Sustainability
Responsibility is one of our five cultural pillars, and the Group places the highest priority on conducting its business in an ethical, considerate and responsible way, placing the needs of our key stakeholders, the environment, and the communities in which we operate at the core of everything we do.
We believe that long-term sustainable profitability is driven by a strong culture of corporate responsibility. This stems from a robust governance structure that ensures strong stewardship throughout the business, starting with the board of directors.
Sustainability
Responsibility is one of our five cultural pillars, and the Group places the highest priority on conducting its business in an ethical, considerate and responsible way, placing the needs of our key stakeholders, the environment, and the communities in which we operate at the core of everything we do.
We believe that long-term sustainable profitability is driven by a strong culture of corporate responsibility. This stems from a robust governance structure that ensures strong stewardship throughout the business, starting with the board of directors.
In order to lead by example, the board conducts itself and sets the business’ core values, corporate strategy and business objectives with environmental sustainability, social wellbeing, and best-practice governance principles in mind.
To achieve meaningful results, a strong culture of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) must be entrenched in the organisation at every level. As such, the business has adopted a corporate responsibility framework that aligns with its business objectives and sets out its ESG strategy. Progress is assessed on a monthly basis in board meetings.
The principles underpinning our Corporate Responsibility framework are to:
Minimise the impact and maximise the benefits that our work has on the environment and the people around us.
Consider corporate responsibility in all our business decisions.
Comply with, and exceed where practicable, all applicable legislation, regulations, and codes of practice.
Commit to reaching practical but meaningful annual targets for improvement in our corporate responsibility performance.
The goals arising from our ESG strategy are to:
Raise awareness of the environmental impact of the Group’s activities across the business and encourage employees to bring ideas for improvements.
Foster a collaborative, inspiring working environment which allows employees to develop their careers.
Support charitable causes connected with the business, via donations of a proportion of our profits.
Continually review our governance framework to improve organisational oversight.
environmental responsibility
The Group seeks to minimise its environmental footprint as far as possible. When we assess our environmental impact and set targets for improving our footprint, the following issues are considered:
| Our energy efficiency and carbon footprint from third-party services such as haulage, sub-contract manufacturing and business travel. |
| The choice of raw materials used in our products, manufacturing processes and packaging. |
| How we dispose of and recycle waste products. |
| A global assessment of the direct energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions that result from our operations across the business. |
| What measures we take to reduce the energy use and carbon emissions resulting from employees’ commutes to offices, such as encouraging the use of public transport, walking/cycling to work and car-sharing. |
| To help us understand the short- and long-term financial implications of the decisions we make, the business attempts to link environmental performance with financial performance. While in the short term, improvements in environmental performance may increase the cost of sales, a strong sustainability culture is expected to increase value over the long term. We also engage with our customers and suppliers to explore ways to reduce the environmental impact of our products.
Each year, the business sets targets for the improvement of its environmental performance, and our progress is reported in our annual report and accounts. |
governance
The Board of Directors understands that good corporate governance is essential for a successful, sustainable business. Accountability to the company’s stakeholders, including its shareholders, customers, suppliers and employees, is a vital element of that governance.
To help ensure that Nexteq has an effective corporate governance model, the Board of Directors has adopted the Quoted Companies Alliance Corporate Governance Code (the QCA Code). The QCA Code is made up of 10 principles, which are set out below, together with an explanation of how each principle is applied by Nexteq.
The Board of Directors considers that it does not depart from any of the principles of the QCA Code, a position the board reviews at least annually, or more often if appropriate. A statement of the board’s assessment of its compliance against the QCA Code is below.
