A strategic review

With our ambitious business growth plans bringing us into contact with new and varied communities, the Partnership’s CSR team conducted a strategic review of our community programme in 2010.

This review involved research and engagement to understand both Partner and external perceptions of our programme, and to benchmark it with our peers. Feedback from focus groups indicated that Partners enjoyed the freedom of choice and diversity of community activities. However, there were some initiatives they were unaware of, depending on which area of the business they worked in.

Feedback from our community partner organisations highlighted that while they considered the Partnership to be ‘a great partner to work with’, they felt our contributions could be increased by drawing more support from customers or suppliers.

In our strategic review:

• 88% of Partners agreed that the community programme is fine as it is but needs to be communicated better

• 78% of Partners agreed that a consistent approach to Partner involvement across the business was needed and guidance to support this should be developed and communicated.

A clear, consistent community approach We want Partners, customers and other stakeholders in the community to know what they can expect from the Partnership on community involvement and support. This means having a clear management structure for effective, efficient decision-making.

As a result of our review (see above), we plan to reassess our community governance groups to make sure community activities across our business deliver value to our communities, our business and our Partners.

We will refresh our key performance indicators and targets so we can better plan, measure and evaluate our community activity. We will also help our branches to understand their community needs, tailor their programmes accordingly and develop stronger partnerships with key community organisations.

Building on the success of current initiatives such as the Golden Jubilee Trust, we are exploring new and more flexible ways of encouraging Partners to get involved in their communities both at work and in their own time.

Additionally, under our Responsible Development programme, we will work with communities to understand how we can build new shops to be an integral part of community life.

£8.8 million Partnership-wide charitable and community contributions in 2010/11

4,100 net new jobs created in 2010