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Corporate responsibility overview

At Safestore our Corporate Social Responsibility programme plays a key role in how we shape and run our business. During the year we have developed our strategic plan which has been endorsed by the Group Board and Department Heads. This enables our people to play a pivotal role in developing Safestore in a sustainable, socially inclusive and ethically responsible manner.

Our strategic approach is consistent with our overall purpose statement and Company values. This ensures that our CR commitment is embedded in every part of our business, delivering maximum value to our internal and external stakeholders.

When setting objectives and evaluating results we focus on four primary areas: our marketplace, our people, our community and our environment, encapsulated into key policy statements. Chaired by our Operations Director our CR committee is responsible for the delivery of our strategic plan working cross functionally with our colleagues to deliver maximum benefit.

Our marketplace

We focus our approach on providing easily accessible and clearly communicated information on our business to all interested parties including investors and shareholders, customers, team members, suppliers and third party advisors.

We will:

— maintain a customer engagement programme that continually aspires to deliver "best in class" standards of customer service;

— support the evolution of the broader self-storage sector and actively participate in industry forums and conferences to share best practice;

— be an active member of the Self Storage Association; and

— work proactively with council planners and the broader community regarding our new store expansion programme.

Our environment

We place sustainable business practice high on our agenda and are proactive in seeking out solutions that deliver a positive net impact on the environment.
When carrying out our business activities Safestore endeavours to:

— be sensitive in the use of scarce resources, minimising waste production and promoting reuse and recycling where possible;

— communicate our commitment to the environment throughout our business;

— continue to deploy cardboard waste disposal across our estate;

— use our communications platform to promote conservation activities to our main stakeholders;

— ensure the safe handling and disposal of products;

— support ethical purchasing by minimising the environmental impact of the products we buy and sell;

— consider eco design solutions when building new stores and achieve a "Very Good" BREEAM rating; and

— actively seek out green energy solutions.

Our community

We strive to actively seek out innovative solutions to engage our business with the local communities in which we operate. Our primary goal is to optimise the use of available resources so that our support is far reaching, exceeding that of a cash value or donation through the effective deployment of the unique skills and resources our business has to offer.

We will:

— provide national charity support through partnering with a charity of the year striving to build long-term relationships;

— provide local support for the communities in which we operate through our "charity room in every store" scheme;

— use our communications platform to assist charitable partners in raising awareness of their cause inspiring others to get involved;

— consider requests for community support helping initiatives where we feel our available resources can add the most value; and

— meet our charitable partners regularly to nurture existing relationships and objectively consider new charitable requests.

Our people

We place our people right at the heart of our business and are committed to promoting their learning and development, health, well being and ethical pursuits. We provide a healthy and safe environment for our people, customers, suppliers and contractors. Safestore always complies with current legislation and endeavours to continuously exceed legal requirements and local regulations by:

Health and safety

— conducting regular health and safety reviews across our estate inclusive of the review of risk assessments and accident reports to identify, control, prevent and nullify potential risks;

— ensuring our health and safety committee meets regularly to review issues, process, policy and actions harnessing a culture where health and safety always sits high on our agenda; and

— delivering accredited health and safety training and refresher training relevant to job role as standard to all employees.

Equality and diversity

— being an equal opportunities employer that maintains a workforce that reflects the uniqueness of the communities in which we operate;

— ensuring policies and practices are in place that treat all employees fairly and equally. All employees receive the same treatment regardless of their ethnic origin, gender, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief, or disability;

— continuing to nurture the talents of our people and the benefit they bring to our varying business functions through a clearly defined and transparent competency framework;

— honing a culture of fair treatment regarding recruitment and promotion, making decisions solely based on ability, aptitude and role requirements as outlined in our competency framework; and

— maintaining an active succession planning strategy that considers the ability of internal employees before recruiting externally.

Work life balance

— delivering through our team members engagement programme support to our people in achieving a healthy work life balance;

— providing a range of initiatives that celebrate the cultural diversity of our colleagues including graduate internships, an apprenticeship scheme developed in association with Street League, a tax free cycle to work scheme and "Busy Bees" child support;

— encouraging our team members to engage in our accredited Careerstore training and development programme providing them with individual training and a tailored development path; and

— engaging in programmes that encourage our people to self learn and develop with funding for professional qualifications.

For more about our corporate responsibility visit the section of our website.

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