Oplo Impact - The Story

OUR

IMPACT Summary 2022

myoplo.co.uk

OPLO IMPACT

Foreword ALEX MOLLART, DEPUTY CEO

When we started our Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) journey back in December 2020, we wanted to ensure that it became embedded as a core part of our company goals, values, and decision-making at all levels. We call it Oplo Impact.

Oplo Impact is our commitment to grow our company sustainably and ethically, whilst having a positive influence on the world around us and encouraging others to do the same.

Our ESG Committee includes people from all parts of our business. Our diverse committee helps us to identify areas where we can achieve positive change across the business, and to put impactful policies into practice from the highest level down.

With our leadership and strategy in place, we hit the ground running with Oplo Impact at the beginning of 2021 and have had a fantastic first year. In just the past 12 months, we have successfully rolled out 11 new initiatives across the company, which we are excited to share with you here.

Whether through the efforts of our people, partners, and customers, or our company as a whole, here’s how we’ve been working towards a fairer, greener society and environment for all, with Oplo Impact.

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OPLO IMPACT

Contents

Initiatives

FOREWORD

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ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES

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PAUL’S SUSTAINABILITY STORY

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SOCIAL INITIATIVES

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HOLLY'S MARATHON STORY

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The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted on 25 September 2015 at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit.

The resulting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established a globally accepted set of 17 overarching goals. These goals have been applied to Oplo Impact initiatives.

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ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES

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INSPIRED ENERGY

Trees for Life & Leighton Hall To help us reach our goal of being carbon neutral by 2022, we partnered with Trees for Life and Leighton Hall.

For every loan funded, we plant a tree in the Scottish Highlands or Arnside & Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Our Oplo people and partners can also donate trees to remove even more carbon from the air.

Inspired Energy As part of our commitment to building an environmentally conscious business, we commissioned an independent carbon assessment report, conducted by Inspired Energy, to help identify both our progress and path to achieving our carbon neutral goal.

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INITIATIVES

FURTHER INFORMATION BUY A TREE READ MORE

TREES FOR LIFE

LEIGHTON HALL

INITIATIVES

FURTHER INFORMATION CLICK HERE

OPLO IMPACT

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Electric Vehicles Through our partnership with Octopus Electric Vehicles, we incentivise our people to switch to electric motoring by funding the cost of a home charger.

When someone leases a car through Octopus EV, and swaps their energy tariff to Octopus Go, they can claim back 8,000 free miles worth of electricity!

Renewable Energy

INITIATIVES

FURTHER INFORMATION CLICK HERE

PAWPRINT

INITIATIVES

In partnership with the green energy supplier, Octopus Energy, Oplo people can get £50 for switching to them.

Pawprint We're passionate about powering the potential of our people and our planet.

We empower our people to fight climate change at work, home and beyond, and that starts with checking their carbon footprint using Pawprint. This encourages our people to live a low carbon lifestyle and create carbon-reducing habits that stick!

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INITIATIVES

FURTHER INFORMATION CLICK HERE

ELECTRIC VEHICLE

OPLO IMPACT

Oplo HQ

INITIATIVES

Our Oplo Head Office, in Blackpool has undergone significant changes in the last 12 months to become more environmentally friendly. Here are just some of the updates we've made; 248 LED lights installed, electric car charging stations fitted, recycling stations added, reflection and harmony area created for wellbeing.

RECYCLING

Oplo's Head Office has been designed with our People in mind at every stage.

Walkways flow to unite our teams helping to encourage ideas and innovation. Sliding walls of bi-folding doors bring the outside in. The thoughtful use of sustainable materials align with our Oplo Impact principles.

The wellbeing of our people has been carefully considered and the belief that this translates to customer care and to a sustainable commercial proposition.

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HEAD OFFICE

OPLO IMPACT

The Green Deal

INITIATIVES

We’re helping people transition to a greener, more sustainable lifestyle and we encourage our people to come on the journey with us.

To gain access to The Green Deal rewards and benefits, all our people have to do is plant one tree per year in the Oplo grove or show us they’ve planted their own tree.

Bike To Work Scheme

THE GREEN DEAL

INITIATIVES

As part of the Government's Green Transport Plan, we offer our people the chance to save up to 42% on the cost of bicycles and/or equipment. This is made possible by saving on Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions. A hire agreement is made between Oplo and the individual. The scheme even includes e-bikes, up to a value of £3,000.

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BIKE TO WORK

O P L O I M PA C T

Switch electrical appliances off at the socket when not in use (standby still consumes electricity).

Switch lights off in rooms that are not in use.

Kids hear “it’s like Blackpool illuminations in here” from me a lot, I get plenty of eye rolls.

Paul’s sustainability story

Change bulbs to LEDs - they are cheap and save money in the long run.

