Environmental,
Social &
Governance
Policy.

1. Introduction

Our Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) policy refers to our responsibility toward our wider environment. This includes (but is not limited to) people, values, other organisations and nature.

We believe that a great business is powered by great people who embrace the principles of corporate social responsibility and build customer trust.

The social responsibility of The Fluent Money Group is to contribute to the world just as it contributes to us.

 

2. Scope

This policy applies to the Fluent Money Group, and all of its constituent brands.

 

3. Objective

We aim to be a responsible business, which strives to achieve the highest standards of ethics and professionalism

To this end, our social responsibility falls into two categories – Compliance and Contribution.

 

4. Our Standards

We believe that a company that is run in the long-term interests of its shareholders should have values that respect its responsibilities to not only its employees, suppliers and customers but also the environment and society as a whole.

It should also adopt business practices throughout the company that are consistent with its culture and values.

The Fluent Money Group will::

• Treat our customers in a manner that falls in line with the Financial Conduct Authority Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) outcomes, and to ensure that these outcomes are woven into the fabric of our company
• Respect and act on the law, our regulators, and feedback received from our customers
• Adhere to our own internal policies, and constantly review how we work to ensure that we maximise our obligations to all stakeholders
• Ensure that our business practices are legitimate and in line with our own corporate values of achieving the correct outcome for the customer, first time
• Ensure that partnerships and collaborations with external partners are open, transparent, and in the best interest of our customers
• Do our part in the world wide fight against financial crime by ensuring our controls against money laundering, bribery and corruption are regularly reviewed and are fit for purpose
• Continually review our working environment so as to not put at risk the health and safety of our employees
• Avoid harming or otherwise negatively impacting the lives of people local to our offices. We will monitor this by ensuring we are considerate with how we treat and use the local area, and listen to feedback from our neighbours
• Support diversity and inclusion in the workplace

 

5. Contribution

Our promise to our stakeholders is to always strive to meet or exceed ethical, legal, commercial, and public expectations of how a company should conduct business.

We have developed guidelines for conducting our business that support and align with the values important to our customers, their employees, and communities.

 

Our People

This principle - taking care of your people - is at the heart of creating a great place to work, where people are appreciated, engaged, productive and thriving. Somewhere they actually want to work.

At Fluent, we strive to ensure all colleagues enjoy their work, and have opportunities to impress our customers through their friendly expertise. As such, we continue to invest in our colleagues through offering professional qualifications and leadership development programmes and actively look for ways in which we can promote and increase the diversity of our workforce. If we look after our employees, they will look after our customers.

We also actively encourage our people to keep fit and healthy, and we offer the Vitality Healthcare scheme to all staff. This incorporates private healthcare with rewards schemes and incentives for leading an active lifestyle.

 

Helping Others

We support local charities through our own charitable initiatives, and get involved/contribute to initiatives spearheaded by our partners.

We currently work with Education for the Children (EFTC), who work to provide educational scholarships to underprivileged children in Guatemala. Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with terrible rates of violence, illiteracy and malnutrition. EFTC aim to help these children to move through the educational system, to help them break free from the cycle of poverty that exists in the region.

Through our CEO, Kevin Hindley, we also work with KidsOut, who raise money to give children who have suffered domestic abuse with positive early-life experiences by providing them with opportunities and activities otherwise not available to them. From trips to theme parks to providing resources for providing multi-sensory environments for children with learning disabilities, the work carried out by Kidsout is making a massive difference to children across the UK.

The Fluent Money Group raises money for our chosen charity partners through methods including employee donations at our annual Fluent Review event, charity golf events and by donating a share of our fees for each completed application.

 

Our Environment

We know that our work has an impact on the environment and that we have a duty to manage that impact in a responsible and ethical manner. We do this through identifying all significant environmental impacts and putting processes into place to prevent, reduce and mitigate them. This also makes good business sense.

Our building, the Horwich Loco Works, is a heritage site, and incorporates period features from the industrial age of Britain. We respect the history and importance of this building by making sure that we maintain its character and features, and strive to be good custodians of the site.

We ensure that all of our paper waste is disposed of through responsibly sourced companies who support recycling.

In terms of power usage, Fluent has invested in technologies to minimise power drain, and are currently considering installation of electric car recharging points.

 

6. Review

This policy and the obligations recorded therein will be reviewed and audited at least annually in order to ensure that it is up-to-date, and as a sense check that we are living up to our own standards.