Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

Introduction & Scope

Remus is a part of the Fexco Property Services group. Fexco Property Services Limited and its operating subsidiaries (“the FPS group”) manages residential developments across England and Wales. The purpose of the FPS group is to make the properties that we manage a better and safer place to be and we are responsible for the management of the communal and shared spaces in developments that contain c. 60,000+ homes. We deliver our services through a distributed team across a national network of offices, employing c. 230+ staff. Our company values that reflect what we do – as chosen by our staff - are Professional, Progressive, Reliable and Teamwork.

The FPS group recognizes the impact it makes on a number of stakeholders as set out below and is committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure that its operations are conducted with due regard for all of these concerns guided by insights from best practice, as well as sound ethical and legal principles.

This policy applies to the FPS group in its entirety.

Our Teams

We recognise several needs for our teams and individual staff members and attempt to ensure that the working environment we provide is safe, progressive, free from any form of bias and promotes the wellbeing of all our staff. Our practices are set out in summary here:

Equal opportunities and fairness	Equal Opportunities (online training), Modern Slavery (statement on intranet), Whistleblowing policy set out in our staff handbook.
Safety	A Health and Safety Management System codifies occupational hazards and these are comprehensively covered in staff induction and training.
Communication	Staff are kept abreast of material developments in the business, general trading conditions, objectives of the business and news on business issues relevant to them on a quarterly basis via newsletter and on an ad-hoc basis via the group intranet.
Pay & Benefits	The benefits package in use was reviewed in 2018 and again in 2019 to ensure it is fit for purpose and reflects the changing needs of our organization such as flexibility and paid holiday time. A WFH policy was introduced in 2020 to further recognize the flexibility required for home working during the Covid pandemic and we actively consulted with all staff on their preferences for hybrid working in the future – post pandemic - with several implications for the business considered. Staff remuneration is reviewed annually to ensure it keeps pace with industry and the economic environment.
Recognition, Reward & Performance Management	The FPS group runs a recognition programme via the intranet and rewards staff annually for achievements aligned to company values, as well as customer service. Recognition of positive performance is also encouraged across the work force.
Performance Management and Feedback	Line management are encouraged to perform regular 121 meetings with direct reports and to check in regularly on staff who are working from home. Performance is formally reviewed annually with plentiful scope given for employee feedback.
People Management	The group ensures that it employs a suitably qualified and experienced HR team that advises the staff and management of the group on all people management and performance related concerns. The team are available to all staff to raise issues and have them addressed professionally and confidentially.
Wellbeing	The group had adopted a wellbeing strategy that includes both professional external support/EAP and informal internal support team for mental health issues. Monthly campaigns distributed to all staff on wellbeing topics. The group also holds an annual conference for all staff and promotes team building events throughout the year (with budget) for its teams.
Progression & Development	The group has a proven ethos of staff development and actively encourages promotion from within and development of its staff via apprenticeship programmes across several disciplines, study leave, provision of internal courses, CPD and contributions towards external training.

Our Customers and Clients

We aim to take a customer-centric approach to everything that we do and implement and look to put customer needs at the heart of our business. Such measures taken can be categorized as follows:

Transparency & Clarity	The group issues a wide range of communications to all of its customers and clients. At all times, we strive to ensure that communications issued are fully transparent, plain language is used and the information provided is as clear as it possibly can be.
Data Protection	We abide by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and have implemented several technical and organisational policies and procedures to protect the privacy and rights of our customers and clients.
Satisfaction Measurement	The group is conscious of the nature of the services that it provides and strives to measure satisfaction periodically throughout the year by surveys across different client and customer groups.
Training	Customer Service training is provided to staff in both telephone and email etiquette as well as dealing with challenging conversations.
Safety	As part of our purpose, the group strives to ensure the safety of the properties that we manage, to the extent that we can control. A comprehensive Health & Safety Management System is in place for our managed properties, supported by a H&S and Compliance team within the group who support our customers, clients and staff alike in meeting this objective.
Account Management	For our clients (rather than customers), regular check-ins are arranged to ensure client care is adhered to and that we are fully cognizant of their changing requirements and how well we meet their needs.
Commitment	The group has a Client & Customer Charter which outlines our commitment to them and this is published to staff, customers and clients as a standard that we aim to live up to, encompassing Safety First, Openness, Responsiveness, Value For Money and Working In Partnership.
Policy Engagement	The group will take the initiative to participate in the development of policies, legislation and reform of our industry, for the benefit of all stakeholders within it, including our customers and clients. Evidence to date includes participation on working groups for safety regulation and reform and contributions to industry engagement on critical areas such as cladding.

