ESG Quarterly Update - January 2024

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

• Our flexible working approach allows us to work from home on whichever days best suit them – this quarter we worked on average 78% of our working days from home!
• If everyone in the office came in 5 days a week, our fuel consumption would average 4036.91 – that’s enough to fill up nearly four 6ft inflatable swimming pools! Our flexi-working schedule has allowed us to save around 2752.37 litres for every quarter.
• We are taking the first steps to cut our carbon emissions in half by 2030 and aiming to reach Net Zero by 2050. No matter how small your business, what industry or part of the UK you’re in, your commitment could make a real difference – to the planet, to your customers and your running costs! Even the smallest businesses produce carbon emissions – it could be through your building, your vehicles or your suppliers.
• We have calculated our carbon emissions for the last quarter…

Social

• Team MRK completed 100 push-ups a day in November to help raise money for Cancer Research UK. Our giving page has achieved 92% of our target, so thank you to everyone who has already donated to this incredible cause! Cancer is happening right now, which is why we are fundraising right now for Cancer Research UK. There’s no time to lose!
• 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 15 very positive reviews from some happy candidates and clients!

Employee Wellbeing

• We have 4 Mental Health First Responders in the team who have been awarded with 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.
• 100% employee retention rate, and we welcomed Daniel into our Finance division! After recently graduating from Bournemouth University, Daniel will be joining our Finance team as a Non-Qualified Finance Temporary/ Contract Recruitment Consultant. We couldn't be more excited for what's ahead and we're glad to have Daniel on board!
• Some milestones were hit at MRK this quarter as Peter celebrated his 3 year anniversary here, and Lucy hit her 5 year mark! Both were presented with gift vouchers of their choice. We couldn't be more thankful to have them both on our team.

Customer

• We’ve received over 5,218 advert responses over the last 12 weeks for the 64 jobs we registered this quarter. 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. 96.53% unsuitable vs 3.47% shortlisted applications.
• 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. 
• Our latest report offers crucial insights to HR & Talent Acquisition Managers by breaking down job seekers’ priorities in 2023. 

Events Hosted/Attended

• Finance Director Leadership Event

We hosted our third Finance Director Leadership event in November at Shendish Manor Hotel & Golf Club 'The Role of Finance in Achieving Net-Zero'. We were honoured to have David Hawes as our guest speaker. An esteemed expert in carbon accounting and sustainability, David gave an insightful presentation on the importance of carbon accounting and how businesses can achieve Net-Zero. A huge thank you to everyone who joined us at the event.

• Revenue Management Roundtable

In November, we hosted our second revenue management event for 2023 at the luxurious Mayfair Townhouse joined by Revenue and Commercial professionals. It was a fantastic day full of insightful conversations as always around the outlook for 2024, corporate travel in the sustainability era, cross-collaboration, profitability, technology, price tracking and many more!

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.