CSG Huddle Connect 2

ISSUE 2 | May 2022

connect-the-dots – bringing together information from different places.

Off to a good start!

Hi all, April brought the beginning of the new financial year. We enjoyed incredible success during the previous year, including major contract wins, acquisitions, new joint ventures, and huge structural and operational improvements.

This year is set to be even better still!

We opened the year with a different shape having welcomed the HR Connect, Employment Check, Kent Teach, Staff Care Services and Zero Carbon Future brands into the CSG family.

All of those brands delivered great opening results, helping CSG to achieve strong financials that more than trebled our budget (albeit April is a quiet month in phasing terms). We saw some excellent early performances in KCS Procurement Services, Connect2Kent and Waste Services, but almost all trading brands performed well. It’s good to start as we mean to go on!

What’s Inside Access eLearning Update

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AWR Desk Booking System 3 Policy Library Updates

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Keeping Data Safe

3

What is a low carbon diet?

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Winning in Recruitment

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Over the next few weeks, we will complete refurbishment works at our HQ, with the reopening date set for June 21st. Just a few days before that we will enjoy the first CSG Summer Awards and huge congratulations to all those shortlisted so far!

Zoe’s 100k

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Thank you for all of your hard work and ongoing commitment, and have a great month…

KCS’s NEW Catalogues

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Awards Summer Party

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Matt Johnson, CEO

Don’t miss your chance to attend the Summer Awards and party with your colleagues.

Meet the Commercial Team 6

We hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.

If you have a story, a success or information you want to include in June’s huddle connect, please email comms@csltd.org.uk.

Access eLearning Update HSEQ team

This month’s chosen eLearning subject –

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Equality refers to providing equal opportunities to everyone and protecting people from being discriminated against.

Diversity refers to recognising and respecting and valuing differences in people.

Inclusion refers to an individual’s experience within their workplace and in society, and the extent to which that person feels valued and included.

We define equality as essentially being about fairness and ensuring that we all have the best possible chance to succeed in life, whatever our background or identity. Achieving equality of outcomes means you may have to do specific things for different groups to ensure that everyone has the opportunity for the same outcome.

Good news we are nearly 60% complete.

Can everyone please make the time to get us to 100% before 1 June 22.

Community Services

Equality and Diversity Refresher training course Undertaking this course will be a great way for you and your colleagues to understand more about the different types of discrimination in the workplace.

Corporate Services

60%

52%

Overview of each business area showing who Energy and has completed Carbon all five courses.

78%

The course will take about 10 minutes to complete and can be found in your eLearning library.

Equality and Diversity Refresher

People Services

24%

Global Education Supplies

58%

Click here to start the training course

Managers – please support your staff to complete this important and mandatory training.

Below are quick links to the other Equality, Diversity and Inclusion courses available to you.

Workplace Diversity

If you have any queries about how to get on to Access eLearning, the Five Core Skills, other courses, or reporting please contact john.bowden@csltd.org.uk.

Thinking of Others Respect and Inclusion at Work 2

!

W NE

Introducing the Desk Booking System for AWR

With the completion of AWR’s refurbishments drawing near, we are happy to announce that a new desk booking system is being launched to coincide with the office reopening.

The system will provide staff with the ability to reserve specific resources available at AWR. This means that once the system is fully implemented, all staff wishing to work from AWR will need to use the booking system to reserve a desk and parking space (if required). This will also apply to those who want to use AWR’s new meeting rooms.

More comms and training on how the system works will follow soon.

Data Protection Update – Keeping Data Safe Pete Baldock, Data Protection Officer

CSG is committed to protecting personal data.

We need customer, candidate and employee personal data to run our business successfully.

Each and every employee has a responsibility to comply with our Data Protection Policy and the UK GDPR Law… therefore Think Data Privacy…

Have you changed roles recently or moved teams… or been involved in recruiting new staff to CSG or moved into a new managerial role and now managing new people?

If so, please take some time to read our helpful tips on minimising the data you retain or have access to as part of our Business System and Employee Data Amnesty initiative…

TIP 1

Business Applications – if you have changed roles recently or moved Divisions, please ensure you have the correct access to those business systems you need to do your job, and double check that you no longer have access to any other systems or applications that relate to your previous roles.

