Where next? Corporate Responsibility Report Vodafone UK 2006/07
Contents 02 04 06 08 10 14 18 20 22 25 26 28 29 30
Introduction by Nick Read, CEO Ethics and values Stakeholder engagement Socially significant products What matters to our customers Environment Our network Mobile phones, masts and health Our people Supply chain standards Social investment Independent assurance Performance and data summary Progress against commitments
Welcome to the Vodafone UK Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report 2006/07. In this report, we explore the issues that matter to our business and our stakeholders. We report our progress and achievements, as well as the areas where we still have more to do. We think it is important to give an account of our progress to date – but we don’t want to be backward looking. Where next? is the theme of our report this year and, throughout, we have explored our intentions for the future and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Questions & Answers with Nick Read, Vodafone UK’s CEO
“I look at everything that passes my desk through several lenses: how it affects our customers and our employees, and what the financial implications are. And importantly, I use a corporate responsibility lens. Will this protect and build our reputation? Is this aligned with our goal to be a leader in corporate responsibility?”
Why is corporate responsibility important for Vodafone UK? Our goal is to be the UK’s communications leader. To win in the marketplace, we need to create a brand that customers feel an emotional connection with; that employees want to do their best work for; and that is widely recognised as a leader for the quality of its products and services and the contribution it makes to society. Corporate responsibility (CR) supports all these goals, and helps to give energy and purpose to the business. What does CR mean to you? It has a number of components. It means being a good citizen in all areas of our business. We need to embed CR into our thinking so all decisions take into account opportunities to enhance our reputation. It is also one of the ways we differentiate Vodafone from our competitors. For example, we are one of the strongest companies on content standards and child protection, which adds value for our customers.
Nick Read, CEO, Vodafone UK
I look at everything that passes my desk through several lenses: how it affects our customers and our employees, and what the financial implications are. And importantly, I use a CR lens. Will this protect and build our reputation? Is this aligned with our goal to be a leader in CR?
Nick Read Chief Executive Officer Vodafone UK
What do your employees think of CR? Do they understand it, and is it important to them? These issues are very important to employees although they may not talk about them under the heading ‘CR’. Our people expect us to engage with social issues and show leadership. They are passionate about our brand and reputation, and would be very upset if we were ever seen to compromise our standards. I’m frequently approached by employees with questions and ideas on CR issues. We would like to know what you think about our progress and plans. Please email your feedback, praise or criticism to responsibility@vodafone.com. This report covers our activities in the UK. To find out more about our worldwide responsibility programme, please see the Vodafone Group Corporate Responsibility Report 2006/07 available at www.vodafone.com/responsibility.
Is Vodafone doing anything to help people in the UK adopt more sustainable lifestyles? I’m hugely excited about the potential of communications technology to create social and environmental benefits for the UK. With the right technology, people can work effectively and securely from anywhere – they don’t have to be in the office. We are researching and launching a range of mobility products that make remote working easier. This can reduce the environmental impact of business travel, keep people closer to their families and allow companies to improve productivity and reduce office space. Given that offices and business travel account for a significant proportion of the UK’s total carbon footprint, this could have major environmental benefits. Vodafone has nearly 50% of the market share among enterprise mobile customers in the UK (from large corporates to small businesses) so this is a major commercial opportunity for us. Healthcare is another area that could benefit. We’re currently testing a device that would allow doctors to process patient records on the move. Other potential services include remote monitoring for patients with chronic illnesses or a text message service that reminds people about their doctor’s appointment. Mobile technology can also facilitate access to banking services. Many foreign workers in the UK regularly send money back to their families – and that’s a really important source of income in developing countries. We’re working with Citigroup on a new service enabling people to send money via their mobile phone – making it easier and quicker. It is now being tested in the UK and Kenya, and we hope it will enable more people to share in the benefits of globalisation.
What is Vodafone doing to tackle climate change? This year has seen a major shift in attitudes to climate change. It is now widely recognised as one of the most urgent global issues on which everyone – including individuals, governments and businesses – has to act. We’re working hard to minimise our impact on the environment. For example, we have reduced our paper consumption by 21% over the last year, and 55% of waste from our Newbury and Theale offices was recycled – a good result against an industry figure of between 20% and 32%. We know there is more we can do in our operations and to help customers to reduce their impact so we’re currently reviewing our strategy in this area. You may be entering into an agreement to share your network with Orange. What are the CR implications of this change? The proposed joint venture may enable us to significantly reduce the number of masts needed in the shared network. This could be very beneficial in environmental terms – reducing energy use and the visual impact of masts. However, there may be some difficult decisions to make on the employment side. We always try hard to minimise job losses and we will be open and transparent with any employees affected by the network share. How will you continue to protect young people as you introduce new mobile internet services? We are opening up the true internet experience to Vodafone customers – giving them access to sites like MySpace and YouTube. This is a great business opportunity for us and something we expect to be very popular with customers. But we need to do this responsibly and ensure that child protection remains a priority. We are currently a leader in this area and need to ensure that any new online services live up to our standards.
We work hard to make sure everyone at Vodafone understands and implements our values. Our vision and values Being a responsible business is one of our six strategic goals. We have established performance indicators and commitments on key CR issues to help us to achieve this goal. These are included on page 30 and throughout this report.
CR management CR issues and strategy are managed at both Group and operating company level. Vodafone Group Vodafone Group sets policies and goals to drive improvements across all Vodafone companies. Some CR issues are also managed at Group level, for example supply chain standards. Vodafone UK Vodafone UK implements Group strategies, taking into account UK-specific issues and local stakeholder needs. We also set UK CR policies, targets and key performance indicators. CR is managed within our four business functions: consumer, enterprise, technology and support. Oversight is provided by our CR team, which also co-ordinates communication on CR issues. Matthew Brearley, Human Resources Director, is the Vodafone UK Board member with responsibility for CR.
We report progress to the UK senior management team every month and to Vodafone Group quarterly. The Vodafone UK CR team meets regularly with the Group CR Director. CR managers from all Vodafone operating companies attend a global CR conference twice a year to share best practice. See www.vodafone.co.uk/responsibility for more information.
Materiality CR covers a very wide range of issues. We manage and report our progress on the issues of most significance and relevance to our business and to our stakeholders. Vodafone Group has determined the most material issues for the Group through extensive stakeholder engagement. In addition, we use the following sources of information and our knowledge of our business to set priorities for Vodafone in the UK: • Stakeholder feedback • Media coverage • CR-related enquiries and comments from customers and other stakeholders • Discussions with Vodafone Group • The assurance process for our CR report.
In 2006/07, this included: • Induction training on our business values, available for new employees through an interactive e-learning programme • Regular CR features on our intranet site and responses to press coverage of Vodafone • CR targets being built into the performance dialogues and personal objectives of all line managers • Regular CR campaigns, eg 225 employees attended a special screening of Al Gore’s climate change documentary, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ • Encouraging employees to volunteer their time to charity through the Let’s Give! website. We assess our progress on embedding CR through our employee survey. In 2006/07, 71% of employees said they had clear opportunities to be socially and environmentally responsible at work, compared with 76% in 2005/06. We will undertake focus groups to gain a better understanding in this area. We have set a target to raise awareness and increase employee involvement in appropriate CR activities.
Embedding CR We need our employees to understand our CR priorities and live up to our values, so internal communication is very important.
Commitments •
Improve our data collection systems in line with Deloitte’s assurance recommendations by March 2008.
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Develop and implement an employee engagement strategy to raise awareness and increase employee involvement in appropriate CR activities by March 2008.
Our vision and values Where do we want to be?
What do we need to do to get there?
What drives us?
Our vision To be the world’s mobile communications leader
Our global strategic goals • Delight our customers • Build the best global Vodafone team • Leverage global scale and scope • Expand market boundaries • Be a responsible business • Provide superior shareholder returns
Our values We have four core values, described internally as ‘Passions’. One of our values is ‘Passion for the World Around Us’, which is about helping people lead fuller lives through the services we provide and the impact we have on the world around us.
Our mission To enrich customers’ lives through the unique power of mobile communications
For customers For results
For our people For the world around us
Dialogue with stakeholders helps us to understand and prioritise corporate responsibility issues, and to identify new challenges and opportunities.
We talk to a wide range of stakeholders as part of normal business practice. These include community representatives, customers, employees, investors, local and central government, the media, pressure groups, regulators, residents near our base station sites and offices, and suppliers. We also conduct research to help us to understand stakeholder views. Information on engagement with investors is included in the Vodafone Group Report at www.vodafone.com/responsibility.
Ipsos MORI research
“When new products and services throw up potential privacy issues, Vodafone discusses these with us early on. I’d say that Vodafone was among the best of the operators in this respect.” Phil Jones Information Commissioners Office
We commissioned a research survey by Ipsos MORI in March 2007 to assess views of our CR performance among consumers, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), suppliers and journalists. Eighty-five per cent of social NGOs said that Vodafone takes its responsibilities to society and the community seriously. This figure was 42% for customers and only 17% for environmental NGOs which are concerned about electronic waste and network development.
Strengths included: • Responsible advertising • Preventing children accessing inappropriate material on mobile phones.
Opinion leader research
Areas for improvement included: • The environmental impact of our products and operations • Communication on health and radio frequency emissions from mobiles and masts.
What we found Opinion leaders expect Vodafone UK to be a leader in CR. They associated three factors with leadership: a strong climate change strategy; finding new uses for mobile technology that create social and environmental benefits; and embedding corporate responsibility. Most felt that Vodafone has made good progress on embedding but should do more on the other two factors.
