At United Utilities we are proud of our strong commitment to high ethical standards in the conduct of our business. We are focused on behaving with integrity, fairness and observance of legal requirements at all times.
With our suppliers and business associates we seek constructive business relationships and aim to:
- Foster long term agreements within clearly defined boundaries of contractual responsibility.
- Work with organisations whose business conduct, principles and standards are compatible with our own and who meet or are committed to seeking to match our own corporate social responsibility (CSR) and supply chain sustainability standards.
- Treat our business associates with appropriate standards of ethical behavior.
Our overall vision is to be a world class operator of utility infrastructure and our values of Team, Trust, Passion and Commitment provide the right business environment for us to achieve our vision. Our values reflect the high standards we set ourselves, our suppliers and business associates.
Sustainable Supply Chain
At United Utilities we are committed to ensuring that work that contributes to our success considers the needs of the present generation and anticipates those of the future. We have set out our sustainable supply chain strategy and appointed a dedicated sustainable supply chain manager to help carry it out.
Our strategy is based on the Government's Flexible Framework for sustainable supply chain set out in the national action plan 'Procuring the Future'. The framework is sponsored by both Defra and the Treasury and balances economic, environmental and social considerations such as whole life costing, expenditure analysis and best value.
We are already using the category management process to identify where we can improve sustainability criteria in our tendering process and to work more closely with our suppliers to improve their understanding of our requirements and sustainability objectives. We will also use this process to:-
- Specify equipment that is carbon, energy and water efficient,
- Only select suppliers that meet minimum standards,
- Use whole life cost analysis to award contracts,
- Give / receive feedback from suppliers to improve supplier performance,
- Reduce waste and dispose of assets responsibly.
What's important to United Utilities Supply Chain - Sustainability Definitions
Scope for United Utilities and good practice
In 2009 United Utilities set out an ambitious 6 year plan to incorporate sustainability in our supply chain management.
For United Utilities sustainability means striking a balance of economical, environmental and social factors.
We value the role that our supply chain can play in helping us achieve our sustainable aims.
We will use our category focused supplier management process to embed sustainability by:-
- Assessing sustainability risks early in contract awards and planning to reduce these risks.
- Specifying equipment or services that are sustainable e.g. carbon, energy, water efficient, use recycled materials, avoid waste to landfill, and do not harm sensitive habitats or communities.
- Setting minimum standards when we select suppliers - either at pre-qualification or at contract award e.g. high labour standards, and by only working with safe and financially stable suppliers capable of delivering our contracts.
- Using whole life cost assessments across a range of criteria to award contracts.
- Giving feedback to suppliers on their sustainable performance and agreeing two-way action plans to improve their performance.
- Bring suppliers together to collaborate on key improvement activities.
- Encouraging suppliers to work with their Supply Chain on all the above aspects.
We have identified 12 areas of sustainability, 9 covering environmental factors and 3 social factors.
To help suppliers understand what we value in our 12 areas of sustainability the link below provides more detail:
UU Supply Chain Sustainability Definitions