ESG Quarterly Update - July 2023

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

• In April we participated in the 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 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 3918.42 – that’s enough to fill up nearly four 6ft inflatable swimming pools! Our flexi-working schedule has allowed us to save around 2699.50 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 our last financial year, May 2022 – June 2023...

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 11 very positive reviews from our happy candidates and clients! 

Employee Wellbeing

• We celebrated the end of another successful financial year! Team MRK headed out to Watford for an evening of food and cocktail making.

• Our Wellness Wednesdays this quarter have included some well-deserved massages, swimming sessions and Pilates classes.
• 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.
• 100% employee retention rate and the search for new consultants began!
• We celebrated 2 MRK anniversaries this quarter; for 2 years and 1 year, and many more! 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 3,288 adverts responses over the last 12 weeks for the 71 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. 93.28% unsuitable vs 6.72% 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. (182 Revenue Management salary guides downloaded / 52 Finance salary guides downloaded)
• We have launched our latest report! This report offers crucial insights to HR & Talent Acquisition Managers by breaking down job seekers’ priorities in 2023. This comprehensive report has been designed to enable hiring managers to gain an advantage in attracting and retaining top talent.

Events Hosted/Attended

• Bubble Rush Run (14/5/23)

Team MRK “Not Fast, Just Furious” tackled the 5k run for the Hospice of St Francis. 

• Revenue Management Roundtable (18/5/23)

Lucy and Roland were joined at the Shard by revenue management professionals, sharing insightful and informative discussions.

• RMAPI Conference (7/6/23)

Lucy attended the 11th RMAPI conference at the Holiday Inn Regents Park in London. Revenue management professional guest speakers discussed travel consumerism, sustainability and ethics in revenue and gave insights into revenue management within the rail and travel industry.

• Awaze Roundtable (8/6/23)

Holiday park revenue management professionals gathered in London to discuss attracting and retaining talent.

• Career Talk at Longdean School (12/6/23)

Roland shared his wisdom at the Longdean School morning assembly providing vital career advice to year 10 students.

•  The Future of Finance: Leveraging Data to Drive Growth Finance Leadership Breakfast Event (22/6/23)

Our guest speakers, Waqar Rashid and Nawees Dad delivered two insightful presentations on the future of data in the finance function.

• Longdean Student Placement Week (26/6/23)

We were joined by a placement student from Longdean Secondary School. Jake wanted to spend a week with us to see what an office environment looks like and to understand what the world of recruitment involves.

Jake had this to say about his week with us – “I would describe this week as very enjoyable learning new things every day. The most memorable thing was talking to everyone in the office and seeing what their job and role is like.” Well done Jake!

•  Leading Women in Hospitality Podcast Hosted by Lucy

Episode 1 – Inna Nekrassova, Head of Revenue at The Lanesborough. Inna, with her unwavering passion for revenue and data management, has built an impressive career spanning 15 years in the hotel industry. Now, she brings this wealth of expertise to The Lanesborough, where she serves as the esteemed Head of Revenue.

Episode 2 - Flavia Ercoli, Head of Commercial, Pellicano Hotels. With over a decade-long journey in the vibrant world of tourism and hospitality, Flavia brings her expertise to the table as the dynamic Head of the Commercial team at Pellicano Hotels.

Episode 3 - Niki Gregson, Director of Revenue Management and Inventory at Away Resorts. Boasting two decades of experience in Pricing and Revenue Management, Niki has made significant contributions to businesses such as Europcar and Whitbread and now Away Resorts.

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.