Learning and development
Over £750,000 has been spent on people development in 2009-2010 with over 11 000 person days training being carried out. This equates to approximately £150 and 2.2 days of training per person. Over 520 person days of training have been carried out on environmental training.

Health and safety
3663 has a comprehensive Health and Safety Management system attaining certification in April 2010 to BS OHSAS 18001 for the Occupational Health and Safety Management. Reportable injuries (defined under RIDDOR as those resulting in absence from work for more than 3 days (not including the day of injury), increased 11% to 253. It is with regret we have to report one work-related fatality. This was fully investigated to ensure 3663’s ongoing commitment for health and safety of all its employees is upheld.

No fatalities were recorded for Bidvest Europe’s continental operations.

Human rights
We monitor the percentage of female employees at management grades. At 3663 for example, have seen an improvement from 32% two years ago to 38%. Line managers receive diversity training, and this will be rolled out further for leaders and senior managers in 2011.

Society
3663 has a comprehensive set of controls and assurance mechanisms to manage the risk of fraud, corruption and anti-competitive behaviour.

There is a formal Code of Ethics and Business Conduct which emphasises the Company’s commitment to ensure all employees behave with honesty, openness and integrity in their dealings with colleagues, customers, suppliers, and all other parties with whom they come into contact. This includes governmental, statutory and regulatory authorities.

Employees are encouraged to report any activity they believe to be in breach of the Code of Ethics to senior management or through the Whistle-blowing policy, which incorporates an anonymous Whistle-blowing hotline.

3663 has a counter-money laundering policy which prohibits the acceptance of high value cash payments from customers, whether in a single transaction or in several instalments.

There is a gifts and hospitality policy which requires finance director approval for the receipt of any gifts valued at over £250. Gifts and hospitality valued at more than £15 is not to be offered to public officials without the prior written approval of the finance director. All senior managers must submit signed monthly gifts and hospitality return and all gifts and hospitality over £250 in value is reported to the audit committee each quarter.

A draft counter-fraud and theft policy is being prepared and is due for approval by the Board. A further review of 3663 anti-bribery controls will be carried out during 2010-11 to ensure that 3663 has adequate procedures to prevent bribery in accordance with the new UK Bribery Act 2010.

A competition policy is being drafted as part of a competition compliance programme which has included training for key individuals such as buyers.

Responsibility for monitoring management adherence to these corporate policies rests with the 3663 internal audit department, which conducts testing designed to detect material instances of fraud. Responsibility for investigating suspected fraud and theft is shared between the 3663 internal audit department and the 3663 security department. All financial losses from fraud and theft – both internal and external - are reported to the quarterly audit committee, with a description of the circumstances of individual losses over £4k.

106 instances of fraud or theft, for a total loss to the company of £96 090, were reported to the audit committee during 2009-10. Most high impact incidents are of external origin where there was no insider involvement. While the number of incidents is static, the total quantum has increased and there is a recent trend towards fraudulent applications for credit.

From Deli XL Netherlands
All European operations are subject to the European Union’s Unfair Commercial Practices Act of 2008. This legislation aims to ban unfair commercial practices involving all activities directly linked to the promotion, sale, or delivery of a product or service to the consumer. We are interviewed bi-annually by authorities to comment on our experience with ‘black listed’ sales practices in our industry and have not been found to be involved in any such practices.

Bidvest Europe has strict protocols governing ethical behaviour and fraud, published on the company intranet. All management are required to sign for their behaviour and incidences are reported on quarterly through internal audit review.

All staff, direct reports and all commercial account managers sign an anti-competitive addendum to their contract of employment. Externally, Bidvest Europe has a public anti-cartel department which scrutinises joint ventures, mergers and take-overs for anti-competitive behaviour.

Product responsibility
Customer health and safety are paramount. Dedicated quality assurance and HACCP-trained employees ensure food quality and safety standards are met. Key customers conduct periodic food quality audits. 3663’s customer survey score this year has improved on the previous two years, with an average of 4.22 (rated out of 5) across all questions. Customer complaints reduced 12% to 89 per million cases sold.

Responsible health claims
New European regulations have been introduced to ensure that nutrition and health claims are more easily understood by consumers and caterers. In the UK, 3663 has been working closely with industry bodies on these issues. 3663’s advice centre provides customers and consumers with help across a broad range of catering issues and has produced over 50 fact-sheets in response to enquiries on subjects such as healthy catering practice for schools, care homes and restaurants.

Product and supply chain responsibility
The use of sustainable food products is being strongly promoted by the Dutch government. Its goal is 100% supply from sustainable sources. Deli XL Netherlands has responded by changing its ranges to include sustainable products. It is now possible for caterers who supply the government to source their entire range through Deli XL’s sustainable products range. Deli XL Netherlands also monitors the progress of its suppliers on the sustainability journey, ensuring that key issues are put on the agenda as a requirement for future business.

Waste Handling
Bidvest Europe complies with stringent waste handling legislation. In Belgium, Deli XL employs ISO 22000-compliant processes that meet the requirements of the Fost +, Val-I-Pac, and Valor Frit organisations. These are regarded as world-class waste handling practices.

IT security
We have made a significant investment in the IT department to improve the security of IT systems and comply with our internal auditing standards. Every year the IT department will be externally audited and assessed on IT standards and business activity. While our operations are largely not customer facing, these standards do include the security of customer data and customer privacy.