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Vodafone Group Plc
23 September 2020
23 September 2020
VODAFONE EMBEDS PURPOSE COMMITMENTS IN ITS SUPPLY CHAIN
20% of supplier selection criteria now based on commitments to
diversity and the environment
Vodafone Group will evaluate suppliers on their commitments to
diversity, inclusion and the environment when they tender for new
work, ensuring that Vodafone's supply chain contributes towards
Vodafone's purpose to improve the lives of 1 billion people, while
halving its environmental impact by 2025.
From October 2020, a supplier's 'purpose' will account for 20%
of the evaluation criteria for a 'Request For Quotation' (RFQ) to
provide Vodafone with products or services. Suppliers will be
assessed on their commitment and performance to diversity &
inclusion, the environment and health & safety in categories
where it is a risk.
Vodafone Group CFO Margherita Della Valle said: "We want
Vodafone's supply chain partners to be aligned with and support our
desire to build a resilient, sustainable and inclusive digital
society. From October 2020, we are evolving our vendor assessment
criteria to give significant weighting to our suppliers'
commitments on diversity, inclusion and the environment.
"We will be providing practical support for our smaller
suppliers, providing help and tools to ensure that vendors of all
sizes have the opportunity to align with our purpose when we
consider them for contracts."
For new tenders, suppliers will be asked to demonstrate policies
and procedures that support diversity in the workplace, including
gender, ethnicity, LGBT+, age and disability criteria. This will
include policies on equal pay, and whether suppliers have publicly
reported targets in relation to the percentage of female employees
company-wide and at senior management levels.
The RFQ process will examine whether suppliers have
environmental policies to address carbon reduction, renewable
energy, plastic reduction, circular economy and product lifecycle.
Vodafone will ask suppliers whether they publicly report their
carbon emissions to CDP, a global organisation that supports
companies to identify and disclose their environmental impact.
Vodafone will also examine supplier commitments to a Science Based
Target for carbon emission reductions, whether they plan to use
renewable energy, or can demonstrate a Life Cycle Assessment for
their products and services.
On tenders where health and safety issues are in scope, such as
high-risk work, this will account for 10%, and diversity &
inclusion and environmental criteria will account for 5% each.
In July 2020, Vodafone concluded two pilots for major tenders
with global, local and SME suppliers, confirming that the revised
vendor selection criteria successfully favour those with the
highest commitment and action on diversity and the environment.
To allow SMEs and smaller, local companies to compete against
larger corporations, Vodafone will introduce positive scoring for
that group of suppliers if they commit to introducing policies that
align with Vodafone's purpose. In this way, we aim to drive
positive change in the supply chain. Vodafone will also support
SMEs through a hub on www.vodafone.com, containing guidance, tools,
templates and training.
In addition, Vodafone has introduced an 'Innovation Fast Lane'
scheme to help with cashflow for small, innovative technology
start-ups. This has simplified contracting and enables lower
payment terms, capped at a maximum of 21 days from the date of
receipt of invoice.
Today's announcement supports Vodafone's aim of building a
digital society that enhances socio-economic progress, embraces
everyone and does not come at the cost of our planet.
Vodafone believes in a connected digital society, where data
flows at speed, connecting people, communities and things to the
internet like never before. Gigabit networks, IoT and mobile
financial services enable incredible innovation and technologies to
be developed to help make our lives easier, healthier, smarter and
more fulfilling.
Recent events have shown us the importance of being connected.
Equal opportunities are created when people of all ages, genders,
socioeconomic positions and abilities are given access to the
connected world. We believe in inclusion for all. So we're building
networks in the world's most remote communities, ensuring all
generations have access to education, and re-imagining technology
to make sure no one is left behind in the digital society:
www.everyoneconnected.com .
We also believe that urgent and sustained action is required to
address climate change and that business success should not come at
a cost to the environment. Our focus on energy efficiency,
renewable energy supply and network waste will help us to mitigate
the growth of our business and our customers' increasing demand for
data.
- ends -
For further information:
Vodafone Group
Media Relations Investor Relations
GroupMedia@vodafone.com IR@vodafone.co.uk
About Vodafone
Vodafone is a leading technology communications company keeping
society connected and building a digital future for everyone.
Vodafone is focused on two scaled and differentiated regional
platforms in Europe and Africa. We operate mobile and fixed
networks in 22 countries and partner with mobile networks in 48
more. As at 30 June 2020 we had over 300m mobile customers, more
than 27m fixed broadband customers and over 22m TV customers.
We connect for a better future. We are optimistic about how
technology and connectivity can enhance the future and improve
people's lives. Through our business, we aim to build a digital
society that enhances socio-economic progress, embraces everyone
and does not come at the cost of our planet. That is why we have
committed to improve one billion lives and halve our environmental
impact by 2025.
For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com .
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END
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