Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

Our Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

Introduction

This Corporate Social Responsibility Policy complements our core business values and demonstrates our commitment to help support, develop and inspire our community to be a better and fairer place to live and work.

This is of particular importance to us in Bridlington, the East Riding of Yorkshire’s largest town where we have continued to operate our head office for 30 years and focus our community efforts in supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable young people, extending to neighbouring areas such as Hull and Scarborough.

As a family business with team members who have developed locally, we believe it is more important than ever to help our hometown prosper and be the very best it can be. The long-term economic decline of Bridlington and Scarborough as traditional seaside resorts has produced high levels of deprivation, below average household incomes, low levels of educational and skills attainment compounded by worklessness, drug misuse, seasonal unemployment and limited job opportunities. Bridlington and Scarborough are in the 5-10 per cent most deprived and disadvantaged communities in England with correspondingly low levels of social mobility.

Understanding these local challenges, especially the importance for our young disadvantaged and vulnerable people of finding meaningful work, career development and social interaction is at the heart of Hudsons Corporate and Social Responsibilities.

We are also committed to creating a positive culture of innovation and sustainability within our own workforce and through wider community projects.

Scope

As a leading provider of business services to the UK construction industry, we are committed to complying with all our legal obligations, working in partnership with our suppliers and providing our customers with the very best service and protection in a responsible and ethical way.

Through ISO:9001:2015 we employ systems and procedures that ensure we comply and consider our business impact, business risks and service quality.

Our commitment to supporting apprenticeships in the local area was recognised by winning the ‘Training Champion of the Year’ at the TEC Apprenticeship Awards 2026, organised by one of England's largest providers of further and higher education. Hudson was nominated for its apprentice sponsorship scheme, which has supported hundreds of young tradespeople in East Yorkshire, as well as its internal apprenticeship scheme at the company headquarters in Bridlington.

This commitment to quality training was further recognised when one of our apprentices won ‘Professional Services Apprentice of the Year’ at the 2026 East Yorkshire Apprenticeship Awards – a reflection of the standard of development and support Hudson provides.

Focus of Our Policy

Our policy is based around four key areas:

Our Community

By helping to play an active and important role in our local community by providing initiatives and opportunities for people of all ages, particularly young people from diverse backgrounds in Bridlington and those geographic areas close to us like Hull and Scarborough. This is delivered through The Hudson Foundation.

We do this by:

• Actively running and promoting our own apprenticeship sponsorship scheme giving training opportunities to a diverse range of young adults, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds wanting to learn 'on the job' skills which can last a lifetime. Hudson has proudly sponsored more than 300 apprentices in East Yorkshire, with over 200 of them through the TEC Partnership.
• Actively championing apprenticeships across our own networks and as members of the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network, a national employer-led body supporting the delivery of high-quality apprenticeships. Through our involvement we help promote apprenticeship routes to other employers and young people, share our own experience of the impact apprenticeships have had at Hudson, and support wider efforts to expand apprenticeship take-up in the region.
• Sponsoring the East Yorkshire Apprenticeship Awards, organised by the Yorkshire Post, for the third year running, celebrating the achievements of apprentices and employers across the region.
• Funding a youth development officer and vehicle at Bridlington Rugby Union Football Club, enabling visits to local schools that promote rugby as an inclusive sport, encourage junior participation and help secure the club’s future.
• Funding a head coach at Bridlington Rugby Union Football Club to plan and deliver training sessions, select and manage matchday teams, and develop players' skills and fitness, helping grow a strong, well-run team and support the future of our local rugby club.
• Funding the running costs of Remarkable Arts Makaton ‘Schools Rock’ programme, giving 2,161 children across 8 primary schools in Bridlington the opportunity to take part in free music workshops. Delivered during the school day to all year groups, the programme removes social and other barriers to participation, helping children build tangible, practical skills alongside teamwork experience, self-confidence, self-esteem and self-belief.
• Funding equipment and experiences to local schools, including funding 30 iPads to Burton Agnes Church of England Primary School to replace damaged devices, and funding a Hull primary school's first-ever trip to the animal park and beach in Bridlington.
• We provide discretionary financial support to the bereaved families of construction operatives who had used Hudson.
• Actively supporting local and national homeless charities by providing direct funding for the provision of Christmas meals through the Crisis charity and more locally through the Real Aid food redistribution scheme, a food bank in Bridlington along with The Hinge Centre and Kingfisher Café Charities.
• Buying and sourcing office equipment and supplies from local businesses to support the local economy, enabling them to employ local people. Suppliers include local refuse business, print business, recruitment company, milkman and stationery shop.
• Encouraging our employees to support local charities, local 'good causes' and to raise awareness and/or money for them, including sponsoring individual fundraising challenges.
• Actively support our customer base with donations to the local and national charities they work with.
• Working alongside the Lighthouse Club – The Construction Industry Charity to promote its vital services to construction operatives and their families for emotional, physical and financial wellbeing and support at times of severe hardship, stress and anxiety.

Our People

• Striving to ensure all our employees enjoy their work and have opportunities to develop their skills through training and development and social events to build team spirit and mutual respect.
• Looking to create employment opportunities within our local area and actively look for ways in which we can promote and increase the diversity of our workforce.
• Maintaining high standards of health and safety and doing everything we can to protect the health, safety and welfare of our employees.
• Supporting and understanding employee wellbeing, encouraging staff to maintain an appropriate work-life balance with the introduction of 5 mental health first aiders, hosting mental health workshops and signposting services available to employees who might need specialised support.
• The launch of Hudson’s Employee Wellbeing Programme powered by Health Assured. Where employees have access to wellbeing and mental health support as and when they need it.

Environmental Management

• Managing our impact on the environment in a responsible and ethical manner and encouraging all our employees to have a sense of responsibility for managing their own impact on the environment.
• Only printing what is necessary and recycling our paper waste for toilet rolls and sending our garden waste to a local company for recycling.
• Operating a car-sharing scheme and a cycle-to-work scheme for all our employees to reduce their environmental impact on short journeys to work and promote the health benefits to them.
• Using virtual meetings to avoid unnecessary travel to reduce our carbon impact.
• Installing office equipment and LED lighting which are more sustainable and using machines with auto-off facilities.

Our Customers

• Providing industry representation on behalf of our client base of 2,600 construction SMEs.
• Producing briefing papers for our local MP to share with Number 10, HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs on issues affecting the construction industry.
• Campaigning to reform the funding and provision of construction industry training to make it more responsive to small businesses and less biased towards large companies.
• Sharing relevant industry news and views to trade media titles and featuring regularly in the local, regional, trade and national media.
• Supplying regular statistics on labour demand to inform Bank of England policymakers on the latest trends in the construction industry.
• Championing reform of construction skills and training policy as a member of Constructure, the industry's collective employer voice on apprenticeships and workforce development.

Hudson is:

• Constantly striving to provide efficient, value for money, high quality and dependable services to all our customers old and new.
• Ensuring our employees act in an honest and professional manner when dealing with our customers.
• Making sure all our employees remain aware they are trusted with sensitive information.
• Protecting our customers through our range of services designed to eliminate risk and provide peace of mind.
• Supporting them with their Corporate and Social responsibilities.

Responsibility

We have a strong and enduring commitment to our community and are here for the long term.

Robert Whitelaw, HR and Development Manager, Hudson Contract Limited is responsible for the annual review and updating of this Policy and for ensuring that all Company employees are aware of it and understand their responsibilities.