TIP 2

Access HR System, do you have the correct level of

access and can you only see employee details relating to the staff you currently manage or can you see employee details relating to your old team?

If you spot anything that is either wrong or needs changing, then please contact Lucie White via email lucie.white@csltd.org.uk.

TIP 3

Minimise the personal data you retain… did you

know as Managers if we retain for our own records copies of documents such as CV’s, application forms, images of passports or medical certificates, we could increase our risk of data security breaches Please ask yourself the following questions…

Do you still have data referring to people you use to manage?

You can find all our policies on the Policy Library. Policies are updated regularly, whenever a change is required or as part of our scheduled review timetable.

Recently changes have been made to the following policies: • Expenses Policy • CSG Pension Policy • Whistleblowing Policy If you have any queries relating to policies, please contact jennifer.colquhoun@csltd.org.uk

Do you still have data about a previous job or project you worked on but no longer require the data or access to it?

Have you recently been involved in recruiting staff and still hold copies of CV’s, application forms, interview notes or images of passports?

If you can answer ‘Yes’ to any of the above questions, then please make use of our Employee Data Amnesty by returning employee data to HR for review, safekeeping or secure disposal.

TIP 4 Secure disposal of confidential waste… our

Employee Data Amnesty also covers any paper records you may have filed away in cabinets of office pedestals.

If you need guidance on a data protection matter, contact your Data Protection Lead or email the Data Protection Team – dpo@csltd.org.uk.

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What is a low carbon diet? Carbon Net Zero team Food is an essential part of our lives, and with the global population expected to grow to 11 billion by 2100, food demand is only going to go up. It is known that the agricultural methods and supply chains associated with some of our favourite foods are unsustainable, responsible for large quantities of carbon emissions and driven by consumer demand. What we eat is a personal choice and is influenced by a number of factors. With the climate crisis looming, people are being urged to alter their diets – should we? And if so, what could we eat?

In Europe, the average annual carbon footprint of an individual is between 7-10 tCO2e. Food contributes to around a quarter of these emissions – meaning there is room for improvement. The carbon footprint of the food we consume is affected by numerous factors, but production methods and land-use change are largely responsible. In both cases, plants typically require less energy and space than animals produce to gain equivalent yields.

Therefore, a diet that is plant-based has, on average, a lower footprint in comparison to those rich in meat and dairy.

Peas have an impressive protein-carbon yield, an attribute now being exploited by supermarkets. Pea protein, plant-based choices which replicate a meat form, is becoming widespread and their popularity is projected to rise 300% by 2025. So, will eating vegan foods solve our dietary problem? Yes and no.

The origin of our food can alter the carbon emissions associated with it. Although imported fruit and vegetables have lower greenhouse gas emissions than meat in the majority of instances, eating a plant-based diet composed of many air-freighted items can increase an individual’s carbon footprint to comparable levels of a meat eater. Per portion, air-freighted food can increase the footprint of a product by fifty times when compared to ocean shipping. A low carbon diet would therefore discourage consuming out of season produce. However, in a society that is accustomed to choosing throughout the year, this is easier said than done! Thankfully, there is a solution. Freezing.

By understanding protein-carbon yields, food is set to take many different forms in a low-carbon diet.

Greenhouse gas emissions per 100 grams of protein Greenhouse gas emissions are measured in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents (kgCO2eq) per 100 grams of protein. This means non-CO2 greenhouse gases are included and weighted by their relative warming impact.

Beef (beef herd)

49.89

Lamb & Mutton

Freezing does require energy which, just like shipping, can raise the carbon footprint of the product being frozen. However, when compared to air freight, there is a significant difference. By harvesting and freezing local in-seasonal produce (not grown under hotbeds!), the overall carbon footprint of the product remains around three times lower than that of air-freighted produce. As freezing extends the shelf life of products, less waste is also generated.