Brand Health Tracker Our Brand Health Tracker monitors public perceptions of Vodafone and our competitors. Results from 2006/07 showed that 19% of respondents feel Vodafone is responsible and fair in the way it does business (the same as last year). Eleven per cent feel that Vodafone behaves responsibly towards the environment, local communities and all parts of society (compared with 10% last year). We believe these scores, which are similar to other companies in our sector, reflect low awareness of the work we are doing. We are looking at ways to improve our communication on CR issues with consumers. How we compare with other companies BT, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile (%) 29
A
15 19
Vodafone
11 18
B
9 17
C
10 16
D
9 13
E
7
0
“Today, environment is the big issue. Vodafone has to do more than tick boxes – now is the moment to act.” Mike Grenville 160 Characters
We held two focus groups with 14 CR opinion leaders to get in-depth feedback on our CR performance and reporting.
10
20
30
40
Is responsible and fair in the way it does business Behaves responsibly towards the environment, local communities and society Source: Brand Health Tracker
50
Customer research See page 10.
Employee surveys See page 22.
Public policy We meet regularly with politicians and government officials, and collaborate in many government–industry initiatives on CR issues. Examples from 2006/07 include: • Continued participation in the Home Office taskforce on child protection and the internet • Developed the Mobile Industry Crime Reduction Charter with the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum (MICAF) • Provided written briefings for MPs on issues such as our potential network share with Orange and the launch of MySpace and YouTube on Vodafone live! • Took part in an Enquiry on Vulnerable Customers held by the All Party Parliamentary Group on corporate social responsibility (CSR) • Hosted an open day for Home Office officials to meet members of Vodafone UK’s management team
• Held a presentation for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on employment best practice. We seek to inform government policy and legislation on issues that affect our business. In 2006/07, our activity focused on a number of issues including: • The role of the mobile industry in preventing and responding to mobile theft • Online child protection and the prevention of mobile bullying • Data retention and privacy issues • Implementation of a single non-emergency number (101) – to enable the public to report anti-social behaviour. We are members of several industry associations and some dialogue with political stakeholders is carried out by these organisations on our behalf. We monitor this activity closely to ensure that it reflects our policies and values. A Vodafone representative attends most industry association meetings with politicians and all written materials, meeting agendas and briefing notes are approved by Vodafone before they are used.
How we are responding These are some of the ways we are responding to stakeholder feedback: Socially significant products
Responsibility Extended our content control to customers standards to mobile social networking sites. Network roll-out and health
Sent joint network roll-out plans to 431 authorities and held 40 follow-up meetings.
Climate change impact
We aim to reduce energy use by 12.5% by 2009 against 2005/06 levels and are sourcing electricity from renewable sources.
Environment Achieved ISO 14001 accreditation for our whole business. Zero landfill of network waste. Handset recycling
Collected 235,000 handsets, below our target of 250,000, but an increase on last year.
Employees
Diversity specialist appointed to promote ethnic, gender and age diversity at all levels.
Responding to feedback It is important that stakeholder feedback is reviewed and used to inform our decision making. Stakeholder feedback is reported monthly to the Vodafone UK board and to other managers where relevant. It is considered in our policy-setting processes and influences our CR focus areas.
“You are not just engaging with easy and positive people. I find this very reassuring.”
Supply chain Launched ‘Speak up’, a confidential whistle-blowing system for suppliers. Social investment
Tom Wills-Sandford Intellect
“You need to give yourselves a harder time on consultation. You should engage more with communities, especially at the pre-planning stage and involve them in finding a solution.” Graham Stallwood The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
“You should educate customers that changing their handset every year is contradictory to sustainable development.” Deborah Evans Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance
Tom Berry Forum for the Future
“I felt that the commitments were probably not challenging enough because you are meeting too many of them.” Ellie Gray RNID
Commissioned research to improve the effectiveness of our social investment.
“Vodafone needs to address the frequency of handset turnover and increase reuse – not just recycling.”
John Walker Westminster City Council
“I was impressed with the section on embedding. I like that CR is one of the six strands of your strategy and that it is integrated into supplier selection.”
Exploring new products and services that benefit our customers, the environment and wider society.
Mobile technology can have economic, social and environmental benefits. It enables people to communicate more easily and flexibly both at work and in their personal lives. It facilitates remote working and makes it easier for people to get help in an emergency. It can help businesses to increase their productivity, and friends and family to keep in touch.
We are exploring new products and services that benefit our customers and wider society. This section profiles a few examples. More information is available in the Vodafone Group report at www.vodafone.com/responsibility.
Accessible products and services We offer customers a range of products that make mobiles more accessible for people with disabilities and the elderly. These include: • Speaking Phone – our phone for the blind and visually impaired • Mobile Textphone – a simple device that enables deaf and hearing-impaired customers to make and receive calls in text format. In June 2006, Vodafone UK commissioned a research project to explore whether our Speaking Phone is meeting the needs of the blind and visually impaired. People interviewed preferred the special features to be made available in standard handsets rather than one designed specifically for them. We plan to identify a replacement for the Textphone and we are also exploring the benefits of video-phoning for sign language users. We are setting up customer service teams trained to help customers with accessibility needs. During 2006/07, 20 employees in customer service received accessibility training to help them to understand customer needs and recommend the best accessibility products. We have recently updated our special needs customer website, see www.vodafone.co.uk/specialneeds.
Reporting crimes and emergencies via text Vodafone UK is preparing to trial an SMS 999 scheme for customers who have a speech or hearing impairment. The scheme will allow pre-registered customers to send an SMS instead of making a voice call if they need to dial 999. Vodafone is the first mobile operator to commit to the scheme.
Services with social value Services for corporate customers We create bespoke services for business and public sector customers, often in partnership with specialist service providers. These are designed to help customers to increase their revenue or reduce costs. In addition, many services help customers to achieve non-financial benefits such as better employee engagement, improved safety or a reduced carbon footprint. Examples include: • Network Rail, the UK’s rail infrastructure company, uses Vodafone SIM cards to remotely monitor the temperature of rail tracks and detect problems such as overheating or flooding, which contributes towards the company’s safety programmes • One of our transport services customers uses Vodafone SIM cards in the fuel tanks at its depots to monitor the fuel use of individual buses. We are helping the company to develop a system to monitor how individual vehicles are driven and to ensure that drivers are fuel-efficient. Mobility services Mobile technology makes it easier for people to work flexibly – from home or when on the move. This can have financial, cultural and environmental benefits for our customers. For example, companies with a high percentage of flexible workers can reduce office space – cutting costs and energy use, and improving employee work–life balance.
We are developing products and services to facilitate flexible working. For example, with Vodafone Secure Remote Access, our customers’ employees can connect to their company IT network and databases totally securely at all times. International money transfer service Vodafone Group is working with Citigroup to enable people to send and receive money internationally via their mobile phone. Many foreign workers in the UK regularly send money back to their families. This is a significant source of income in many developing countries but it can be difficult and expensive for individuals.
Headlines •
Conducted research into the needs of visually impaired customers.
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Developed mobility services that facilitate flexible working for our business customers.
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Trialling money transfer service to benefit developing countries.
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Tested new anti-bullying software.
The new service being trialled enables customers in the UK to send money via their mobile phone or a dedicated website to a mobile in Kenya. The recipient receives notification by text message and can withdraw the money at a local mobile retail outlet. New uses for the paging network We are exploring a range of potential new products and services that use the paging network. This work is in its early stages but could include devices that: • Help customers to monitor energy use in the home • Remind customers to take their medication • Automatically alert carers if an elderly relative has a fall or needs help. Anti-bullying technology Last year, we researched the effectiveness of a piece of software developed by 2ergo (a specialist communications company) in a Manchester school. The software allows pupils to report bullying anonymously. We plan to continue to trial this system at another school later this year.
We are excited about the potential of mobile technology to contribute to efforts to tackle climate change. We expect mobility services – that facilitate flexible working styles – to become an increasingly important area of our business.
Mobile technology is changing rapidly. Our customers can now use their mobiles to keep in touch, surf the internet, watch television and access a range of new services. We want them to be confident that their privacy is protected and that we will communicate with them honestly.
Customer satisfaction Our Customer Delight Index (CDI) measures levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among consumer and business customers. It is run by an independent research company and tracks feedback from Vodafone customers and those of our competitors. Employee incentive programmes for all employees at Vodafone UK are partly dependent on meeting customer satisfaction targets.
Content Control Content Control is our network bar, which is in place by default on all Vodafone phones. It prevents access to 18-rated content on Vodafone live! (our mobile internet portal) and it works with our internet filter to block access to 18-rated websites. Adult customers who want to use 18-rated services can have the Content Control bar lifted by proving their age. All unmoderated chat rooms are placed behind Content Control, protecting children from the risks of inappropriate contact and grooming. Our internet filter also blocks access by all customers to child abuse sites listed by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). As we extend our range of mobile services, we work with content providers to put safeguards in place. Our Content Standards Steering Group reviews new products and services to assess any content-related issues that might arise. In 2007, we are launching MySpace, the social networking website, and YouTube, the video
sharing site, on Vodafone live! Our customers will be able to download the 100 most popular videos on YouTube from their mobiles. We have worked with MySpace and YouTube to design mobile-friendly versions of their sites that ensure children are protected. Our contract with YouTube requires them to check all videos before they are posted. On rare occasions, unsuitable material is not picked up by us or the content provider. When we receive a complaint, we respond quickly and aim to take down inappropriate content (including images and music downloads) within six hours of it coming to our attention. We received three complaints in 2006/07, which were resolved within six hours. We report illegal content to the police and illegal sites to the IWF. Working with others We work with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), the Home Office and Virtual Global Taskforce. In 2006/07, we signed an agreement to work with CEOP on increasing child awareness of internet safety and to provide CEOP with assistance on the technical aspects of mobile phone use both in the prevention and detection of child exploitation.
