Corporate Responsibility

At sineQN we strongly believe that we have a duty, as both an organisation and individuals, to act in a manner that is responsible to society and the environment. This includes towards our employees, clients, peers, our supply chain and to the public. Our corporate responsibility initiatives are summarised as follows:

• Business integrity and governance
• Training and development policy
• Environmental and sustainability
• Health and safety
• Equality and diversity
• Social responsibility
• Supply chain monitoring

Integrity and transparency are at the foundation of the way in which we operate and the advice we provide to our clients. We have adopted a framework to monitor and record our activities in this area:

• We are ISO 9001 accredited and our business systems comply with our tailored manual. The manual is regularly reviewed and developed
• All our principal advice to clients is checked and signed off by our board directors prior to issuance
• Our firm’s consultancy operations, financial and operational performance and management are reviewed weekly by our board directors
• We comply with the RICS Code of Competitive Tendering and encourage our external teams to do the same
• We declare potential conflicts of interests that we may have on any potential commission
• We declare to our clients any evidence of anti-competitive activities, unethical tendering or payment practices on a project

Professional Development

We are committed to developing staff through structured training, to assist them in reaching their full potential. The purpose of our policy is:

• To provide relevant and appropriate training and development for our staff to ensure that we establish and maintain the skills and knowledge that are required to achieve our current and future business objectives
• To train and develop our staff to excel in their current roles
• To ensure that all staff are given opportunities for career development and to encourage them to achieve their potential beyond the needs of their current work role
• To ensure that the training we provide is translated into a direct benefit to our service provision

Environmental Policy

sineQN is ISO 14001 accredited and we are working towards targets in our Environmental Impact Performance programme. We work to integrate sustainability into the fabric of every project as well as our day-to-day lives by carefully considering the materials we use, the energy we consume and the waste we create. sineQN collaborates with environmental experts and we advise clients and project teams to do the same.

We are committed to the continual improvement of our environmental performance and regularly review our internal EMS procedures and operations.

Within our practice, we promote a high standard of environmental awareness to ensure compliance with current legislation, building regulations, industry codes of practice and other applicable standards. We encourage and support our employees to keep abreast of new environmental technologies and legislation. In our day-to-day activities, we are committed to:

• Encouraging efficient design to reduce long-term energy consumption
• The use of sustainable and recycled materials, and a reduction in waste
• Sharing our values with our clients to help them integrate environmental efficiency into their projects
• Championing the cost incentives of a green design
• Researching new sustainable technology and initiatives
• Understanding legislation which affects sustainable development and renewable energy projects
• Continued development of our environmental initiatives
• Further development of our green dictionary
• These principles remaining at the core of our organisation

Health and Safety Policy

Providing a safe and healthy working environment is crucial to the wellbeing of our employees, and our ability to deliver. Our staff and associates, whether on site or in our offices, benefit from stringent health and safety practices.

Our policy provides for training, supervision and funding to meet and exceed the provisions of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and associated legislation.

Equality and Diversity Policy

Our policy is to provide an inclusive and non-discriminatory working environment in which all employees are valued and empowered to succeed. As such, we forbid discrimination or harassment in any form.

Each of our employees and associates is responsible for ensuring the implementation of this policy and assisting us in maintaining a business environment free of intimidation.

sineQN is an equal opportunities employer and we recognise our responsibilities under UK Equal Opportunities Legislation.

Social Responsibility

We are actively involved with Heart of the City and City Action in the City of London and  contribute our time during weekdays to help Heart of the City approved causes.

Heart of the City is a registered charity launched by Lord George and The Lord Mayor of the City of London to provide free support for businesses wanting to develop or expand their existing corporate and social responsibility programme.

Established in 1998 by the City of London, City Action is a free and exclusive volunteer matchmaking service for businesses based in the Square Mile. The City Action team supports City businesses looking to establish or further develop employee volunteering programmes by providing a range of free services including a bespoke volunteer matchmaking service with local community organisations in the City-fringe boroughs.

Supply Chain Compliance

When selecting our supply chain, we assess compliance and alignment with our corporate responsibility. We monitor our supply chain as far as is reasonably possible in terms of their ongoing compliance under our own corporate responsibility subject headings (please see above). If we find poor practice or contraventions we will discuss remedial action with that supplier and seek improvement. If improvement is not evident we will consider sourcing an alternative vendor that supplier.