5177 Cattles Rev 08 02a · Cattles plc Corporate Responsibility Review 2007 CATTLES PLC – AT A GLANCE OUR BUSINESSES Welcome Financial Services The Lewis Group Cattles Invoice Finance

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CorporateResponsibility

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REVIEW 2007Page 08 BEING A RESPONSIBLE FINANCIAL SERVICES ORGANISATIONPage 18 BEING A GOOD PEOPLE BUSINESSPage 30 BEING ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE

ifcCattles plc

Corporate ResponsibilityReview 2007

CATTLES PLC – AT A GLANCE

OUR BUSINESSESWelcome Financial Services The Lewis Group Cattles Invoice Finance

Welcome Financial Services comprises three businesses:

– Welcome Finance– Shopacheck– Welcome Car Finance

Welcome Finance, the principal lending business, serves more than 500,000 customers, providing directrepayment loans from 183 branches across the UK. Its product range includes unsecured personal loans,second charge secured loans and hire purchase for cars.

Shopacheck provides short-term home collected loansto some 260,000 customers through 52 branches.

Welcome Car Finance sells around 14,000 used cars ayear from 12 sites and is the largest introducer of hirepurchase business to Welcome Finance.

The Lewis Group is a UK leader in debt recovery andinvestigation services, serving both external clients and Welcome Financial Services. It is one of the UK’s largest buyers of non-performing debt.

Cattles Invoice Finance provides working capital financeto small and medium-sized businesses. It operatesthrough six regional offices in England and Scotland.

CATTLES PLCCattles plc is a financial services groupspecialising in providing consumer credit tonon-standard customers in the UK. We alsoprovide debt recovery services to externalclients and our consumer credit business,and working capital finance for small andmedium-sized businesses. We also have a car retail operation, which is the largestintroducer of hire purchase customers to our consumer credit business.

In the consumer credit market, non-standardrefers to customers who may currently not have access to mainstream facilities –typically due to perceived shortcomings in their employment, residency or credithistories. We give them an opportunity to build or repair their credit profile.

Effective risk management is paramountin all our markets, and underpins ourstrategy for continued strong growth.

GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGEBranches

Welcome Financial ServicesThe Lewis GroupCattles Invoice Finance

CONTENTS02 Chief Executive’s welcome03 Managing corporate responsibility08 Being a responsible financial

services organisation18 Being a good people business30 Being environmentally responsible34 Summary of progress against

objectives and targets36 The year ahead

This Review relates to all aspects of Cattles plcoperations and activities for the year ended 31 December 2007.

Pre-tax profit 2006: £132.2m

£165.2mReceivables 2006: £2.1bn

£2.8bnNumber of colleagues 2006: 4,449

5,008

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RESPONSIBLE GROWTH 08Being a responsible financial services organisationWe employ the highest standards to ensure weoperate in a way that treats our customers fairlyand with respect. We lend carefully, making sure we understand our customers’ financialcircumstances, to ensure we offer them the rightproduct and do not place undue burden on them.We seek to have open and honest relationshipswith customers, and offer them constructivesupport if they encounter difficulties.

GROWING AS PEOPLE 18Being a good people businessThe success of our business depends on the skillsand professionalism of our colleagues. We aim to create an environment that is motivating andstimulating, and to treat colleagues with fairnessand respect. We listen to what they have to say,and act on their feedback. We want colleagues to fulfil their career aspirations so we offer themequal development opportunities. We seek tobuild strong bonds with the communities aroundus, because these are where our customers andcolleagues live and work.

CONSIDERATE GROWTH 30Being environmentally responsible As a growing business we recognise our impacton the environment. We have a duty to managethis impact and minimise it where we can, and to raise environmental awareness among our colleagues. As well as meeting stakeholders’expectations, this helps us to operate moreefficiently and reduce our costs.