Documentation
| Compliance statement | Download  |
Governance model
The chair of the board is responsible for setting the governance arrangements within the business, which they do in collaboration with the other board directors and senior executives in the business. Nexteq’s governance model is designed to balance robust corporate oversight with the independent challenging of decisions, while offering our executives sufficient space to take advantage of opportunities and run Nexteq efficiently within defined risk parameters. Nexteq’s governance structure is defined below.
| Nexteq plc Board | |
|---|---|
| Chaired by: | Independent Non-Executive Chairman |
| Members: | Nexteq plc Directors |
| Attended by: | ExCo (on quarterly basis) |
| Meeting frequency: | Monthly |
| Nexteq Executive Committee (ExCo) | |
|---|---|
| Chaired by: | Group CEO |
| Members: | Group CFO EVP, Group CTO and Global Manufacturing Leader Densitron CEO, Quixant CCO |
| Attended by: | Independent Non-Executive Chairman (on quarterly basis) |
| Meeting frequency: | Monthly |
| Quixant Leadership Team | |
|---|---|
| Chaired by: | Gaming CCO and CTO (alternate) |
| Members: | Group CFO Group CTO |
| Attended by: | Group CEO (quarterly) Departmental leaders (ad hoc) |
| Meeting frequency: | Monthly |
| Densitron Leadership Team | |
|---|---|
| Chaired by: | Densitron CEO |
| Members: | Group CFO Group CTO |
| Attended by: | Group CEO (quarterly) Departmental leaders (ad hoc) |
| Meeting frequency: | Monthly |
Alongside the monthly Board and ExCo meetings, at least once per year the Board and ExCo spend a day reviewing Nexteq’s strategic plan and longer-term business opportunity and risk.
The Company Secretary, on behalf of the Chair, also conducts a Board evaluation and skills assessment, the results of which may lead to training of the Board members on specific topics.
This model, alongside the reporting requirements which are driven by it, are designed to ensure the Board are:
| 1. Well-informed about the financial position and operational performance of the business. |
| 2. Able to assess strategic progress of the business against the long-term plan and have sufficient time dedicated to reviewing this plan. |
| 3. Able to access the executive teams in order to challenge their decisions and appraise their performance |
| 4. Able to evaluate business risks and mitigating factors against them. |
Further information
Matters Reserved for the Board
Information on the Schedule of Matters Reserved for the Board is regularly reviewed and updated. This page was last updated in March 2022.
The Company is a public company incorporated in England and Wales and headquartered in the UK. Accordingly, the Takeover Code applies to the Company and, as a result, shareholders are entitled to the benefit of the takeover offer protections provided under the Takeover Code.
The Board and executive team take advice from a range of external advisors to support decision-making in the business.
The Board is responsible for the overall governance and strategy of the business, ensuring our obligations to shareholders and other stakeholders are met.
The Executive Committee is held accountable by the Board for day-to-day management of the business and implementation of the strategy.
The Board delegates certain specific responsibilities to an Audit and Risk Committee and a Remuneration Committee.
social responsibility
Nexteq’s social responsibility framework seeks to improve our social contribution to the key stakeholders associated with the business, in the following ways.
Our employees
We provide equal opportunities to all of our employees and prospective employees.
We provide our employees with access to training and development programs, and offer an annual performance appraisal to help them reach their professional goals.
We prioritise the health, safety, and wellbeing of our staff above profitability.
Our customers
We treat all our customers with respect and fairness.
We operate strict anti-bribery and whistleblowing policies, including mandatory reporting of material gifts and entertainment.
We regularly conduct customer satisfaction assessments.
The communities affected by our operations
We identify and implement ways to support the communities that are local to our operations – for example, via charitable donations and trainee/internship programmes.
Our shareholders
We fulfil our fiduciary responsibility to operate the business in such a way as to deliver maximum long-term shareholder value.
We communicate material business progress in a timely manner, and at least semi-annually.
We facilitate non-executive engagement with shareholders at least once a year, to critique management of the business.
Our supply chain partners
We require all our supply-chain partners to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and they must also protect their staff by using ethical and safe business practices.
We operate a strict anti-bribery and whistleblowing policy in relation to our supply-chain partners, as well as our customers..
We consistently pay our supply-chain partners on time.