Mobile advertising The amount of advertising on Vodafone live! will increase over the next year with adverts for our mobile TV service. Advertisements will also appear when downloading some types of content. We are working with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Yahoo!, our advertising supplier, to produce formal advertising guidelines. All advertising is reviewed by both Yahoo! and Vodafone before it is posted. Vodafone Group is drafting formal guidelines for all operating companies that will help to protect customers’ privacy and uphold content standards.
Privacy We don’t rent, sell, share or disclose customer data to third parties for their marketing without permission. Our privacy officer is responsible for implementing and updating our data protection standards. She reviews new products and services to ensure any privacy implications are addressed. We have an online privacy training course to help employees to understand our privacy requirements. We report any significant breaches of our privacy policy to the Information Commissioner.
Outsourcing Some customer data is managed and stored by suppliers on our behalf. We have put processes in place to ensure that suppliers meet our privacy requirements.
Pricing
These include: • Standard data protection clauses and security requirements in all third-party contracts • Continual monitoring by our specialised security teams.
In 2006/07, we refreshed our mobile phone price plans and introduced new packages to improve value, choice and clarity for our customers.
We investigate any reported breaches of our policies and work with suppliers to improve their performance. If necessary, we will terminate our relationship with a supplier found not to meet our standards. Law enforcement agencies Mobile phone records are increasingly used in criminal investigations. We have to balance our customers’ rights to privacy with our obligations to comply with requests for information from law enforcement agencies. In 2006/07, we worked with the UK Government and the mobile industry to implement new standards for data storage. Mobile phone records will now be kept for a minimum of 12 months. This data will only be accessible for reasons defined in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, such as national security or public health. It can only be accessed by designated officials. Implementation will be monitored by the Interceptions Communications Commissioner.
Prices for mobile phone services can be complex. We take continual steps to make our pricing clearer and to deliver more value to our customers.
For example: • Our £35 plan previously gave customers 275 inclusive minutes. It now offers 750 minutes and 250 texts • We simplified pre-pay pricing. Customers now pay the same price regardless of the network they are calling • We simplified our pricing for calls to 08 numbers, exceeding Ofcom requirements. We have reduced our roaming prices by an average of 40% since April 2005. 2.8 million customers also benefit from Vodafone Passport, which allows them to use their handsets abroad on their home tariff for a fee of 75p per call.
Responsible marketing Our responsible marketing guidelines state that all our advertising should be legal, decent, fair and clear. In 2006/07, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints against two Vodafone advertisements (compared with one last year). Both complaints related to misleading price claims.
Premium rate services Vodafone provides premium rate services to customers such as regular news and sport updates by text. Other companies use our network to provide premium rate services too, for example ringtone downloads. We respond to complaints about premium rate service providers, disconnecting their services when necessary. In 2006/07, we disconnected approximately 20 providers for inappropriate
marketing, inadequate pricing information or inappropriate content.
Theft We participate in the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum (MICAF) and signed up to the MICAF Charter in 2006. MICAF brings together industry, the Home Office and the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) on issues associated with phone crime and theft. We blacklist Vodafone handsets that are reported to us as stolen. This means that they cannot be used to make calls on any UK network. Mobile operators are subject to regular independent audits on the blacklisting process.
processes and procedures, and support from Call Centre Managers meant we achieved a very significant increase on our score of 12% the previous year. In 2006/07, 1.4 million handsets were stolen in the UK and 250,000 Vodafone customers reported their handsets stolen to us. Vodafone has committed to blocking 80% of stolen phones within 24 hours on the Vodafone network and within 48 hours on all UK networks. We exceeded this target by 17% in 2006/07.
Ruth Allen Vodafone’s Content Control system is good and the company is a leader on blocking illegal content. Most companies only include an ‘Error 404’ message when people try to access illegal content. Vodafone goes a step further and includes a law enforcement message, which is a much stronger deterrent.
Headlines •
Extended content control to mobile social networking sites MySpace and YouTube.
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Worked with the Advertising Standards Authority and Yahoo! to make sure all advertising carried by Vodafone meets our content standards.
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Changes in technology frequently give rise to new corporate responsibility issues. We need to ensure that we embed our corporate responsibility standards in our decision making so that we can anticipate and mitigate new risks. Issues that we will need to pay particularly close attention to in the future include the evolution of mobile networking sites and the implications for child protection, as well as the changing privacy debate.
Worked with the UK Government and the mobile industry to implement new standards for data storage and privacy.
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Reduced our roaming prices by an average of 40% since April 2005.
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Signed an industry charter to tackle mobile phone theft.
Tim Yates Chief Marketing Officer Vodafone UK
Ruth Allen Head of Intelligence Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
Vodafone UK was last audited in February 2007 and achieved a 97% pass rate. Extensive training of customer care agents, a thorough review of
Commitments •
Ensure that any instances of inappropriate content (including images and music downloads) on Vodafone live! are removed within four hours of coming to our attention.
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Uphold the principles of the ASA and ensure that all advertising is legal, decent, honest and truthful.
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Launch an online privacy awareness programme to describe Vodafone’s privacy policy and what it means for employees by March 2008.
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Block 80% of phones reported stolen within 24 hours on our own network and within 48 hours across all UK networks.
Mobile social networking sites are a big challenge for child protection. I welcome Vodafone’s efforts to put controls in place and provide some form of safety net. However, what is really needed is a Report Abuse button on the Vodafone live! home page. We are working with mobile providers, including Vodafone, to overcome technical difficulties on this. We also have concerns about the growth in mobile advertising. Mobile advertising should be age-rated and we welcome Vodafone’s compliance with advertising industry standards and legal requirements. For the future, our major concern is the possible linking of mobile social networking sites with global positioning technology. This could have very serious implications for child protection, which Vodafone is aware of.
Vodafone has been working with the Home Office regarding social networking guidelines and should ensure compliance within these services in order to provide the best protection for children and young people.
Tim Yates As we grow our range of products and services, we are acutely aware of the need to inform and protect our customers, and particularly their children. Access to the internet has become mobile and this brings new responsibilities for the protection of minors from inappropriate content and contact. We take this responsibility very seriously and believe that we are leading our industry in developing and introducing measures to protect children. For example, the default setting in our handsets assumes that the user is under 18 and therefore blocks inappropriate content. Adults must verify their age to remove the bar. In our partnerships with MySpace and YouTube, we have taken special measures to protect children. We are enhancing our support for families with our Vodafone Family package. This means that when a child runs out of credit, something parents have told us does happen, the child can still phone his or her parents.
We are taking equal care with the introduction of advertising to mobiles. We already ensure that advertising on Vodafone live! complies with the Advertising Standards Authority code and we take care to avoid placing advertisements for products unsuitable for children, eg alcohol, on pages with content that appeals to children. In the near future, we plan to offer advertising targeted to individual interests. This will benefit customers by reducing the amount of irrelevant advertising they receive, and benefit advertisers and Vodafone by providing a more efficient medium for advertising budgets. At the same time, we are insisting on maintaining strict privacy principles that require customers to opt in to receive targeted advertising, and guarantee that we never share personal information with other marketing organisations. Whatever new possibilities mobile technology generates, Vodafone will always place responsibility to our customers at the core of our thinking.
We are committed to reducing the energy and natural resources we use, and the amount of waste we create. There is a clear business case for good environmental management. It can help us reduce costs and meet the expectations of our customers and employees. Many of our larger customers now include environmental performance as criteria in their procurement process.
Policy and management Our environment policy commits us to improve energy efficiency, reduce waste and increase reuse and recycling. Energy and waste reduction targets are included in the personal development plans for relevant employees.
Climate change We aim to reduce our contribution to climate change by improving energy efficiency in our network and offices. We also purchase renewable energy. In 2006/07, our total carbon footprint was 58,400 tonnes of CO2. Direct emissions (with renewable tariff) 2% 1% >1% 6% 10%
17%
We audited energy use in our offices and identified opportunities to reduce our consumption. For example, we are improving our heating, lighting and ventilation systems so these only run when buildings are in use.
road travel air travel fire retardants/refrigerants retail
Renewable energy and CO2 We continued our renewable electricity supply contract with British Gas. Along with the energy efficiency measures described above, this has reduced our CO2 emissions from energy use to 41,700 tonnes, a 44.7% decrease since last year. Travel We encourage car sharing through our Journey2Share intranet site for commuters and by giving an extra 5p per mile per passenger in addition to the standard mileage rate for essential business trips.
Network Most of our energy – 84% – is consumed by our network.
We offer interest-free loans for season tickets, bikes and scooters.
The air-conditioning systems used to cool base station equipment are very energy intensive. During 2006/07, we installed fan cooling at 50 sites to replace or supplement air-conditioning. We have also installed Savawatt power controls on air-conditioning units at 2,000 base stations, which reduce energy used for cooling by around 14% per site.
Waste
We are working with our suppliers to improve the energy efficiency of network equipment.
64%
RBS sites offices other network
Energy use During 2006/07, we consumed 443GWh of gas and electricity, an increase of 0.9% on the previous year. This was due to the large percentage (98%) of estimated billing and takes account of the increase in the number of base stations in our network.
