Corporate social responsibility – what it means to LMS
LMS is committed to making a positive impact in the communities we work in, for our planet and its people, today and in the future.
Corporate social responsibility means different things to different businesses.
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For LMS, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an evolving model that ensures we continue to be socially and environmentally accountable and act responsibly in all that we do. We aim to add value in and beyond our commercial activities to support our employees, stakeholders, and the communities in which we work.
Our CSR strategy, which incorporates ethical, social, environmental, charitable, and financial factors, along with reflecting our values and those of the wider community, empowers us to contribute positively to our society and the environment.
We proactively align our behaviours and actions against our CSR strategy to ensure we achieve sustainable growth whilst demonstrating a high degree of social responsibility. The actions we take today help to create a sustainable future. We also engage with suppliers to ensure they are aligned to LMS and the way we manage the social, economic, and environmental impact of our activities.
Below are just a few key areas that are included in our CSR strategy.
Treating people fairly
LMS is committed to equality, diversity, and inclusivity; we provide our employees with training around these topics, including discrimination and harassment, and advise of the appropriate reporting channels to help create a safe environment where everyone feels supported.
Sustainability
Sustainability is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising future generations.
The concept of sustainability is composed of three parts: economic, environmental, and social. LMS promotes sustainability through various actions and behaviours, such as decreasing waste, conserving energy, looking for ways to reduce our carbon emissions, supporting measures to enhance biodiversity, encouraging employees to be more environmentally minded, and supporting organisations that work toward a more sustainable future.
LMS HQ
Based at Cheshire Oaks Business Park, our offices are located within a 1980s, recently refurbished two-storey building. LMS HQ allows us to embrace a hybrid model that promotes collaboration, flexibility, and diversity, appreciating employees’ different ways of working while helping them achieve a positive work-life balance.
Our hybrid model also benefits the environment: with most employees working from home several days a week, this results in fewer vehicles on the road during busy times, thus decreasing Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs).
But we recognise that working from home can also bring challenges, such as fuelling a greater sense of isolation and causing barriers to effective collaboration, which is why we had our offices refurbished.
In 2023, this project involved upcycling our 1980s desks into stylish new workstations and reusing existing partitions to create office spaces. LMS HQ inspires creativity, collaboration, and communication within a purpose-built environment while ensuring it also promotes flexibility and hybrid working.
Furthermore, LMS HQ is a welcoming and multifunctional space that doesn’t compromise our sustainability objectives. Aiming to reduce our impact on the planet, we champion practices that contribute to a sustainable future. Paperless working, for example, is more secure for our employees and partners and contributes towards a greener way of working, a practice we’ve been able to adopt due to our hot desking and hybrid model.
Our community and charitable support
At LMS, we aim to create lasting value for our employees and the wider society. We invest our time, money, and skills in supporting the communities in which we operate to tackle some of society’s most pressing issues. Our Employee Voice representatives – made up of staff from various LMS departments to ensure full representation – help agree to our charitable commitments.
LMS donates to local and national charities and supports and organises fundraising events, including those in the local community and initiatives selected by our employees.
In particular, we are big supporters of St Rocco’s Hospice; since 2023, we have participated in the hospice’s annual dragon boat race, alongside teams from different organisations, to help raise funds for the charity.
Supporting St Rocco’s Hospice means a lot to our CEO, Nick Chadbourne: ‘The hospice does some amazing work, of which I have experienced first-hand. I have spent time there with family on the most difficult days of my life, but the support we received was incredible. It’s important to me that we support fundraising events, such as the dragon boat race, and donate towards St Rocco’s Hospice, since it relies on these to ensure it can provide help to people who need it.’
Besides donating and taking part in fundraising activities, we actively encourage our employees to voluntarily give their time, skills, and expertise to support local projects. With our practical scheme, we offer every employee paid time off to contribute to local initiatives. We also organise events for employees to participate in, providing volunteering opportunities within meaningful activities, such as litter picking and our biodiversity project at LMS HQ.
When an LMS employee raises money for a charity, we can match the contribution to a certain point, as long as it doesn’t exceed the maximum value we can offer. We aim to promote charitable efforts, showing our support to our employees and helping make a difference to the charity of their choice.