Ethical policy

Our Ethical Policy

Our Vision, quite simply, is to give education professionals a realistically priced software tool to make their networked classrooms really work for teaching and learning.

In doing so, our management team is committed to ensuring the company retains a set of core values and approaches to the process of doing business. The protection of these is of fundamental importance.

We are committed to:

• Ensuring our values, including integrity, transparency, inclusiveness and responsibility, underpin all that we do.
• Supporting the education of our young people by making every effort to keep our software realistically priced.
• Designing our systems and processes so that the business can run as efficiently as possible to minimize the costs passed on to schools
• Working with our employees and resellers so they conduct their business to the standard set out, and that the policies we have in place, which provide guidance on the ethical standards by which we operate, are adhered to.
• Treating our customers exactly as we would like to be treated, in a friendly and timely manner; our customer support will reflect this at all times
• We are proud of the quality of our work; we strive for excellence in everything we do.

We set out here the principles which underlie all that we do and the key commitments that we make to our customers.

Purpose and Values of the Business

Our purpose, like that of any business, is to make a financial gain. We do believe however, that in fulfilling this, we need to maintain awareness of the social and environmental implications of the work we do.

Therefore, with a social agenda firmly at the heart of our business, our central commitment is to continue to offer AB Tutor Control with a realistic pricing structure to ensure it is within the budget of as wide a range of schools as possible. We will always explicitly balance this objective against competing financial imperatives.

Customer Relations

We are committed to:

• Creating, developing and sustaining strong and long-lasting relationships with our customers.
• Achieving a thorough understanding of our customers' priorities, needs and working environments in order to design our systems and software to dovetail with their practices.
• Delivering continuing high-quality products and support.
• Ensuring that our pricing structure is transparent, that there are no additional costs hidden in small print and that our customers can at any time produce inclusive quotes directly from our website.
• helping them protect the integrity of their computer environments by carefully controlling the distribution of AB Tutor Control.

Suppliers

We are committed to:

• Creating, developing and sustaining strong and long-lasting relationships with our suppliers.
• Engaging with suppliers who will promote supply chain efficiency to the benefit of all parties, especially schools.
• Working only with those suppliers whose principles, policies and practices are compatible with our own.
• Ensuring our bills are settled promptly.
• Ensuring co-operation is given to achieve quality and efficiency.
• Ensure that no bribery or excess hospitality accepted or given.

Environment

Our environment is important to us and our future generations and we and our employees have a role to play in care of the environment. We, as a company, will take positive action to protect the environment.

In implementing our policy we will seek to ensure:

• That where possible, we source our supplies from like-minded environmentally friendly companies.
• That the majority of our business is conducted electronically and that we only print when really necessary and, as standard, our printing is set to draft settings and double sided.
• Wherever possible we will recycle items such as paper and plastics.
• We use rechargeable batteries and low energy light bulbs
• All our electronic equipment is switched off when not in use, and not left in 'stand-by' mode.
• We will continue to monitor our environmental performance and seek continually to make improvements where possible.

Employees

Everyone working for AB Tutor will receive a copy, either electronically or on paper, of our Code of Conduct and Ethical Policy. It will be part of a new employee's information package and it will be available on our corporate website and intranet.

We take a view that if AB Tutor looks after its staff, then the staff will look after the customers. In order to enhance the motivation and self-esteem of employees, we will provide effective management and guidance, maintain necessary workplace discipline and foster a vital workplace climate.

• We will undertake an annual social and environmental audit and report.
• We will secure awards for our work which recognise our ethical approach e.g. Investors in People, British Quality Foundation.
• We will ensure best practice in equal opportunities and accessibility issues.