The average energy efficiency of new network equipment across Vodafone Group has improved by 25.3% since last year. We need accurate data to help us to monitor and reduce energy consumption. We have installed automated electricity meter reading (AMR) at 100 base stations so far and plan to do so at another 700 in 2007/08.
There are three main sources of waste in our business: our network (including hazardous waste such as back-up batteries); our offices and stores (eg paper, plastic and packaging); and old handsets (see page 16). Offices and stores To reduce paper use, all printers in our Newbury and Theale offices are set to duplex printing as default. In 2006/07, 209 tonnes of paper were used at these offices, 21% less than last year. We recycled 55% of waste from our Newbury and Theale offices, compared with 57% last year. Network Network upgrades generate waste. Shields, our waste contractor, operates a zero landfill policy. In 2006/07, 79.4% of waste was recycled,
17.2% reused and 3.4% was incinerated for energy recovery. Some 28.1 tonnes was sold for reuse in other countries, helping to increase access to modern communications technology. Network equipment that cannot be resold is broken down into material streams that are reused or recycled separately. Hazardous materials are disposed of safely. For example, beryllium oxide is a hazardous component and while it is legal to dispose of it in landfill sites, this is not the best environmental option. Shields securely stores our current waste stocks until a safer method of recycling or disposal is established.
Network waste (tonnes) 06/07
28
05/06
7
04/05
11
03/04
34
295.4 9.7 415.6 9.9 974 3
0
200 400 600 800 1000 recycled disposed* reused *Most of this is incinerated to generate electricity and a small amount of beryllium oxide is stored. No network waste is landfilled.
Compliance In 2006, we reported that the Environment Agency was investigating a diesel spill from a temporary generator provided and operated by a contractor at one of our base stations. We took immediate action to stop the spill spreading and commissioned Arup Environmental Consultants to investigate the incident and develop a clean-up strategy.
103.2 5.5
Energy use gas and electricity (GWh) 06/07
11
61
113
05/06
9
66
113
04/05
13
03/04
8
79 99
0 retail
259 251
103
35
100 offices
261 176
200 300 400 other network base stations
500
CO2 emissions network, offices, retail and business (thousand tonnes)* 3.7 0.6
Vodafone UK was prosecuted under Section 85 of the Water Resources Act 1991 and fined £5,000. The contractor was fined £3,500 in addition to paying the full cost of the clean-up. Measures have been put in place following this event. More detailed information is provided on our website www.vodafone.co.uk/responsibility.
1200
06/07 0.02
37.3
5.9 9.7 1.2 69.4 10.3
4 0.6
05/06
1.2
04/05
5.4
03/04
29.4
3.6 15.3
0
1.4 112.1
43.8 42.7
10.9
10.3
100 150 200 other network base stations air travel road travel *excludes fire retardants and refrigerants retail
50 offices
6.8 76.1
250
Handset recycling Our customers upgrade their handsets every 18 months on average. Reusing and recycling old handsets reduces waste, prevents harmful substances from being released into the environment, and benefits charities and people in lower-income countries.
Our approach Reducing handset turnover The best way to reduce waste from old handsets is to encourage customers to keep their phones for longer. We offer SIM-only tariffs and other incentives, so customers who keep their old handset benefit from airtime credits or a lower monthly fee or one-off airtime credit. For example, in April 2007, we ran a poster campaign that offered new customers £100 of airtime credit if they chose to keep their current phone for a year. Reuse and recycling Customers can bring their old handsets to our stores or send them to FREEPOST Recycling Vodafone. Handsets are sent to Fonebak, international leaders in handset refurbishment and recycling. All handsets and accessories are reused or recycled; none are sent to landfill. Vodafone accepts any handset or accessory – not just those used on our network. For each handset returned in this way by retail customers, we give £8–10 to charity. Handsets in good condition are refurbished for resale in lower-income countries. Refurbished handsets cost less than new phones, making them more affordable for people in parts of Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe where landlines are less accessible. We donate the money raised to the National Autistic Society (NAS).
Handsets returned by customers (thousands) 06/07
During the year, 21.3 tonnes of handsets were reused and 3.1 tonnes were recycled. The overall weight of handsets reused or recycled is decreasing as handset models become smaller and lighter. Our handset recycling programmes raised £948,400 for charity, of which £888,400 went to the NAS. Despite some progress, the number of old handsets we collected is still relatively low. There are many barriers to increasing handset returns: many people keep old phones as a spare, give them to friends or relatives, resell them or donate them to other charity recycling schemes. Nevertheless, we aim to increase the number of handsets collected. Corporate customers In 2005/06, more corporate customers joined Fonebak, bringing the total to 32. New customers joining this year included Barclays, HSBC and Sainsbury’s. For each reusable phone returned, the customer receives up to £5 to donate to charity. If the phone is worth more than £5, we give the difference to the NAS. In 2007, we will launch a campaign to help small to medium-sized enterprises to raise awareness of handset recycling among their employees. This includes a dedicated customer website and toolkit. See our new Fonebak recycling website at www.vodafone-fonebak.co.uk.
Headlines •
Achieved ISO 14001 accreditation for our whole business, including our network.
•
Energy efficiency measures installed at 2,050 base stations.
•
Reduced paper use by 21% at our Newbury and Theale offices.
•
Fined £5,000 by the Environment Agency.
•
Collected 235,000 handsets, below our target of 250,000, but an increase on 203,400 in 2005/06.
Commitments •
Reduce the energy consumption of our current network infrastructure, offices and stores by 12.5% against 2005/06 levels by March 2009.
•
Maintain reuse and recycling rates for network waste at or above 97%.
•
Conduct an audit to determine opportunities for waste reduction and recycling.
•
Reduce office paper use at our Newbury and Theale offices by 28% against 2006 levels by March 2008.
•
Collect 275,000 handsets.
•
Encourage 50 of our top eligible 100 corporate customers to participate in Fonebak.
•
Run an Environmental Road Show to engage with employees across the UK by March 2008.
228
05/06
203.4
04/05
141
03/04
163.5
02/03
154.6
0
50
100
150
200
250
Processing of handsets, batteries and accessories (tonnes) 06/07 05/06
36 37
55 29
04/05
93
03/04
72
02/03
12
0
5.4
37
19
24
30 60 90 reused recycled disposed
120
150
We are compliant with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations. See the website at www.vodafone.co.uk/responsibility.
Performance in 2006/07 In 2006/07, around 20% of existing customers chose not to get a new handset when renewing their contract. We collected 235,000 old handsets, below our target of 250,000, but an increase on 203,400 in 2005/06.
Climate change is now widely recognised as one of the most pressing global issues. We are reviewing our approach to climate change and expect to launch a new strategy in 2007/08. This will include plans for further reducing the climate impact of our operations and for developing services that help Vodafone customers to reduce their own carbon footprint.
Antony Turner Managing Director CarbonSense
Mike Newens Global Property Director Vodafone UK
Antony Turner
of great interest to our employees. They have high expectations of us, and our response influences how they feel about the company. Improving energy efficiency and reducing waste also saves us money.
Vodafone is doing some good things in this area. I was interested that it found it could significantly reduce energy use in its base stations. But its overall approach seems to be reactive – and being reactive doesn’t inspire people. What is the point of upgrading your shuttle buses if very few people use them? I would encourage Vodafone not to see climate change as an environmental issue to be managed by a small group of specialists. Climate change has to be at the heart of the business and understood by everyone from the board room to the newest recruit. Over the next five years, the financial value of carbon will become increasingly prominent, and high carbon users will pay a greater financial cost. Companies that prepare for this change by integrating climate change into their products and services, buildings and infrastructure, and by involving their employees and customers, will be the ones to benefit.
Mike Newens Climate change matters to Vodafone for environmental and commercial reasons. Our customers expect us to act on climate change, particularly our corporate customers who are looking in detail at what their suppliers are doing. Environmental issues are
We take a broad approach to reducing our carbon footprint – including energy efficiency, waste reduction and our green travel plan. We’re reducing energy consumption in our network and have switched to buying green electricity where it is available. We’re also influencing suppliers to improve the energy efficiency of our network equipment. Together, these initiatives are having a real impact – we are reducing energy use while our business is growing. But we know there is more we can do. Our next priorities are to increase recycling from our stores and to encourage more customers to choose paperless billing. Remote working reduces business travel and office energy consumption. We are looking for ways to increase remote working both in our own workforce and by creating services that help our customers work flexibly too.
What is a base station? Our network is made up of base stations, which receive and transmit mobile phone calls using radio frequency (electro-magnetic) fields. Without base stations (or masts), mobile communications would not be possible.
How big is our network? Mobile phone networks need a large number of base stations to provide good coverage for customers. In 2006/07, we decommissioned some sites and we installed 689 new base stations, bringing our total to 11,857 in March 2007 (compared with 11,352 in 2005/06). This includes our own base stations and those that we share with other network operators. We try to minimise the number of new, purpose-built base stations by adapting existing sites, sharing sites with other operators and locating base stations on existing structures, like rooftops. In 2006/07, 33% of our base stations were shared with other operators.
Vodafone UK and Orange UK are exploring a non-binding network-sharing agreement that would combine the two companies’ Radio Access Networks. See ‘Where next?’ on page 21.
Best practice for network roll-out We comply with the Government’s Code of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Development in England and Wales, (see www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1144926), and the Ten Commitments for Best Siting Practice elsewhere in the UK, (see www.mobilemastinfo.com/planning/ best_practice.htm). In 2006/07, we carried out a comprehensive internal review of our consultation procedures to ensure we continue to meet best practice.
