Ambition
Ensure Topps Group is an inclusive, inspiring, and successful, great place to work for all colleagues.
Achievements
At Topps, 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 manufacturersring whose facilities which extends across 18 regions of the worldcountries. As a trusted retailer 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 updated our Standard Operating ProcedureEthical Sourcing Policy, which was signed off at Board level. where wWe 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 and 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 takes place in partnership with Intertek, who provide third-party CSR audits. This is in the form of an annual Workplace Conditions Assessment Audit. To avoid duplication, suppliers who already have a SMETA Ethical Audit can present this audit as an alternative. Where suppliers have repeated low facility scores, then the frequency of auditing will be increased with the audit being semi-announced. (Notification within a 30-day window).
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
Our fundamental aim is to support suppliers through this audit process and work on a continuous improvement model. We work hand in hand with the suppliers addressing any non-compliances found ensuring that any issues are resolved in a timely manner and within the expected timescales. We will not work with suppliers that will not engage in this process.
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 any outstanding non-compliances. These visits are in additional the audits that are carried out by Intertek. 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-Day Slavery Act came into force and Topps Tiles are committed to this act ensuring that no forms of Modern-Day Slavery enter the Groups business and its supply chains.
*Our Responsible Sourcing Code of Conduct and Modern-Day Slavery Statement can be found on our website at www.toppstilesplc.com under Corporate Responsibility.
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 EAP provided via Bupa.
This focus was reflected in our MyVoice scores with 71% of colleagues agreeing that the Company cares about their well-being, up nine percentage points on the previous survey, and 67% of colleagues saying they felt comfortable talking about their mental health, up six percentage points on the previous survey.
Words from our partners
We have had a brilliant second year building on our amazing partnership with Topps Tiles.
Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer, and one in three people born in the UK today will develop the disease in their lifetime. The support from Topps Tiles means we can continue to give vital support to those living with dementia, fund groundbreaking research and campaign to make dementia the priority it should be. Together, we can ensure dementia no longer devastates lives.
This year over £5,000 was raised every month by customers kindly making donations as part of their purchases in store and online. I’d like to personally thank colleagues for reaching out to customers to support our partnership and raise awareness of Alzheimer’s Society. We know that sadly many colleagues at Topps Tiles have a personal connection to dementia and have gone above and beyond in their fundraising and support for the partnership.
Colleagues also took part in a very special fundraising event celebrating Topps Tiles 60th anniversary called 60 for 60 where colleagues were challenged to raise £60 for the partnership which raised over £17,000. We are excited to continue to work with Topp Tiles and achieve even more for those affected by dementia.
KATE LEE
CEO, Alzheimer’s Society
We’re delighted to celebrate eight years in partnership with Topps Tiles this year. The last 12 months have been challenging 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 first launched, customers have made more than 367,000 donations with Pennies, when paying in stores and online, to support people living with dementia.
This has also been an important year for developing our partnership. As the Topps Tiles team worked on a change of payments technology in store, we worked with them to ensure the Pennies functionality was still available at the point of sale – a change that has resulted in a significant increase in donations.
Topps Tiles colleagues remain great 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 amazing 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