19.85

Prawns (farmed)

18.19

Beef (dairy herd)

16.87

Cheese

10.82

Milk

9.5

Pig Meat

7.61

Fish (farmed)

5.98

Poultry Meat

5.7

Eggs

4.21

Grains

2.7

Tofu (soybeans)

1.98

Groundnuts

1.23

Other Pulses

0.84

Peas

0.44

Nuts

0.26

0 kg

10 kg

20 kg

Food waste alone contributes to approximately 8% of global anthropogenic carbon annually. The UN states that approximately one-third of all food produced is wasted. It is therefore vital that a lowcarbon diet incorporates meals which re-purpose leftovers, of which there are many creative recipes to search for!

50 kg

Source: Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Additional calculations – Our World in Data.

OurWorldInData.org/environmental-impacts-of-food

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Winning in Recruitment Celebrating success is something we at Commercial Services Group have always been very fond of and Recruitment has recently done that with style as they hosted the Connect2Oscars!

Congratulations to this year's winners

Candidate Experience Champion – Lisa Hallinan

Recruitment has recently announced that they will be launching their first podcast, Connect2Pods on 6 June. This will allow its listeners to take charge of their learning, gain knowledge to further their careers and also connect with others within the recruitment industry.

Be sure to keep an eye out on social media for updates and follow when Connect2Pods launches next month.

Client Experience Champion – Sabie Soomal Managed Service Champion – Emma Medhurst The Impact Award – Amy Berry Recruitment Values Award – Robert Coleman Support Staff Champion of the Year – Katie Feehan Team of the Year – Marketing Leadership Award – SJ Gallagher SMT Choice Award – Katie Feehan & Ben Roberts Top GP (Perm) – Kelly Shoebridge Overall Top GP Performer – Lauren O’Brien Employee of the Year – Nicola Cook

Zoe’s 100k

Zoe Murray is running 100k in May in memory of her younger brother Danny whom her family lost in October last year. “It’s totally out of my comfort zone, but I’m trying to make a small positive out of a brutal time.”

She will be fundraising for British Heart Foundation and the important work they do for heart health and their scientific research to Beat Heartbreak Forever. Together we can beat heartbreak forever – BHF To support Zoe and to donate to her JustGiving page 5

Click here

Meet the Commercial Team Introducing the newly formed Commercial Team – Steve, Caroline, Jane and Ron. Between us we are responsible for taking CSG as an umbrella to our brands, to market and we cover sales, marketing and market intelligence. We focus predominantly on the Local Government sector and engage with Senior Exec Officers and Cabinet members. Jane is our marketing lead, Ron provides the team with market data, intelligence and insight. Caroline and Steve are accountable for bringing on new opportunities with partner Councils.

Steve Wilson Commercial Director and Social Value Chair

Caroline Wheller Commercial Development Manager

Jane Mather Commercial Marketing Manager

Steve

Ron Sung Commercial Strategic Insights Manager

What is a typical day for you at work? I am quite new so there isn’t a typical day yet. I hope to be out visiting councils to help them take back control of recruitment spend and quality through the establishment our of our Joint Venture vehicle.

What are you passionate most about? My family.

What is a typical day for you at work? I’m lucky that my role is extremely varied. From speaking to Council Leaders, presenting at events, to helping to create new companies.

What are your favourite things to do outside of work? My favourite things include exercising – I love walking! I also like relaxing in the hot tub under the stars with a glass of bubbles.

What’s your favourite things to do outside of work? Walk my dogs!

Have you ever re-gifted anything? I have often donated gifts to charity.

What sport do you love to watch (or play)? I love most sports, but Rugby and Football have always been my passion.

Do you play a musical instrument? I learnt to play the Organ when I was little and also tried Violin but cant play now. I really want to learn to play the Saxophone which is on my bucket list.

What would you like us to know about you that might surprise us? I once owned an antique shop as a weekend hobby.

What sport do you love to watch (or play)? I used to play hockey to quite a good standard but gave it up when my kids came along! I watch a lot of football now as both my children play! I also like watching the Grand Prix. And I love to go to the races for things like Ascot and Cheltenham.

Do you have any pets? Can you tell us about them?

Two wonderful dogs, Sherlock (my favourite) is a Cockapoo and Bertie (who is growing on me) is a Coton de Tulear.

Caroline

Which cartoon character do you think represents you the best? Tigger – you’ll know when you meet me. I also have a great friend who is Eyeore.

