Introduction
As a responsible insurance provider Commercial Express is committed to conducting business in a manner that considers the economic, social and environmental impact of our operations.
Our core business values aim to minimise impact and maximise the benefits that our business activities have on the environment and the stakeholders we work with.
We aim to build trust and strong relationships with our employees, customers, partners, and local community that positively impact on the environment.
We constantly review our working practices and welcome innovation throughout our business that will help us to make positive changes to the way we operate.
Our Corporate Social Responsibility strategy focuses on 4 key areas:
- Our People
- Our Customers
- The Environment
- The Community
Looking after our people
Our employees are our greatest asset. We strive to be a responsible and inclusive employer by creating an environment that gives people the desire, tools and ability to flourish.
We place great importance on continued professional and personal development. Offering both internal and external training with financial assistance and incentives to achieve industry recognised standards such as CII qualifications.
We allow and actively encourage our employees to participate in groups and forums for industry bodies in order to progress their own knowledge.
Regular feedback is provided through regular 121s and Appraisals so that every employee has a clear understanding of their role and how they contribute to the success of the business.
The wellbeing of our employees is paramount and we are committed to reviewing our business processes to ensure we have a safe working environment that supports both physical and mental wellbeing. Adequately trained First Aiders, Fire Marshalls and Mental Health First Aiders are in place.
Our goal is to maintain the highest standards of health and safety whilst providing a welcoming office environment for our employees, clients and suppliers.
To support our employees we also offer a Health cash plan benefit which includes a confidential Employee Assistance Helpline. This offers support to our employees via assessments, short-term counselling and referral services to assist with personal or legal problems that may otherwise adversely impact on an individual’s work performance, health and wellbeing.
We provide regular communication and training on a range of Health & Safety topics through our CE Learning platform.
We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity, with fair and transparent policies and procedures. We have a diversity and inclusion policy in place to achieve these standards.
We are proud of our workforce gender balance with 50% of our Senior Leadership Team being female and 53% of our overall Management Team are female.
We encourage openness and transparency and encourage our staff to speak up. We have a Whistleblowing policy in place where staff can safely raise genuine concerns of wrongdoing.
We reward our people through performance related pay reviews that are moderated through a consistency forum to ensure fairness across all demographics.
We enjoy hosting a range of social events throughout the year such as Summer and Christmas parties plus in office activities, competitions and food events.
Looking after our customers
Our customers are our insurance brokers.
Our vision is to set a new benchmark for service, in order to become one of the most respected brands in the industry, known and trusted by our customers.
Our aim is to build long-term relationships with our clients, offering reliability, consistency and fair value.
We will meet or exceed all relevant legislation and industry standards, and will conduct our business relationships with integrity and courtesy.
Our main focus is our dedication to continuous improvement within the business which has made for an extremely strong, experienced and robust team, who are committed to offering our customers the highest possible standards of service.
We regularly ask our customers for feedback, through online surveys, face-to-face meetings and phone calls, listening to our customers and making changes based on their recommendations. We continuously look for new ways to improve our business offering.
Our Key Account Manager’s and Underwriters are on hand to be the first point of contact for our brokers.
We offer a unique online learning platform, CE Learning. This platform is free to access for all of our brokers and employees and covers a range of learning needs. Including health and safety courses, compliance pathways, FCA conduct, and insurance product knowledge.
Looking after the environment
We take reasonable steps to manage our operations to minimise our environmental impact and to promote good environmental practice.
We seek to minimise the adverse environmental effects of people travelling to and from our office by offering hybrid working to all our employees. Reducing average commute from 5 to 2 days a week.
We offer virtual meetings to our clients to help our Key Account Managers reduce unnecessary travel throughout the UK.
We regularly review our business practices to identify how we can improve our energy efficiency. Such as implementing a paperless office with all files stored electronically, providing our employees with reusable water bottles to cut down on plastic waste and fitting energy efficient LED lighting and timing sensors within our office.
We aim to keep wastage to a minimum and to maximise the efficiency of equipment and reuse of resources.
Community engagement
Where possible, we aim to use local business suppliers within the West Midlands region for our office cleaning, coffee and water machines, maintenance and payroll services.
We are sponsors of a local charity the Birmingham Adult Transplant Sport Team, who are a team of people made up of recipients of organ, stem cell or bone marrow transplants. We are proud that we have committed to a five-year sponsorship of the team, and we support and promote their participation in events such as the British Transplant Games.
We encourage our employees to share their suggestions and ideas on how they could further support the local community. We provide all employees with a days paid leave to volunteer for local charities or causes within the community.
Employees are welcome to promote any Charity events that they are participating in to raise awareness and sponsorship. We make matched donations where employees take part in fundraising events,
The business plans to launch a CII Apprenticeship program in 2024 to offer training opportunities to local graduates or those seeking a change of career. This will help to build a future pipeline of talent into our Underwriting teams.