Information and consultation Network roll-out plans We discuss our plans for network roll-out with local authorities and residents to ensure we find the most acceptable approach for all concerned. In 2006/07, we responded to 95.5% of enquiries on siting, planning and health issues within 10 working days. The failure to respond to some of these enquiries within this 10-day period was due to errors in our database, which we are addressing. In 2006/07, we again sent network roll-out plans to each local planning authority in the UK, plus other selected authorities (431 in total). These give details of all our existing base stations and of anticipated new base stations in their area for the coming year. Of 155 planners who responded to a follow-up survey, 85% said the plans had met or exceeded their expectations, compared with 82% in 2005/06. In addition, 40 councils agreed to a joint-operator meeting to discuss the plans – around twice as many as last year.
Visual impact We use a number of different mast designs, and make sure we choose the one that best minimises visual impact in each location. We also use some specialist designs, such as camouflaged equipment for historic buildings and churches.
Site acquisition agents We work with external companies that find new sites for our base stations and complete the planning application and site negotiations on our behalf. During 2006/07, we worked with 12 such agents. It is a contractual obligation for our agents to comply with our policies for site selection and consultation. We share all the necessary information, including guidance on consultation procedures, fact sheets, position statements and summaries of the latest research into health issues on our Team Room extranet site.
Planning compliance Vodafone UK received one enforcement notice from a planning authority in 2006/07, relating to a shared mast. This compares with four in 2005/06 and 25 the previous year. The issue is as yet unresolved, and we intend to appeal against the notice.
Traffic light rating model for public consultation HIGH community issues
We understand that some people are concerned about the possible health impacts of mobile phones and base stations, and the visual impact of masts. Our network of base stations is essential to ensure good coverage for our customers. However, we take any concerns seriously, and aim to communicate clearly with our stakeholders on our network roll-out plans and on health issues.
LOW LOW
Consultation procedures We use a traffic light model (see diagram) to decide the level of consultation needed for each new base station. For ‘green’ sites, we focus on local councillors and the local planning authority. For ‘red’ sites, such as a new site in an historic town centre, we also consult with local residents, for example by sending letters or arranging drop-in sessions.
planning and environmental issues HIGH
Red sites • These are not ‘no-go’ sites • Red does not indicate any health risk • Agree a consultation plan: close liaison with the operator’s Community Liaison Officer is essential • Your reputation and that of your client are most at risk Amber sites • These sites can shift to green or red • Exercise great care in pre-application consultation Green sites • Don’t assume you have a complete picture
Paul Miner Planning Campaigner Campaign to Protect Rural England
Tony McKeown Interim Head of Regional Operations Vodafone UK
Paul Miner
Tony McKeown
We welcome the mobile operators’ joint annual network roll-out plans. The plans help planning authorities, NGOs and the public to work together to find the least intrusive sites for new base stations and encourage site sharing. It’s a good sign that the operators met with 40 councils this year. That’s a sizeable increase on last year and shows that both sides are making more effort. The operators can still do more to increase engagement with local authorities, for example by holding joint county-wide events.
Our ability to maintain our network roll-out activity is dependent on the trust of communities – who are also our customers. To earn their trust, we must be responsible.
Only one enforcement notice was served on Vodafone this year compared with 25 two years ago. This is an improvement but Vodafone should aim to entirely avoid any breaches, given the costs of enforcement action for local planning authorities and the favourable planning regime that mobile phone network operators already enjoy. Vodafone’s current mast designs are much less intrusive than in the past but the countryside is still blighted by older, uglier designs. Vodafone should think about retrofitting the newer designs to their existing network. We strongly support the proposed network share with Orange as it should reduce the need for new masts. Provided Vodafone maintains its high standards, this will be a good example for the rest of industry to follow.
From an early stage, Vodafone recognised that high standards in network deployment and engagement are essential to enable the long-term success of our business. We engage with communities and local planning authorities to address their concerns and have developed processes and policies for network deployment which have been adopted by the industry, and amalgamated into best-practice advice by the UK Government. We have invested in training and tools to ensure our policy is implemented successfully. Our biggest challenge now is to ensure these standards continue to be upheld by our network deployment teams and the suppliers that support us. From March 2008, our new accreditation programme will require every individual working for suppliers to Vodafone in this area to complete training and attain accreditation to enable them to continue working on Vodafone’s site acquisition programme.
Some people think that the use of mobile phones and the placement of base stations could be linked to a number of different health problems. We believe people deserve a comprehensive response to their concerns.
Radio frequency fields Mobile phones use radio frequency (RF) fields to communicate information, via base stations. See ‘How do mobiles work?’ below. Vodafone base stations typically have RF field levels of 0.01% to 2% of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines. We require handset manufacturers to test the specific absorption rate (SAR) from their handsets when used against the head and the body. All handsets sold by Vodafone comply with ICNIRP guidelines for SAR. These SAR values are provided with new handsets and some manufacturers also publish the information on an industry website: www.mmfai.org/public/sar.cfm.
Communicating about RF We aim to address concerns about mobile phones, masts and health by making clear, objective information available to our customers and the public. For example: • On our website, we publish advice, consistent with World Health Organization (WHO) advice, for customers who wish to reduce exposure to RF fields from their handsets as a precaution • We have an EMF Advisory Unit to respond to enquiries on network and health issues • Fact sheets and our ‘Facts about the Network’ handbook are distributed at consultation meetings, available on our website or by contacting emf.advisoryunit@vodafone.com.
• Cassiopea, our base station monitoring project, records RF fields from base stations and other sources, such as TV and radio, in partnership with six local authorities, and residents can check the combined RF level in their area on the internet 24 hours a day • On request, we will commission an independent site survey to establish the RF levels from a particular base station. We provide an ICNIRP compliance certificate and a statement on health issues with every planning application. We commissioned independent research to assess whether opinion formers such as scientists, health bodies and politicians believe the industry takes the issue of mobile phones, masts and health seriously. Interviews were conducted with 70 opinion formers globally. Vodafone compared well with other operators in the study. The majority (74%) of opinion formers believe that Vodafone takes the issue seriously compared with 60% for other operators. More information is available in the Vodafone Group Report, see www.vodafone.com/responsibility.
How do mobiles work? Mobile phones, like television and radio, use radio frequency fields to communicate information. Radio signals are sent to the nearest base station, which sends the signal to a digital telephone exchange where it is connected to the receiving phone, again via a base station. Mobile phones and health When a call is made or received from a mobile, it emits an RF field so it can communicate with the nearest base station. The closer the base station, the lower the exposure from the handset will be.
When a person is exposed to an RF field, it penetrates a few centimetres into the body and is absorbed as heat. This is measured using specific absorption rate (SAR) values. The ICNIRP public exposure guidelines set safety limits for SAR values. Current research indicates that exposure to RF below these guidelines presents no health risk. But there are still significant gaps in scientific knowledge, in particular on the effects of long-term (over 10 years) mobile phone use. Vodafone funds independent research into the World Health Organization’s (WHO) priority areas relating to mobile phones, masts and health.
Headlines •
Shared 33% of base stations with other operators.
•
Responded to 95.5% of enquiries on siting, planning and health issues within 10 working days.
•
Sent joint network roll-out plans to 431 authorities and held follow-up meetings, on a joint-operator basis, with 40 councils.
•
Commissioned independent research to assess whether opinion formers believe the industry takes the issue of mobile phones, masts and health seriously.
We publish a summary of expert opinion, including the work of the WHO on the Vodafone Group website, see www.vodafone.com/start/ responsibility/mobile_phones_masts.html. Base stations and health All our base stations are designed to comply with ICNIRP guidelines in areas where the general public are exposed. Larger base stations have exclusion zones around the antenna, where the field strength is greatest, to protect maintenance workers and prevent public access. Exposure to the public from base stations is very low on a continuous basis. The level is usually between 0.01% and 2% of the ICNIRP guidelines, depending on factors such as network traffic and the location of the nearest radio base station. See www.vodafone.com/start/responsibility/ mobile_phones_masts.html for more information.
Vodafone UK and Orange UK are exploring a non-binding network-sharing agreement that would combine the two companies’ Radio Access Networks. By entering such an agreement, Vodafone UK and Orange UK would be able to improve efficiency, as well as accelerate the expansion of 3G services and coverage for customers. In the long term, we would expect to roll out about a third fewer base stations than anticipated, bringing potential environmental benefits such as a reduction in power consumption, as well as a reduction in the visual impact of masts. This venture would also allow us to focus our efforts on enhancing the core network, as well as invest more in innovation and services for our customers.
Commitments •
Respond to all enquiries on siting, planning and health issues within 10 working days.
•
Accredit site acquisition agents to ensure they comply with our policies on site selection and consultation, and behave in accordance with our ethos and values by March 2008.
•
Improve stakeholder opinion on how responsibly Vodafone is acting regarding mobile phone masts and health (from the 2006/07 baseline survey results).
Vodafone UK has 11,204 employees. We aim to provide a fair, safe and flexible workplace that motivates our employees to give their best.
Employee consultation Employee representatives meet annually with members of the executive management team at the Vodafone UK Employee Consultative Council. The main concerns raised this year related to the potential impact on employees of changes to the global business.
Employee engagement
We recognise the right of employees to join trade unions.
