories over the Christmas period.Get ConnectedThe Carphone Warehouse has maintained anddeveloped its six year relationship with Get Connectedproviding accommodation, phone lines and IT supportas well as offering employees the opportunity to earnextra holiday or have matched time off to volunteer.In 2005 we undertook improvements to the charity’spremises enabling wheelchair access to offer morevolunteer opportunities. In March 2006 CharlesDunstone and Andrew Harrison hosted the secondcharity auction at BAFTA, Piccadilly. With continuedsupport from suppliers and partners the charitableincome increased to over £107,000. Employees andguests at the annual company ball raised an additional£30,000 for Get Connected’s valuable work.TreeHouseThe aim of TalkTalk is to enable people to communicate,making TreeHouse an ideal partner. TreeHouse wasestablished in response to the huge unmet nationalneed for specialist education for children with autism.Its aim is to provide an educational centre ofexcellence for children with autism and relatedcommunication disorders. TalkTalk has committedto donate 1 penny from every call to its directoryenquiries service to help support its work as well asintroducing them into the charity partnership to offeremployees the opportunity to volunteer and raisefunds. TreeHouse has recently launched an appealfor £11.5 million to construct a permanent buildingthat will enable it to increase its support of childrenin need of specialist education. TalkTalk is committedto helping TreeHouse to see this ambition realised.Namibia TrekOne of the year’s highlights for both employees andcharities was a trek with a difference to Namibia.Building on the huge success of previous treks,61 employees each raised £2,000 to travel to Namibiaand undertake a project to renovate a school ina hugely deprived area in the heart of the NamibDesert. As well as dramatically improving the livesof children who attend the school, the project alsoraised in excess of £50,000 for our partner charitiessupporting the needs of children in the UK.Helping with HomelessnessWe have continued our work with Business Action onHomelessness (BAOH), helping to develop skills andGovernance