Our Supply Chain

The contractors, suppliers and business partners that provide services to us reflect the services we provide, therefore we aim to work with ethical, professional and value for money providers for our clients and we are committed to working fairly and responsibly with our supply chain during requisition, performance and payment stages of their engagement with us. Such commitments include:

Ethical and Legal Concerns	We require contractors to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (subject to there size) and the Bribery Act 2010 and provide training to our staff to recognize breaches of these acts.
Value For Money and Procurement	We source contractors to work with us and our clients who provide value for money and have a tendering system in place for contracts awarded.
Payment	We provide regular bi-weekly, monthly and ad-hoc payments to our supply chain and aim to adhere to payment terms as far as possible, subject to client funding. We do not enforce payment terms on our suppliers.
Vetting	For contractors that work with us for clients, we have a vetting and approval system in place which covers such areas as insurance, quality of service and H&S method statements. Such approval is reviewed annually.
Local	We aim to work with local, smaller contractors and suppliers where possible and viable and this in turn tends to reflect in the quality and commitment of the services that we provide.

Our Environmental Impact

The main operating subsidiaries of the FPS group have achieved Carbon Neutral Status (PAS 2060) and they measure and reassess their environmental footprint annually. In addition, in 2020 we have made further strides in reducing this impact through digitization of business processes and reduced travel, partly as a countermeasure to the Covid pandemic but also with the introduction of new customer portals.

The group maintains a separate Sustainability Policy, the key principles of which are set out here:

Endeavouring to comply with all applicable environmental legislation and endeavouring to ensure that our sub-contractors also comply with such legislation;

Ensuring we maintain a carbon-neutral status in our brands and continuing to monitor our carbon footprint;

Promoting e-communication with our end customers through the usage of portals, email, and all other non-paper communication;

Batching our physical property visits as far as possible to reduce the impact of road and rail travel;

Using energy-efficient facilities in our offices and promote energy-efficient lighting and other facilities to our clients in the buildings we manage;

Promoting virtual communication and meeting channels versus physical channels where possible;

Encouraging our staff and sub-contractors to reduce pollution and consumption of the planets’ resources through re-use, recycling and the promotion of our cycle to work scheme; and

Reviewing this policy and the related working practices, procedures, and any targets that we set as a result of implementing this policy.

Community & Charitable Engagement

Though our group is small and distributed across a wide geographical area, we actively participate in and support both local and charitable events and encourage our staff to engage meaningfully in the communities we exist within. As part of our services to our clients, we also strive to assist them in community building and placemaking within the developments that we manage. Such initiatives include:

Charity	The FPS group supports a chosen charitable organization and reviews such support annually. For the past two years, the chosen charity is the Trussell Trust. The group has organized several money raising events for this charity, including raffles, bake sales, easter egg donations and fun runs. Staff have also assisted with fundraising in conjunction with local Tesco outlets. Staff outings have also been arranged to assist other local charities such as a horse sanctuary and community playground.
Sports Clubs	The group has sponsored a local youth football team.
Supply Chain	The group aims to contract with local companies and contractors where possible and viable in the regions we operate.
Community Living	For the developments that we manage, our staff have undertaken several initiatives to improve community living such as carol singing, erecting Christmas trees and encouraging participation in local events.

Measurement & Ongoing Review

The group is mindful that the needs and wants of all stakeholders change regularly. As part of this commitment, we aim to review our CSR policy regularly and amend where necessary to reflect any material changes to our impact on stakeholders, the environment and society as a whole. As part of these reviews, an evidence-based approach will be taken which will look at the measurement of achievement against what is set out. Such appraisal methods will include:

Benefits Benchmarking	Benchmarking of benefits against industry norms will be carried out periodically.
Staff Surveys	Staff can be surveyed annually to review their assessment of how we perform as an employer in meeting their needs and making necessary improvements.
# Grievances	Staff grievances and complaints will be a measure of performance of our people management.
Sickness levels	The rate of staff sickness will be an indicator of staff engagement.
Staff Turnover	Retention management is key and we will measure how we compare versus industry standards and aim to beat those standards.
Client & Customer Surveys	Customer and client surveys to be carried out periodically throughout the year with outputs reviewed for improvement measures that can be taken.
# Complaints	The number of complaints will be a measure of customer satisfaction with our service.
# Internal Promotions and Training Engagements	This will measure our performance in staff progression and opportunity giving.
Carbon Footprint	Annual measurement of carbon footprint and reduction of this footprint will be an important yardstick for the group.
# Events Logged	Measuring the number of community engagements will allow us to evaluate how effective we are in community and charitable engagement.