We want employees to feel engaged and motivated. We measure our progress using the Hay Employee Engagement Index. The index is calculated by taking the average of six specific engagement questions. Our latest results showed an employee engagement score of 72.4%, compared with 71.4% last year and 68% in 2004/05.
Diversity and inclusion Diversity means respecting and harnessing the different backgrounds, skills and capabilities of all our employees. In January 2007, we appointed a diversity specialist to help strengthen our approach to diversity (see dialogue box). We are reviewing and updating our human resources policies and processes to remove barriers to diversity in recruitment and retention.
Health, safety and wellbeing Keeping our employees healthy and safe is a key priority for Vodafone. We do this by making sure health and safety (H&S) performance is an integral part of our people management strategy and by managing risks in accordance with our H&S policy. There is a strong link between employee health and fitness, and their productivity and level of engagement. In 2006/07, key wellbeing initiatives included: • A wellbeing fair at our headquarters attended by more than 600 employees • Free one-to-one health checks provided by trained physiologists at our major sites • Our nurse case management scheme, now available across the UK, which provides help and support to sick employees and their line managers, and helps them to return to work more quickly • ‘Quit smoking’ clinics.
Debbie Laybourn Policy and Diversity Consultant Vodafone UK
Debbie Laybourn Workforce diversity isn’t just a moral and legal issue; there is also a strong business case. A workforce that reflects the diversity of the UK is better able to understand customers’ expectations, and more likely to have the skills and knowledge needed to deliver the innovative products and services that customers want.
Communication and consultation Surveys Quarterly surveys allow us to assess employee satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. These are some recent findings from our Your Views survey completed by around 2,100 employees in March 2006 and around 2,350 employees in February 2007:
March 06
Feb 07
(% favourable) (% favourable)
My line manager treats my team fairly and without discrimination
81
82
Rate Vodafone UK on taking a genuine interest in the wellbeing of its employees
62
66
Rate your team on managing change and the introduction of new ways of working
74
74
The training and development I receive enables me to perform effectively in my current role
59
60
Rate the career opportunities available to you within Vodafone UK
41
46
We are pleased that the percentage of women in management has increased over the last two years, and believe this reflects some of the initial work we have started to do in this area. However, there is room for improvement and gender diversity will remain one of our priorities. Our data on ethnicity is incomplete. Seven per cent of Vodafone UK employees declare themselves to be from an ethnic minority, 60% declare themselves to be white, 30% have not responded and 3% prefer not to state their ethnicity. We will be focusing on improving our data collection systems in this area.
Gender diversity (management and all employees) % 06/07
55
45
05/06
55
45
57
43
04/05
63 70 74
0 50 100 0 50 all employees managers men men women women
37
68
32
30
70
30
26
73
27
100 0 50 100 senior managers men women
Average accident incidence rate (number of accidents per 1,000 employees per month) 06/07 05/06 04/05 03/04 02/03 01/02
1.51 1.42 1.72 1.8 1.5 1.7
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Diversity shouldn’t be about targets or positive discrimination. It is about creating a working environment where people’s differences are respected and harnessed, and where talented people of all backgrounds feel valued for the contribution they can make to the success of the organisation. Vodafone UK has made good progress on some aspects of diversity but there is scope to further improve our performance. I have been appointed to help to drive the diversity agenda for Vodafone UK and will be working with the human resources department to identify potential barriers to workforce diversity in recruitment, retention and employee engagement.
Flexible working Vodafone encourages flexible working. Options include part-time and flexi-time, and we also provide the technology and the opportunity for employees to work remotely, whether from home or from another Vodafone office.
Learning, development and careers Employees have an annual performance review and development discussion with their line manager through our Performance Dialogue process. We spent around £5 million on training – £495 per employee. Our employees have access to a Learning Academy, our one-stop shop for all learning and development solutions. During 2006/07, our employees participated in some 90,000 training days, including inductions. In 2006/07, we introduced a New Modern Apprenticeship Scheme within our Technology area, and the Contact Centre Association Certificate & Diploma qualifications within our call centres. We are committed to giving employees opportunities for progression within Vodafone. This year, we filled 55% of our vacancies internally.
Recognition and reward Offering the right rewards helps us attract, motivate and retain the best people. As well as offering a competitive base salary, employees at Vodafone participate in performance-related plans based on individual and company performance. Our Vodafone Legend Awards recognise 100 employees each year who have made some outstanding achievements. Vodafone Group’s AllShares, Sharesave and Share Incentive Plans give all employees the opportunity to own shares in the company.
Change and outsourcing Some of our business activities are now performed by suppliers. This is known as outsourcing, and helps to improve cost effectiveness. For example, we work with five outsourcing partners that run UK contact centres, serving 3.5 million customers. We also work with a contact centre in India that handles customer email enquiries. This year, around 300 jobs in our technology department were outsourced to a specialist IT supplier and the employees affected were transferred to this new supplier.
Headlines •
Code of Ethical Purchasing
Diversity specialist appointed to promote ethnic, gender and age diversity at all levels.
•
Women accounted for 37% of Vodafone UK managers.
•
Extended our wellbeing initiatives to help employees adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Our Code of Ethical Purchasing (CEP) includes our standards for human rights, employment and the environment. It is included in all our supplier contracts. You can read the Code at www.vodafone.co.uk/responsibility.
Supplier performance management Corporate responsibility is one of six criteria we use to select suppliers and monitor their performance. The other criteria are financial and commercial as well as issues surrounding technology, quality and delivery.
Commitments •
Be ranked in the top 25% of UK companies in the Hay Employee Engagement Index.
•
Reduce work-related accidents resulting in lost time by 10% (from 2005/06 baseline) by March 2008.
Creating a workforce that is more reflective of the customers we serve and the communities in which we operate is a challenge. We are developing a strategy to increase diversity and make our working environment more inclusive of people’s differences. Activities will include: holding a series of focus groups to help us to better understand employee views; reviewing our recruitment processes to ensure we are targeting the widest pool of potential employees; and including diversity in line manager and leadership training.
We spend £1.8 billion on goods and services from suppliers every year including handsets, network infrastructure, IT, general and marketing services. We have more than 2,000 suppliers worldwide.
In 2006/07, all new suppliers with a contract value over £50,000 completed a pre-assessment. In future, all suppliers with a contract value over €10,000 will complete a pre-assessment. These assessments help us to determine higher-risk suppliers with whom we need to engage more closely. Our top 40 suppliers (by spend and business impact) are re-assessed every six months and improvement plans agreed where necessary. No major CR risks were identified in 2006/07. Engagement with higher-risk suppliers is carried out at Group level and may include on-site assessments and training.
There is a risk that some companies in our supply chain may not meet acceptable standards on the environment or human rights. We engage with suppliers on these issues and use our influence to raise standards in our supply chain.
Employee awareness and whistleblowing
We adopt a risk-based approach – concentrating on suppliers that present a higher risk of unethical conduct due to their location, the type of product or service they supply, or the size of their contract with Vodafone.
We have online CR training for all procurement staff including information on our CEP, the importance of implementing high labour and environmental standards in the supply chain and the responsibilities of purchasing managers. In 2006/07, 86% of procurement employees had completed the training. All procurement staff have CR targets built in to their performance development objectives.
Our supply chain programme is focused on tier 1 suppliers (those with whom we deal directly). We influence standards further down the supply chain in two ways: by encouraging direct suppliers to develop their own supply chain programmes, and through the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, an industry collaboration. Much of our supplier engagement is carried out at Group level, see www.vodafone.com/responsibility.
We cannot expect suppliers to meet high standards if our own employees do not apply our CEP consistently.
We launched ‘Speak up’, a confidential whistleblowing system, in 2006/07. Our suppliers can use ‘Speak up’ to report any unethical conduct by Vodafone employees. We wrote to 2,010 suppliers to notify them of the new service. Suppliers can raise concerns directly to Vodafone Group’s Fraud Risk and Security Department or confidentially via an independently managed telephone hotline.
Headlines •
Launched ‘Speak up’, a confidential whistleblowing system for suppliers.
•
86% of procurement staff received CR training.
•
No major CR risks were identified with Vodafone UK suppliers.
Commitments •
Follow up 100% of Vodafone UK suppliers identified as high risk during qualification within three months by March 2008.
•
Maintain levels of training for supply chain managers to ensure more than 80% have received CR training.
Find out more in the Vodafone Group CR Report More detailed information on supply chain issues is published in the Vodafone Group report, including: • Findings from on-site evaluations of suppliers • Vodafone’s response to NGO reports into conditions in the electronics supply chain. See www.vodafone.com/responsibility.
We give money and time, and share our expertise with charities working nationally and in the communities near our sites. Much of our funding is given through The Vodafone UK Foundation. We want our social investment to make a long-term difference to the charities we support. We aim to help charities to develop their capabilities, and reach more people through the use of technology.
In 2006/07, we gave £7.2 million to charity, of which £5.3 million was given through The Vodafone UK Foundation. (A further £2 million was committed by the Foundation towards funding an Academy in Banbury pending receipt of the Funding Agreement from the DfES.) More information is available at www.vodafoneukfoundation.org.
