TSB’s Responsible Supplier Charter

Introduction

Luis Zambrano, Senior Manager, Procurement

As the world’s first savings bank, our history is rooted in social good. Today we are committed to creating social and environmental, as well as economic value. As part of our Do What Matters plan, we have developed a Responsible Supplier Charter. This Charter outlines our commitments in the areas of ethical business conduct, supply chain, environmental sustainability, human rights and diversity and inclusion. It also shows the expectations that we have of our suppliers in these areas. 

We rely on our suppliers to help deliver our purpose for our customers to be money confident and live a life made more. We are committed to working with our suppliers to make sure that the principles set out in this Responsible Supplier Charter are met by TSB, our suppliers and throughout our supply chain. This includes ensuring that all our suppliers meet and exceed, where possible, the requirements set out in legislation, regulation and good industry practice for themselves and their own supply chain.

We carry out due diligence with potential and existing suppliers and this Charter sits alongside our Hellios Financial Services Supplier Qualification System (FSQS), the online portal for you to submit information and compliance data about your organisation. More information on Hellios FSQS can be found here and our guide to FSQS qualification can be found here. Information regarding how to comply with our policies can be found here. 

We welcome open feedback from our suppliers to help improve our supply chain, particularly on the environment and sustainability agenda.

Please read our Responsible Supplier Charter and help us achieve our objectives by doing your part as our supplier and meeting these principles.
 

Our commitments and what we expect of our suppliers.

Our relationships with suppliers are based on fairness, transparency, and integrity. It is our ambition to be part of a supply chain that is based on these values, and we encourage our suppliers to engage with their suppliers on the same basis. We also expect all our suppliers to manage their own suppliers in a responsible and sustainable manner.

Our charter is focused on the following key themes:
 

   
Business conduct (Supply Chain)
Environmental Sustainability
Human Rights
Diversity & Inclusion
   


 

For each of these themes, we have set out what we are committed to and what we expect from our suppliers.

Business Conduct (Supply Chain)

We are committed to:
 

  • Following our own Supplier Policy and standards for sourcing, onboarding, management, purchase to pay and contract exit.

  • We will ensure that the highest standard of professionalism, integrity and governance is adhered to in all of our activities.

  • Compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations in relation to sanctions, money laundering, data privacy, fraud, bribery, and corruption.

  • Working collaboratively to encourage and support improvement in the supply chain and the way services are delivered to customers.

  • Paying suppliers promptly upon receipt of a valid invoice. Typically, all invoices will be paid within 15 days and for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), our pledge is to pay within 10 business days.  

  • We use external 3rd parties such as Dun and Bradstreet and Craft to provide supplier intelligence on potential and existing TSB suppliers and their sub-contractors. These providers process publicly available information from sites such as LinkedIn to provide supplier, alerts, and risk information to us for review. We do this under our legitimate interests to ensure we manage risk effectively.

     

     

 

Our expectations of suppliers:
 

  • Adhere to applicable national and international laws and regulations.

  • Comply with our policy due diligence process by using Hellios Financial Services Qualification Scheme (FSQS) to evidence compliance to applicable TSB policies.

  • Manage your own suppliers in a responsible and sustainable manner.

  • Ensure you are paying your suppliers promptly in line with the contractual terms set out with your suppliers.

  • Eradicate any corruption, extortion, or bribery within your supply chain.

  • Manage any conflicts of interest that may arise.

Together we can achieve:

Strong and secure supply chains that operate in line with best business practice without any corruption and wrongdoing.


Environmental Sustainability

We are committed to pro-actively managing and reducing our environmental impact.

We are committed to:
 

  • Reducing the environmental impact of our own operations by becoming net zero no later than 2030.

  • Setting science-based targets through the Science Based Targets Initiative and Net Zero Banking Alliance.

  • Measure and reduce our scope emissions, including working with suppliers to measure our supply chain emissions and work collaboratively to reduce our environmental impact.

  • Ensure our annual business travel emissions remain below 50% compared to our 2019 baseline.

  • Reduce paper usage through promoting paperless processes and actively reducing printing.

  • Phase out petrol- and diesel-powered company vehicles and introducing a wide range of electric and hybrid vehicles, leading to a fully electric company car fleet by 2026.

     

Our expectations of suppliers:
 

  • Abide by all applicable local, national, and international legislation and regulation relating to protecting the environment.

  • Carry out your business activities with respect to the environment, setting challenging carbon reduction targets and measuring, managing and reporting on your environmental performance.

  • Ensure that climate change is embedded within your strategy to ensure that all related risks are appropriately managed.

  • Collaborate with us in order to help us reduce our environmental impact and reach our net zero goal by 2030, including measurement and sharing of emissions data related to goods and services that we procure.

Together we can achieve:

A supply chain which upholds high standards in environmental protection and actively collaborates to help reduce the environmental impact and mitigate environmental risks.


Human Rights

We are committed to our responsibilities to respect and uphold human rights across both our own business and across our supply chain.

We are committed to:
 

  • Meeting the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA), including the annual update and publication of our own MSA Statement.

  • Making sure that we never use child labour, forced labour or unacceptable working hours or conditions.

  • Enabling colleagues and managers to agree flexible working arrangements which work for our colleagues and customers and ensuring that we do not enter into zero-hour contract arrangements.

  • Ensuring our colleagues are rewarded fairly and appropriately for the role that they do and are paid at least the real Living Wage.

  • Monitoring key suppliers to make sure they pay employees the National Living Wage.

  • Providing a safe and clean working environment through pro-active management and controls that minimise health and safety risks for all employees and meet local and international health and safety laws.

     

Our expectations of suppliers:
 

  • Comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA), including the annual update and publication of your own MSA Statement if applicable.

  • Respecting the human rights of the local communities within your Business Operations.

  • Identify and help mitigate any social and ethical risks that are found within your Business Sector and your own supply chain.

  • Provide a healthy and safe working environment in accordance with national and international legislation.

  • Ensure that working hours are in accordance with local regulation and industry best practice and avoid zero-hours contracts.

  • Ensuring that your colleagues are rewarded fairly and appropriately for the role that they do and are paid at least the real Living Wage.

  • Provide formal mechanisms to allow staff to raise concerns of operational or business practices that violate laws, regulations or company values and for these concerns to be addressed and resolved in a transparent manner, without fear of retaliation.

Together we can achieve:

A supply chain that upholds the highest standards in human rights, thus eradicating modern slavery from that chain.


Diversity and Inclusion

TSB continues to drive diverse and equal opportunities for all through our Do What Matters plan. We are committed to building a diverse and balanced workforce that reflects the customers that we serve.

We are committed to:
 

  • Eliminating all forms of discrimination on the grounds of disability, age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, pregnancy, and maternity.

  • Ensuring that our policies and processes are inclusive and accessible to all.

  • Ensuring all TSB employees complete annual Diversity and Inclusion training.

  • Achieving and building a diverse and inclusive workplace in partnership with our ExCo sponsored intersectional Inclusion Network.

  • Treating our suppliers with respect and integrity and promoting inclusion and diversity throughout our supply chains.

     

Our expectations of suppliers:
 

  • Meet the requirements of the Equality Act (2010), ensuring that all products, services and environments are fully inclusive and accessible for customers, clients and staff.

  • Seek to eliminate all forms of discrimination on the grounds of disability, age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity within their organisation and across their own supply chain.

  • Promote and build inclusive workplaces.

Together we can achieve:

A diverse and balanced workforce that reflects the customers we serve and enables our colleagues to reach their full potential regardless of their background.