It is incredibly important to us at Vital to contribute to the long-term wellbeing and resilience of our staff, the wider community and society in general. By establishing corporate responsibility and sustainability policies, it allows us to take even greater pride in the work we do every day.
We put people first
This extends to everything we do. We are a business that believes our legacy is the outcome achieved from the effort we put into our communities. Through deliberate and proactive engagement, we can build trusting and sustainable relationships with the communities we work within.
Health and Wellbeing
Our health and wellbeing agenda is built into our DNA, our key achievements to date include:
93 managers have received mental health in the workplace training across our Group.
We have appointed a dedicated health, wellbeing and engagement manager.
Our physical wellness initiative ‘Morfit’ was awarded the ‘Most Innovative Benefit’ at the Recruiter Investing in Talent Awards 2019.
We have delivered over 280 MOT health checks.
We have over 50 Mental Health First Aiders within the business.
Equality and Diversity
Vital prides itself on being an equal opportunities employer that provides an inclusive environment to candidates and employees alike. We believe that diversity of thought promotes innovation by bringing multiple perspectives to discussions and decisions.
Our 2021 diversity action plan includes:
Targeted engagement with groups that are historically the most difficult to reach
Removal of gendered language from policies and processes.
Mandatory sign-off of all new and amended policies by a diversity board member.
Creation of an inclusivity toolkit and staff handbook to champion inclusion best practice.
Economy
We understand our socio-economic responsibility to the communities in which we work and are committed to invest into these economies by employing local labour and supporting young people through our National Apprenticeship Programme and School Engagement Programmes to working with the Young Rail Professional Society.
As part of our social value strategy, we deliver additional support to SMEs in our supply chain and encourage active participation for local suppliers that boost the local economy.
We recognise that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and therefore we offer the following activities to support and invest in the SMEs in the local area:
Visibility and accessibility of all jobs/apprenticeships.
People Like Me campaign – our digital campaign highlighting the range of roles available, the routes into the industry and the diverse roles of people working within it with emphasis on relatable role models.
Ex-military upskilling and employment.
Robust supplier assessments.
Targets on SME utilisation.
Wellbeing initiatives aligned to every stakeholder.
Sustainability
We are members of the Supply Chain Sustainability School, allowing us to collaborate to improve efficiency and delivery positive change across the industry. We utilise their resources in the provision of e-learning, seminars and briefings to company ambassadors who then disseminate information to the workforce.
Natural Environment
Our company vision is centred around numerous targets and campaigns, including a drive to become net-zero by 2023. Net-zero means achieving a balance between the emissions we produce, and the emissions taken out of the atmosphere.
Our vision includes:
Reducing energy consumption per £ million of turnover.
Introducing solar panels for on-site power generation.
Creating a circular supply chain versus our current linear model.
Prioritising sustainable and ethical procurement.
Almost three-quarters of our emissions are derived from our fleet and we continue to monitor the automotive market as manufacturers work to develop new technology. Vital became the first business in the group to adopt Shell’s fuel card scheme, Destination: Carbon Neutral.
Using the card enabled Shell to track our fleet’s CO2 emissions of 5.6m kg in 2020 and purchase carbon credits equivalent to this figure, which are then offset through its portfolio of nature-based projects. We also ensured our entire fleet became ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone) compliant by 2026 with an ongoing vehicle renewals programme.
Read more about the scheme here