Paul Tansley, Complaints Team Leader, has the lowest carbon footprint out of all our Oplo people. His footprint is 6.242 tonnes per year, half of Oplo’s average score.

We asked Paul what his secret was, and did he have any top tips he could share.

“I’ve just updated my pawprint to see what difference it has made having the kids off school during lockdown and me working from home. It has doubled my electricity bill from about £30 per month to £65 per month but it’s still low at 6.5.”

Plan meals for the week so you don’t buy groceries you don’t need.

Don’t overfill your kettle, just use the water you need for you brew. It boils quicker, thus uses less electricity.

Don’t use your car unless you need to.

Walking is good exercise and a good way to take a break to be with your own thoughts.

Plus, fuel prices are ridiculous at the moment.

HERE'S A FEW T I P S T H AT S AV E THE PLANET W H I L E S AV I N G Y O U M O N E Y… 16

Look at available grants for insulation and boiler upgrades. Again, insulation and a decent combi boiler will save money in the long run or put on a jumper when it’s cold.

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SOCIAL INITIATIVES

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PAYROLL GIVING

Giveall Payroll

INITIATIVES

Donations are deducted from an employees’ salary before tax so, effectively, what the donor would have paid in tax goes to charity instead.

Charities Oplo are a proud Platinum Patron of The Boathouse Youth, donating £25,000 a year, for the next 3 years. We've also organised internal fundraising events such as bake sales, food bank collections and actively encourage our people to complete their own fundraising events such as sponsored walks, runs etc.

Volunteering Days

INITIATIVES

VOLUNTEERING DAYS

FURTHER INFORMATION CLICK HERE

INITIATIVES

All our Oplo people are given a day off to carry out volunteering at a charity of their choice. Recently we've supported The Salvation Army by sorting and packing Christmas presents, helped to pick up litter on Cleveleys beach with Marine Conservation Society and planted over 7,000 bulbs at Leighton Hall Estate to prepare for pollinators.

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CHARITIES

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THE SWAP SHOP

Bounce Back Resilience Workshops

INITIATIVES

The health and wellbeing of our people is hugely important to us at Oplo. Not only do we have trained Mental Health First Aiders working within our teams, we also arrange regular Resilience Workshops which are open to everyone to come along to.

BOUNCE BACK RESILIENCE WORKSHOPS

Andrea Lloyd, a psychologist of 22 years, delivers sessions to help develop and sustain resilience and provide people with the tools to bounce back from adversity.

The Swap Shop We’ve created our very own freecycle where unwanted items can be donated and exchanged free of charge.

If the items aren’t taken after two weeks, they are donated to a local charity, so nothing goes to waste.

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INITIATIVES

OPLO IMPACT

OPLO BUS

Financial and Environmental Education Program We’re creating a financial education program to help empower the spenders, savers, budgeters and borrowers of tomorrow.

INITIATIVES

FURTHER INFORMATION CLICK HERE

Using this program, Oplo will help introduce 16 to 18-year-olds to important parts of finance. This will help build their understanding of financial products and think about what’s right for them as they navigate further studies and go off into the working world.

Our dedicated Financial Educator will be kicking off the programme with groups of sixth formers from schools in the Blackpool area, and later further afield.

We’ve even commissioned a 16-seater bus to be transformed into a modern and immersive mobile learning hub, ready to take on tour across the Northwest.

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EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

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Holly's marathon story Holly Wadeson, our ESG Manager, took part in the Manchester 10K in September and we wanted to find what her motivation was.

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO SIGN UP? It was a completely random idea to sign up on 25th August, I was looking through The Christie’s website and saw that there were still places available for the 10k Great Manchester Run and thought why not sign up, and also raise some much needed funds for The Christie’s in Manchester.

DID YOU DO ANY TRAINING? I ran 3 times in the lead up to the run, but never more than 5k, I had a knee injury and didn’t want to push it and not be able to complete the race.

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE? LOVED it! Honestly, the atmosphere, the excitement and build up were just amazing, and I think that’s what carried me around Manchester on the day, everyone was so jolly, music was blasting and people cheering at the side.

We even had 3 of our Oplo people volunteering on The Christie’s Cheering Bus – Salma Ahmed, Suzanne Carr and Samantha Howarth – I can’t tell you how amazing it felt to see them waving flags, shouting and cheering – such a needed boost! My time wasn’t anything special at 1 hour 8 minutes, but I was just so proud that I finished and raised £320!

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR ANYMORE RACES? Yes for January and April next year, I now have the running bug and have been running 3-4 times a week, it’s something that really clears my head, and with the added bonus of keeping fit and healthy.

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“MY TIME WASN’T ANYTHING SPECIAL ... BUT I’M JUST SO PROUD I RAISED £320!”

Oplo, Viscount Court, Sir Frank Whittle Way, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY4 2FB