General

ESG Quarterly Update - April 2023

Share Blog:

Welcome to our first-ever quarterly ESG report.

We aim to share our progress and efforts towards building a more sustainable future.

ESG factors are becoming increasingly important for companies to consider, not only in terms of compliance and risk management but also as a means of creating long-term value and securing client trust.

One of our values is to always give back to our clients, and we continue to do this by offering free resources such as business reports on the current market; salary guides to determine competitive salaries and market rates, and by creating a platform for businesses to drive business development.

In this report, we will highlight our ESG initiatives and performance over the past quarter, including our progress towards reducing our environmental impact, enhancing our social responsibility, and improving our DE & I practices.

We believe that transparency and accountability are essential for driving positive change, and we look forward to sharing our journey with you!

Environment

For April's Wellness Wednesday, we will be litter picking in our local area for Dacorum Borough Council, supporting Keep Britain Tidy’s litter-picking campaign, the Great British Spring Clean. This campaign aims to encourage as many people as possible from across the UK to hit the streets and clean up their local communities.
Our flexible working approach allows the team to work from home on whichever days best suits them – on an average quarter, nearly 70% of our working days are spent from home!
If everyone worked from the head office 5 days a week, our fuel consumption would average 3918.42 – that’s enough to fill up nearly four 6ft inflatable swimming pools! Our flexi-working schedule has allowed us to save 2699.50 litres each quarter.

Social

Review emails are sent out weekly to candidates and clients who we have recently worked with - We donate £20 to The Hospice of St Francis for each review we receive from a client, whereas all candidates who leave a review are entered into a monthly draw for a chance to win a £100 gift voucher. Last quarter we received 7 very positive reviews from our happy candidates and clients!
We will be participating in the Hospice of St Francis Bubble Rush Run on May 14th, with a goal of raising £500 for the local Hospice.

Employee Wellbeing

We have introduced Wellness Wednesdays as part of our Wellbeing Programme. Our employees are allowed the morning off one Wednesday of every month to learn a new skill, join an exercise class, or do something their usual work schedule doesn't allow them to do.
We have 4 Mental Health First Responders in the team who have been awarded the FutureQuals Level 2 Award in Mental Health: Workplace Responder qualification, which gives them an understanding of mental health issues that can affect individuals at work, and how to spot the signs.
We have had a 100% employee retention rate over the last quarter with an additional new member to the team!
We celebrated 3 anniversaries last quarter! 4 years, and two for 3 years – and many more to come! We give our employees the choice of gifts for each year and hitting certain milestones – from some funky MRK merch to weekend breaks!

Customer

We’ve received over 3,000 adverts responses over the last 12 weeks. Every advert response received a reply. Unsuitable candidates received a rejection email, whereas suitable candidates were shortlisted and approached. Every candidate receives a response from us whether positive or negative! We don’t like to leave them in the dark with their application. 79.13% unsuitable vs 7.38% shortlisted applications.
Our Managing Director Roland Seddon is Chair of the Hemel Hempstead Business Ambassadors, an organisation that works with local businesses to help promote the opportunities available in our area to businesses, developers and institutions. Meetings take place monthly and consist of updates on new memberships and how they can reach out to more businesses around the area. An event was hosted by HHBA on the 30th March with the Deputy Police and Crimes Commissioner as a guest speaker, discussing the impact of crime on local businesses and what the police are doing to make business safer.
With the help of 50+ finance leaders, we produced a Business Forecast Report to underline the views and predictions of Finance Directors and Chief Finance Officers across South-East England. This Business Report will help businesses understand a more micro-picture of business in this region, as well as current macroeconomic challenges and business predictions for 2023 and beyond. According to FDs and CFOs across South-East England, 68% of businesses surveyed in this region expect 0-10% growth in Q4 2023 compared to Q4 2022.
We had a placement student from Longdean Secondary School spend the day with us in March to experience an office environment and to understand what a day in recruitment involves. We believe it's important to help the next generation understand the world of work and to assist them as much as possible to have the best start on whichever career path they decide.
After months of hard work, our new website officially went live in March! We felt it was the right time to update and deliver a new website that not only reflects our company brand but also streamlines the recruitment process for our candidates and clients. The new site makes it easier for individuals to navigate and quickly find answers to their questions. The website will also allow people to become easily connected with our consultants and help them understand what drives MRK.
Our salary guides provide clients and job seekers with market insight and trends within Revenue Management and Finance, with comparisons across the UK, to ensure they’re up to date with the latest salary information. (67 Revenue Management salary guides downloaded / 41 Finance salary guides downloaded)

DE & I

We make an effort to reduce any unconscious bias from employers; before a CV gets sent to the client, we remove any personal contact details, D.O.B’s, religion/ethnicity.
We took a look into the diversity of the candidates we’ve registered, placed, and clients we’ve worked with, as well as our own internal diversity.

Events Hosted/Attended

Longdean Event - Inspiring Girls 2023 (12/1/2023)

Lucy attended the Longdean School’s 'Inspiring Girls' event to share her journey from school to the job she is in today. She sat with Year 7 girl students and give insight into the world of recruitment, how to begin a career within it and the required skills to succeed in a consultant role. The event allowed the students to understand the different career opportunities available to them.

Longdean Speed Career Day (17/1/2023)

Roland attended Longdean School's 'Speed Career Day' event to help Year 8 students understand different careers and what options they have available to them.

HSMAI Europe ROC 2023 (19/1/2023)

Roland and Lucy attended HSMAI Europe Roc 23 as MRK sponsored the event. The conference brought together 200 hospitality professionals to discuss current issues impacting the hospitality industry and the solutions to these challenges.

2023 UK Economic Forecast Finance Director Leadership Event (21/2/2023)

We organised a Finance Director Leadership event which was attended by 45 professionals. The event focused on the UK economic forecast for 2023, with speakers from two key business sectors, Bank of England and Private Equity.

Meet & Connect: Revenue Professionals and Commercial Leaders, Amsterdam (27/2/2023)

Roland attended a meet and connect for revenue professionals and commercial leaders in Amsterdam. A gathering for the association’s members and industry-leading professionals to share, learn, and get inspired.

HSMAI Europe Talent Roundtable (9/3/2023)

Roland moderated and led a roundtable in Berlin on behalf of HSMAI Region Europe on the topic of talent. They discussed bringing new talent into the sector and highlighting the results of a recent student survey and what students have felt about internships and the processes of finding employment.