The Vodafone UK Foundation The Vodafone UK Foundation focuses its funding in three areas: • National charities working to prevent social exclusion among young people between the ages of 16 and 25 • Local charities that work in the communities close to our sites • Charities supported by our employees through volunteering or fundraising. Our flagship charities Since 2004, we have given £7 million to three flagship charities – Samaritans, Shelter and YouthNet. During this time, we have adopted a partnership approach, working closely with the charities and sharing our skills, expertise and learning. We have also encouraged the charities to work together, and to measure the impact of their programmes, using the London Benchmarking Group Model. Over the last three years: • More than 1.4 million young people sought help from the partners’ websites • 65 other organisations that work with our partner charities were helped to deliver their services using new technologies • 2,110 new volunteers were recruited as a result of the programme. This year, we extended our partnership for a fourth year with a further £1 million donation. We are using this time to implement a ‘moving-on strategy’. This is helping the charities extend their projects, measure the impacts of their work and prepare for when our funding finishes. We donated over £250,000 to charities working closely with our partners to support young people. For example, with our help, Sane, a YouthNet partner, established SANEmail, a new service giving young people affected by mental illness access to support and advice via email.
Improving our social investment We want the money we give to have the maximum beneficial impact on the charities we support, and most importantly, on the people they help. This year, we commissioned three pieces of research to help us to assess the impact of our social investment and identify ways we can do more to assist charities in their work with young people. We plan to share the findings of our research widely to benefit the whole voluntary sector. The benefits of partnership We commissioned the Partnering Initiative (part of the International Business Leaders Forum) to produce a case study on the experiences of all four organisations involved in our flagship partnership. Help-seeking behaviour The Foundation has spent a significant sum over the years funding programmes that enable voluntary organisations to provide information and/or advice to young people. But the charities we support can only make a difference if young people feel able to approach them and the information they receive is beneficial. We have commissioned NfpSynergy to undertake research to improve our understanding of help-seeking behaviour. Social return on investment The third piece of research will look at the benefits or savings to society of prevention work. Measuring the value of prevention is a challenge for many of the organisations we work with. For example, it is difficult to assess how many young people did not become homeless thanks to the advice they received from Shelter’s Know Your Rights service.
The National Autistic Society We have just completed the third and final year of our partnership with the National Autistic Society (NAS). Over the three years, we raised more than £2.5 million for the NAS including £385,000 from customers and employees, and over £2 million from our mobile phone recycling programme. Our partnership has helped the NAS reach more than 250,000 individuals and families through its many awareness-raising programmes.
For example: • 3,000 families have benefited from NAS help! Programmes, which support parents and carers of people with autism • 147,000 people have visited the online Autism Services Directory (www.info.autism.org.uk) created with funding from Vodafone • Vodafone customers have viewed 91,000 pages on the NAS website through Vodafone live! • Our national press and radio awareness campaigns have improved public awareness of the NAS by 13%.
Headlines •
£7.2 million donated to charity.
•
Commissioned research to improve the effectiveness of our social investment.
•
Helped the National Autistic Society reach more than 250,000 people over three years.
•
Launched Let’s Give! database to encourage increased employee volunteering, payroll giving and fundraising.
Employee involvement We encourage our employees to volunteer in the local community, organise fundraising events and donate to charity. Every employee can take 24 hours’ paid time off each year to volunteer. In 2006/07, our employees donated over £144,000 through our payroll giving system. Volunteering can help employees to improve their skills and increase job satisfaction, especially if it requires employees to use their job-related expertise. Our new Let’s Give! intranet site, launched in March 2007, provides a ‘one-stop shop’ where employees can access payroll giving, apply for matched funding, create a fundraising page and find volunteering opportunities. The Vodafone UK Foundation matches employee fundraising (up to £350) for their chosen charity, and every penny raised for its flagship charities. In 2006/07, employees raised £1.178 million through over 1,000 different events. The Foundation gave £682,000 in matched funding.
Commitments
We believe that taking a partnership approach can increase the positive benefits of our social investment. It encourages charities to work together, share knowledge and experiences, and learn from each other.
•
Launch the application process in June 2007 for Reach, our new flagship charity partnership.
Previously, our flagship charities have applied individually to The Vodafone UK Foundation for funding.
•
Announce beneficiaries by November 2007 and launch Reach by April 2008.
•
Complete and share the findings of our three pieces of research with the wider voluntary sector by March 2008.
In our next flagship funding programme, we will encourage further collaboration by asking charities to plan joint projects and apply to The Vodafone UK Foundation as partners.
•
Increase payroll giving from 8% of employees to at least 10% by March 2008.
•
The Corporate Citizenship Company to conduct an assurance of our London Benchmarking Group data by March 2008.
•
Conduct a trial with the Education Business Partnership to mentor 50 potential high achievers aged 14–15 to help them to achieve their business potential by March 2008.
We commissioned Deloitte & Touche LLP to review our data collection and reporting process for selected data in the environment, health and safety and social investment sections of this report (indicated by ), for the year ended 31 March 2007. In addition, and without affecting their assurance conclusions, Deloitte made several recommendations for continuing to improve the collection, validation and reporting of these data. The recommendations will be included on our website www.vodafone.co.uk/responsibility
Independent assurance statement by Deloitte & Touche LLP (‘Deloitte’) to Vodafone Limited (‘Vodafone UK’) on selected information included in its Corporate Responsibility Report 2006/07. What we looked at: scope of our work Vodafone UK has engaged us to perform limited assurance procedures on selected environmental, social investment and occupational health and safety performance data for the year ended 31 March 2007. The assured data appear in the ‘Performance and data summary’ table on page 29 and are indicated by the symbol.
What we did: assurance process and standards Engagement assurance standards • We conducted our work in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (ISAE 3000) issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) for carrying out assurance engagements on non-financial information. • This is a limited assurance* engagement, which is designed to give a similar level of assurance to that obtained in a review of interim financial information. Assurance procedures • This standard requires that we review the systems, processes and controls that deliver the selected performance data. • Our work consisted primarily of making inquiries of company personnel and carrying out analytical procedures and sample tests as follows: – understanding, analysing and testing on a sample basis the collation, aggregation, validation and reporting of the selected performance data – reading and analysing the content of the report against the findings of our work, industry CR practices and other relevant information and, as necessary, making recommendations for improvement. • The limited assurance* procedures engagement excludes procedures such as testing of source data and is substantially less in scope than a reasonable assurance* engagement. Accordingly we do not provide reasonable assurance on those matters specified in this statement.
What we found: our conclusions Based on the work we performed, we are not aware of anything that causes us to believe that the environmental, social investment and occupational health and safety performance data indicated by the symbol are materially misstated.
Deloitte’s responsibilities and independence • Our responsibility is to independently express a conclusion on the selected performance data indicated by the symbol as defined within the scope of work above. • This statement is made solely to Vodafone UK in accordance with our letter of engagement for the purpose of the directors’ governance and stewardship. Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to Vodafone UK those matters we are required to state to them in this statement and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Vodafone UK for our work, for this statement, or for the conclusions we have formed.
2005 /06
2004 /05
2003 /04
5,100 510 17.4
5,048 698 16.3
5,065 779 15.5
4,744 1,039 14.1
746
1,335
1,127
709
3
2
–
–
2
1
3
–
58,400 443 41.7 15.6 136.7 96 715 55 1 1
– 439 75.4 11.5 312 97 714 57 0 0
– 456 190.7 12.03 436.6 97 688 40 0 2
– 318 137.7 17.1 1,011 – – 25 – –
5.8
6.57
–
–
228 55.5 35.8 32
203.4 28.6 36.5 23
141 37 93 7
163.5 19 72 –
11,857 33 1
11,352 30 4
9.837 20 25
– – –
11.2 72.4 45 37 7 1.51 24 5 50 142 55
11.63 71.4 45 30 9 1.42 25 5 50 640 70
11 68 43 26 9 1.72 23 7 – – –
9.5 – 44 26 – 1.8 20 – – – –
1,800 86
1,900 100
1,200 –
– –
7.2 1.18 0.68 0.14 1,767
7.82 1.2 0.84 0.23 1,777
7.5 1.4 – – –
– – – – –
FINANCIAL Revenue (£ million) Adjusted operating profit (£ million) Number of customers (million)
Responsibilities of directors and the independent assurance provider Vodafone UK’s responsibilities • The directors are responsible for the preparation of the Corporate Responsibility Report and for the information and statements contained within it. They are responsible for determining Vodafone UK’s objectives in respect of CR performance and for establishing and maintaining appropriate performance management and internal control systems from which the reported information is derived.
2006 /07
SOCIALLY SIGNIFICANT PRODUCTS New customers using Speaking Phone
WHAT MATTERS TO OUR CUSTOMERS Content standards Complaints about content on Vodafone live!
Responsible marketing Complaints against Vodafone advertising upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority
About this report
ENVIRONMENT
This report covers Vodafone UK’s corporate responsibility (CR) performance in 2006/07. More information and background material is available on our website www.vodafone.co.uk/responsibility.
Total carbon footprint (tonnes of CO2)1 Energy use – gas and electricity (GWh) CO2 emissions from our offices, stores and network (thousand tonnes) CO2 emissions from business travel by air and car (thousand tonnes) 2 Network waste generated (tonnes) Network waste reused or recycled (%) Office waste generated from our Newbury and Theale offices (tonnes) Office waste recycled from our Newbury and Theale offices (%) Environmental prosecutions Environmental fines
The report covers all our operations in the UK including UK-based Group employees unless otherwise stated. We commissioned Deloitte & Touche LLP to review our data collection and reporting process for selected key performance indicators in the environment, health and safety, and social investment sections of this report for the year ended 31 March 2007.
