Purpose:

The objective of the purchasing function is to manage the delivery of a high value, low cost supply base upon which Stannah can achieve sustained competitive advantage, both now and in the future.

Best practice in Stannah Stairlifts
Stannah purchasing policies and procedures comply with national and international legislations. Stannah will endeavour to preserve the highest standards of honesty, integrity, impartiality and objectivity, and treat all suppliers in the same fair and equitable manner, without bias or prejudice. Stannah recognises the need for contracts to provide benefits for both suppliers and Stannah. Stannah will ensure that suppliers are paid promptly after the approval of properly presented invoices, or in accordance with the terms of contract. Stannah will not use its buying power unfairly in the treatment of suppliers. To help guard against this, Stannah endeavours not to willingly represent more that 30% of turnover of any given supplier.

All purchasing agreements are placed in accordance with Stannah's "Terms and Conditions of Purchase". High-value or long-term agreements may also have additional terms and conditions applied, according to the requirements of the specific transaction.

Code of conduct for Stannah staff in their relationships with suppliers and contractors
Create and maintain appropriate professional relationships with suppliers and adhere to the "Personal Ethical Code" of CIPS, (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply). Adhere to the principles of commercial confidentiality, whether explicitly stated within a confidentiality agreement or otherwise. Provide accurate, adequate and timely information so as not to mislead suppliers and potential suppliers. To be fair, efficient, decisive and courteous. Employees will not discriminate on the basis on gender, ethnic origin or religion.

Employees will endeavour to not willingly:-
>  Use suppliers which exploit people unfairly.
>  Use suppliers which disregard health and safety legislation.
>  Use suppliers which damage the environment.
>  Use suppliers which pirate intellectual property.

All other things being equal, Stannah will:
>  Preferentially use local suppliers.
>  Preferentially purchase products and services that do not harm
the environment.

Continuous Improvement
The Stannah business centre is underpinned by a Continuous Improvement culture, and we encourage improvement suggestions from our staff and our suppliers. We aim to work with fewer, but demonstrably superior suppliers and therefore seek to collaborate with suppliers to improve quality, reduce costs and increase service levels.

Our customers and suppliers
At Stannah we are passionate about putting our customers first, working with honesty, diligence and integrity to meet and exceed our customers' needs. Treating our suppliers fairly and professionally is paramount to our success. We work with them to create beneficial and professional relationships for
mutual gain, whilst expecting them to operate responsibly and ethically in turn.

Where possible, we choose to use local suppliers. For example, Andover companies Air Sea Logistics and Sameday have worked closely with us for a number of years, during which time the companies have helped to reduce transport costs on additional deliveries.

Our Corporate Social Responsibility
Welcome to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Statement from the Stannah Group of businesses. First and foremost, we have designed the Statement to outline how Stannah is developing corporate social responsibility frameworks to guide the way we do business. These frameworks will help sustain and develop the traditional, core values that have guided our business since its very beginning.

In addition to outlining our priorities for developing CSR measures and practices, our Statement describes all those standards and objectives that govern our product design, manufacture and customer service, and relationships with our employees, suppliers and stakeholders worldwide. Finally, we hope our Statement gives you a clear view of everything Stannah has achieved – and plans to achieve – in the area of social responsibility. By describing where we stand now and expressing our objectives for the future, we are sure it will do much to help us build on the values that have always been at the heart of our Group.

To download and read the Stannah CSR document please click here