What are you passionate most about? I am very passionate about helping councils be more efficient and effective for the benefit of the resident/ customer and the workers! Bureaucratic ways of working are often outdated in relation to today’s technology.

Do you have any pets? I have a black and white cat called Milo. He is nearly 3 years old and is a real night owl – squeaking at the window on the conservatory roof to be let back in the early hours of the morning! I only got him a cat flap recently and he is reluctant to use it!!

What are your hobbies? I am a very sociable person and always willing to try new things.

Recently I did a modern calligraphy course with friends.

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Jane

What would you like us to know about you that might surprise us? I visited the Scilly Isles which are lovely but also got the chance to snorkel with seals – very cold but an amazing experience. They are such lovely curious animals and i’m so, glad we had the chance to swim alongside them.

What are you passionate most about? Tackling inequalities wherever possible. Everyone should have the same chances in life but we are far from that. What you do with them is then down to you.

What are your hobbies? I discovered running a few years ago completing the couch to 5k and it helped to get me through the pandemic. It counterbalances one of my other hobbies which is cooking and food in general. I love experimenting with new ingredients and recipes. Travel has always been a big part of my life anywhere really, just love to explore here at home or abroad when I get the chance.

Ron What are you passionate most about? Looking to continuously improve, advancing ourselves with those around us and ensuring that everyone does so through informed decision making.

What is a typical day for you at work? I enjoying starting my day with a light venture into spreadsheets, progressively adding strands of complexities into the workings before distilling into a meaningful output.

What is a typical day for you at work? Still finding my feet but after an early morning walk (it’s supposed to be good for you!) it’s down to emails and calls. I’m supporting Steve and Caroline with the JV sales so busy working out what that’s going to look like going forward.

What are your favourite things to do outside of work? To travel and explore new experiences, especially from a culinary perspective.

What are your favourite things to do outside of work? Try to keep fit but also read, love history and catching up with friends and family.

What sport do you love to watch (or play)? As an Arsenal supporter I am not sure I can declare a love to watch the sport at this moment in time!

Do you play a musical instrument? No never really tried but my husband loves music so we go to quite a few gigs both well-known and supporting lesser known bands.

What would you like us to know about you that might surprise us? Contrary to my character built from insights, spreadsheets and process, my education stems from a creative direction.

Browse our NEW digital catalogues KCS released four new catalogues on May 9th. These are categories that KCS haven’t created or focused on ever before. We printed 1,000 Maths and Literacy, 3,000 Outdoor and 6,000 Enriching Environments. These have gone out to a mix of active, lapsing, lapsed and prospect customers, aiming to acquire either new customers or increasing share of wallet.

Click the link above to view the digital versions that you can scroll through, search for products, and build baskets that can be emailed directly to the KCS CEX Team 7

It is still not too late to join us…

Commercial Services Group has had an amazing year and we have a lots to celebrate. Why not join us on the 17 June and be part of our success. If you wish to attend confirm your place by clicking the RSVP below.

RSVP – CLICK HERE Footwear alert… don’t forget to avoid wearing stilettos the ground is going to be uneven!!

Got a question, email us at comms@csltd.org.uk

With three weeks to go…

here is a reminder of the shortlists confirmed so far…

Client Win of the Year

Recognising the customer, contract or project win which has driven material growth and significant strategic value to the business.

Connect2Kent Temporary Recruitment

CES Holdings Largest Project Win

Procurement Services Contract Award

Connect2Surrey Temporary Recruitment

LASER LED Lighting Project

Connect2Dudley Temporary Recruitment

Rising Star

Awarded to an individual who has excelled with new tasks and added responsibilities. Showing passion and dedication in their work, the Rising Star shows great promise and capability, with an exciting journey ahead of them!

Collette Compton Community Services

Greg Lewis-Brown Corporate Services

Jade Coleridge CES Holdings

Rebekah Lancaster Energy

Molly Bennet Corporate Services

Tomasz Pupel KCS

Marketing Campaign of the Year

Awarded to the marketing campaign that stands out above all others, generating positive acclaim, commercial growth and significant brand awareness.

Call2Care Connect2Hampshire

New for 22 KCS

Luton 2020-2040 Connect2Luton

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Procurement Matters Procurement Services