Handset recycling Handsets sold (million) Handsets returned by retail customers only – does not include returns from other sources eg corporate customers (thousands) Processing of handsets, batteries, accessories reused (tonnes) Processing of handsets, batteries, accessories recycled (tonnes) Number of top 50 corporate customers participating in Fonebak
OUR NETWORK Number of base stations Shared sites (%) Enforcement notices
Deloitte & Touche LLP London, United Kingdom 20 August 2007
OUR PEOPLE
This table summarises our key performance data. The following symbol indicates performance data reviewed by Deloitte as part of its CR assurance work: see page 28.
Number of employees (thousands) Rating against the Hay Employee Engagement Index (%) Women employees (%) Women in management (%) Employees from an ethnic minority (estimated %) Accident incidence rate per 1,000 employees 3 Employees working part-time or from home (%) Training spend (£ million) Employees accessing a learning academy (%) Redundancies Vacancies filled internally (%)
SUPPLY CHAIN This independent assurance statement gives no assurance on the maintenance and integrity of Vodafone UK’s website, including controls used to achieve this, and in particular whether any changes may have occurred to the information since first published. These matters are the responsibility of the directors but no control procedures can provide absolute assurance in this area. * The different levels of assurance engagement are defined in the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (ISAE 3000) issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. Reasonable assurance is similar to the audit of financial statements; limited assurance is similar to the review of a six-monthly interim financial report.
1 Carbon Footprint – 58,400 *NB this figure includes Group Travel data. 2 Due to a change in supplier, the data includes flights for Group employees and is on the basis of data for the calendar year (January 2006 – December 2006). We hope to improve our data collection processes with our new supplier to rectify these issues. 3 Data refers to all UK-based Vodafone employees reporting through the UK online accident reporting system during the 2006/07 period.
Expenditure with suppliers (£ million) Procurement employees completing online CR training (%)
SOCIAL INVESTMENT Total charitable contributions (£ million) Total employee fundraising (£ million) Vodafone UK Foundation matched funding (£ million) Total employee payroll giving (£ million) Employee volunteering (hours) – data not available
Achieved Not achieved Partially achieved
Issue
Commitments 2006/07
Progress
Achieved
Update our corporate responsibility website and intranet site by March 2007.
We updated our corporate responsibility website in November 2006 and our intranet site in April 2007.
Review our induction and training programmes to make sure they cover our CR policies and activities by March 2007.
We reviewed our induction training programmes. This confirmed that our Passion for the World Around Us and Business Principles are included in the induction for new employees.
Develop and implement an employee engagement strategy to raise awareness and increase employee involvement in appropriate CR activities.
March 2008
Improve our data collection systems in line with Deloitte’s assurance recommendations by March 2007.
Some of the recommendations were implemented during 2006/07. We will implement others over the next year.
Improve our data collection systems in line with Deloitte’s assurance recommendations.
March 2008
Define and prepare a project plan with external partners for the launch of the next version of the Mobile Textphone by March 2007.
We have developed the project plan to identify suitable replacements in 2007/08.
Ensure that any instances of inappropriate content (including images and music downloads) on Vodafone live! are removed within six hours of coming to our attention.
There were three complaints in 2006/07. All three instances of inappropriate content were removed within six hours.
Ensure that any instances of inappropriate content (including images and music downloads) on Vodafone live! are removed within four hours of coming to our attention.
Ongoing
No complaints about Vodafone advertising upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.
Two complaints were upheld by the ASA.
To uphold the principles of the ASA and ensure that all advertising is legal, decent, honest and truthful.
Ongoing
Launch an online privacy awareness programme to describe Vodafone’s privacy policy and what it means for employees.
March 2008
Block 80% of phones reported stolen within 24 hours on our own network and within 48 hours across all UK networks.
Ongoing
Reduce the energy consumption of our current network infrastructure, offices and stores by 12.5% against 2005/06 levels.
March 2009
Deadline
Reduce the energy consumption of our current network infrastructure, offices and stores by 12.5% against 2005/06 levels.
We increased our energy consumption by 0.9% on the previous year. This is mainly due to an increase in the number of base stations in our network.
Maintain reuse and recycling rates for network waste at or above 97%.
We reused and recycled 96.6% of our network waste in 2006/07.
Maintain reuse and recycling rates for network waste at or above 97%.
Recycle at least 60% of waste (by weight) from our Newbury and Theale offices by March 2007.
We recycled 55% of waste by weight from our Newbury and Theale offices compared with 57% last year.
Conduct an audit to determine opportunities for waste reduction and recycling.
March 2008
Reduce paper use at our Newbury and Theale offices by 15% by March 2007.
In 2006/07, 209 tonnes of paper were used at these offices, 21% less than last year.
Reduce office paper use at our Newbury and Theale offices by 28% against 2005/06 levels.
March 2008
Achieve certification to ISO 14001 for our whole UK business, including our network by March 2007.
This accreditation now covers our whole business including our offices, contact centres, stores and network.
Run internal awareness campaigns on recycling and reducing energy use by March 2007. Collect 250,000 handsets during 2006/07.
Encourage 35 of our top 50 eligible customers to participate in Fonebak.
We collected 235,000 handsets, an increase on 203,400 last year, but below our target. 32 of our top 50 eligible customers participated in Fonebak.
Due March 2009
New commitments
Issue
Commitments 2006/07
Progress
Respond to all enquiries on siting, planning and health issues within 10 working days.
We responded to 95.5% of enquiries on siting, planning and health issues within 10 working days. This delay was due to errors in our database, which we are addressing.
Accredit agents to ensure they comply with our policies on site selection and consultation, and behave in accordance with our ethos and values by March 2008.
We have devised the accreditation process and created a training programme for agents. These will be launched in 2007/08.
Undertake a quantitative survey of key stakeholder opinion on Vodafone’s approach to mobile phones, masts and health and set targets for improvement by March 2007.
We commissioned research by Ipsos MORI to assess whether opinion formers believe the industry takes the issue of mobile phones, masts and health seriously. Vodafone compared well with other operators in the study. The majority (74%) of opinion formers believe that Vodafone takes the issue seriously compared with 60% for other operators. We have not yet set improvement targets.
Be ranked in the top 25% of UK companies in the Hay Employee Engagement Index by July 2007.
We hope to reach this target during 2007.
Achieved
Due March 2008
Due July 2007
New commitments
Deadline
Respond to all enquiries on siting, planning and health issues within 10 working days.
Ongoing
Accredit site acquisition agents to ensure they comply with our policies on site selection and consultation, and behave in accordance with our ethos and values.
March 2008
Improve stakeholder opinion on how responsibly Vodafone is acting regarding mobile phone masts and health (from the 2006/07 baseline survey results).
Ongoing
Be ranked in the top 25% of UK companies in the Hay Employee Engagement Index.
Ongoing
Reduce work-related accidents resulting in lost time by 10% (from 2005/06 baseline).
March 2008
Establish a whistleblowing mechanism for suppliers to report any concerns or breaches of our Code of Ethical Purchasing.
Whistleblowing hotline established.
Maintain levels of training for supply chain managers to ensure more than 80% have received CR training.
March 2008
Implement an online supplier assessment and qualifications process.
Online supplier assessment and qualifications process established.
Follow up 100% of Vodafone UK suppliers identified as high risk during qualification within three months.
March 2008
Increase the balance of funding to local community projects near Vodafone sites outside West Berkshire (where we are headquartered) from 40% to 50% by March 2007.
We achieved our goal to increase the balance of funding to local community projects near Vodafone sites outside West Berkshire from 40% to 50%.
Launch the application process for our new flagship charity partnership by March 2007.
The launch application process was delayed while we developed our plans for our new partnership. The application process will be launched in June 2007.
Launch the application process in June 2007 for Reach, our new flagship charity partnership.
June 2007
Announce beneficiaries by November 2007 and launch Reach.
April 2008
Complete and share the findings of our three pieces of research with the wider voluntary sector.
March 2008
Increase payroll giving from 8% of employees to at least 10%.
March 2008
Postponed
Run an Environmental Road Show to engage with employees across the UK.
March 2008
March 2008
The Corporate Citizenship Company to conduct an assurance of our London Benchmarking Group data.
March 2008
Collect 275,000 handsets.
March 2008
March 2008
Conduct a trial with the Education Business Partnership to mentor 50 potential high achievers aged 14–15 to help them achieve their business potential.
Encourage 50 of our top 100 eligible corporate customers to participate in Fonebak.
About Vodafone UK Vodafone UK has 17.4 million customers and is part of the world’s largest mobile community offering a wide range of voice and data communications. Our headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire and we have seven other main office locations across the UK.
Corporate responsibility at Vodafone Group This report covers our CR performance in the UK. For information about our global performance and the Vodafone Group Report, see www.vodafone.com/responsibility. Highlights include: • New mobile payment services that make financial transactions more accessible • Ultra low-cost handsets to improve access to communications in emerging markets • A 25% increase in the energy efficiency of new network equipment • A 59% increase in the number of handsets collected for reuse and recycling • CR incorporated into our supplier qualification process across the Group • Extensive stakeholder engagement on customer privacy and freedom of expression • Access controls to enable parents to protect their children from inappropriate content available in all operating companies that offer age-restricted content on Vodafone live! • A 40% reduction in the average cost of roaming calls in Europe.
Vodafone UK The Connection Newbury Berkshire RG14 2FN United Kingdom
Key statistics 2006/07
Vodafone UK
Vodafone Group
5.1
31.1
Adjusted operating profit (£ billion)
0.51
9.4
Number of customers (million)
17.4
204.4
Number of employees*
11,204
60,000
Number of base stations
11,857
83,561
Revenue (£ billion)
* number of employees includes Group employees based in the UK
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