April 20, 2018

Sodexo has published its second Public Service Pledge, a strategic and ethical set of commitments to its customers, employees and communities.

Sodexo has published its second Public Service Pledge, a strategic and ethical set of commitments to its customers, employees and communities.

The pledge identifies key public service areas and initiatives which the facilities management provider promises to measure and report on annually which demonstrates its commitment to social value and a public service ethos.

Calling for an independent industry regulator, increasing its SME spend to 32% of its total spend and increasing female representation in management to 40% by 2025, are some of the targets outlined in the manifesto. The company has also pledged to employ 40 ex-offenders and 200 ex-services personnell this year.

Through the 17-point pledge, Sodexo will ensure it is driving ethical values across all services throughout the business - in both the private and public sector - and is making a positive long-term impact.

As a strategic government supplier, with contracts in healthcare, education, justice, defence and government services, Sodexo has pledged to improve contract processes and to provide information to government on its public sector contracts on a regular basis.

Sean Haley, Chairman of Sodexo UK & Ireland, said, "As a business involved in running public services we sign a social contract, as well as a commercial one, so must commit to a public service ethos. Our Public Service Pledge is a tangible reference point for us, our clients, partners, suppliers, customers and the wider public to ensure we keep this public service ethos at the heart of our operations. We are eager to prove the benefits of public-private partnership and how it can bring lasting positive impact to wider society."

The Public Service Pledge covers the following areas.

Transparency, business integrity and loyalty. Sodexo pledges to:

• develop services for our clients that measure outcomes
• ensure robust contract management to drive agreed client objectives
• ensure all public sector contracts undergo an independent client satisfaction survey
• encourage the Government to introduce an independent regulator to provide oversight of contract management

Sustainability and community. Sodexo pledges to:

• deliver on its Better Tomorrow 2025 targets with nine measurable commitments
• prioritise partnering with staff mutuals, small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary and community sector organisations in the delivery of public services
• increase SME spend to £200m – 32% of total spend - by 2025
• double the number of employees volunteering in the coming year
• abide by a code of ethical practice and, through our Business Integrity Code, it will not tolerate any practice that is not born of honesty, integrity and fairness, anywhere in the world where it does business

People, skills and equal opportunity. Sodexo pledges to:

• increase the representation of women in its top 1,200 positions globally and, in the UK and Ireland, its aspiration is to increase representation from 33% to 36% by 2020 and to 40% by 2025
• become a Disability Confident Leader as part of the Government’s Disability Confident Scheme
• undertake regular pay audits in the UK and Ireland and to publish the results
• implement the living wage where possible
• constantly drive engagement of people whilst working towards the best practice framework of Investors in People
• engage 800 employees on apprentice programmes by the end of 2018
• employ 200 ex-services personnel by the end of 2018
• employ 40 ex-offenders per year

To view the full Public Service Pledge, visit https://uk.sodexo.com/pledge.html