Austin Elliot's Sustainable Procurement Policy

Austin Elliot Consultancy Ltd operates a small supply chain that ensures our ability to acquire goods and services of the highest available quality for both our clients and company. Austin Elliot recognises that this gives us a privileged position to influence outcomes that will help drive a better future, both environmentally and socially.

At Austin Elliot, we are committed to becoming Net Zero. To drive this transformation, we are placing a focussed emphasis on climate and sustainability in our strategy, governance and operating procedures, including our supply chain.

Austin Elliot is committed to ensure they are, and continue to be, 100% compliant with the environmental guidelines set for our industry. Austin Elliot will also commit to assessing the environmental impact of our suppliers. Finally, Austin Elliot commit to become carbon neutral and plastic free by 2030.

In addition to the above, we have set a range of wider sustainability targets, including to:

• Reduce environmental impacts with our real estate strategy and hybrid working model;
• Promote resource efficiency across our operations;
• Build circularity into our IT strategy;
• Make working sustainably the default way of doing business with Austin Elliot

In support of our commitment to becoming Net Zero, Austin Elliot are collaborating with our suppliers and other parties to drive action on climate change and sustainability at an operational, as well as systemic, level. This policy details the principles that we base our supply chain strategy and decisions upon.

Austin Elliot is committed to:

• Setting objectives and action plans in support of this policy and pursuing continuous improvement of the impacts associated with our supply chain;
• Prioritising suppliers, and prospective suppliers, who align with our sustainability strategy, and have embedded similar targets within their own supply chains;
• Treating suppliers fairly, including complying with the letter and spirit of all applicable legislation and upholding our obligations under the Prompt Payment Code;
• Creating a diverse supply chain.

Austin Elliot has a set of non-negotiable conditions that apply to their supply chain:

• Supplier shall comply with International Labour Organisation principles in respect to human rights and conditions of employment;
• Supplier shall ensure that slavery, human trafficking, and corruption is not taking place in any of their supply chains and in any part of their business;
• For supplier personnel based in the UK, supplier shall pay the Living Wage as set by the Living Wage Foundation (as a minimum) to employees and ensure their contractors do likewise;
• Supplier shall encourage the use of social enterprises within their supply chain.

In addition, Austin Elliot also has a set of other criteria that we use to score prospective suppliers against in the tender process that consider our wider environmental, social and governance priorities, where relevant to the product or service provided. These include, but are not limited to:

Environmental

• Investing in resource conservation measures, including the use and reduction of energy, water and materials. This includes, among others, investing in operational efficiency measures and maximising the use of renewable alternatives to limit the use of fossil fuels;
• Implementing a circular economy strategy to enable us to increase the proportion of sustainable materials we procure and minimise waist including through reducing of packaging;
• Mapping hotspots that put pressure on nature so that the business may take the necessary steps to halt biodiversity loss within the value chain;
• Reducing the impact of deliveries and maximising local sourcing, across the UK and EU.

Economic and Social

• Supporting job creation and facilitating opportunities for other small-and-medium-sized enterprises;
• Encouraging increased participation of ethnically diverse-led enterprises in our supply chain;
• Considering the life-cycle cost of products;
• Paying suppliers on time, and in accordance with the relevant invoicing terms.

This policy will be communicated throughout Austin Elliot. It will be reviewed annually to ensure it’s continued relevance, monitor compliance, and drive continued improvement.