Growing a successful business means more than justdelivering profits to our shareholders.It’s about earning people’s confidence and trust… developing products that people want and understand... being a company thatpeople want to work for… taking our responsibilities seriously. If we fail to recognise these responsibilities or underestimate theirimportance, we risk damaging our reputation and ultimately our business. Our corporate responsibility strategy is based on threecornerstones addressing what we believe to be the most important issues facing the business. We use them to explain simply tocolleagues and stakeholders what corporate responsibility means for Cattles.

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S WELCOME

WELCOME TO OUR 2007 CORPORATERESPONSIBILITY REVIEWCorporate responsibility is an increasinglyimportant part of our business. It is crucialto demonstrate to stakeholders thatwe take proper account of the social, ethical and environmental issues facing our business.

I want Cattles to grow in a way that issustainable over the long-term. This cannotbe achieved without maintaining the trust and confidence of our customers,colleagues and other stakeholders. A robustand pragmatic approach to corporateresponsibility, based on an understandingof risk, will contribute greatly to achievingthis aim.

It gives me great pleasure to introduce this Review, which explains how we takeaccount of our key responsibilities – basedaround our three corporate responsibilitycornerstones – and presents a summary of our performance over the past year.

David PostingsChief Executive

HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Being a responsible financial servicesorganisation• Customer Experience Group established

in Welcome Financial Services andCustomer Expectations formally defined

• Investment in innovative technology tosupport our high operational standardsand business growth

• Partnership with the Association ofBritish Credit Unions to highlight theimpact of financial exclusion on thepoorest in society

• Moneymanual distributed to over500,000 students in conjunction withCredit Action

Being a good people business• Two recognised awards for our approach

to colleague benefits

• Over 16,000 training days provided

• 82% of colleagues gave a positiveresponse to working for the Group in Speak Up survey

• £635,085 invested in communityactivities

• Volunteer hours increased by 28% to 2,644 hours

Being environmentally responsible• 11% reduction in company car fuel

consumption

• Hybrid cars introduced to company car choice list

• 8% reduction in CO2 emissions frombuilding electricity use per unit of revenue

• 3,000 meetings held via our newteleconferencing system

• Successful pilot of introducing mobilehandheld technology in Shopacheck,which would reduce paper use by over 16 million sheets a year

DAVID POSTINGSChief Executive

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MANAGING CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

Corporate responsibility (CR) is about managing risk.We apply the same rigour and effort to managing thisrisk as we would to any otherbusiness issue.

Managing growth

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continued

Our CR strategy is concise, ourmanagement arrangements are clear and we seek to make sure CR is partof what we do each day.

Priorities• Communicating our strategy

• Maintaining strong governance of CR issues

• Embedding CR across the business

• Measuring our performance

• Engaging with our key stakeholders

EXPLAINING OUR STRATEGYWe take a pragmatic view of managing CR. We don’t do it simply because we think it is the right thing to do; we do it for commercial reasons, based on our understanding of the risks andopportunities facing our business.

Many of our stakeholders may have littleinterest in the principles of CR. But theycare about the way we behave.

Customers want to be treated fairly, offered products that are easily understoodand appropriate, and are able to trust thatwe operate to high standards. Colleagueswant to work for a company in which theycan have pride – one that provides astimulating working environment, rewardstheir efforts and offers them opportunitiesto fulfil their career aspirations. The localcommunities where we work want to bereassured that we are operating in a waythat takes their best interests into accountand does not damage the environmentaround them. Shareholders want to knowthat we have considered all the complexrisks facing our business, including thoserelating to social, ethical and environmentalissues, and acknowledged them in how we manage our business.

In response, we have developed a strategybased on three ‘cornerstones’. They are ourguiding principles, agreed by the Board, and provide a straightforward way for us to explain to colleagues how we want tooperate. They also help us explain to thoseoutside the business how we see ourresponsibilities.

Our three CR cornerstones are:

• Being a responsible financial services organisation

• Being a good people business

• Being environmentally responsible

There is a clear link between CR and theculture-building programmes across thebusiness. Many of the values defined withinAccelerating Growth in Welcome FinancialServices, Growing Lewis Together and First Class in Cattles Invoice Finance,resonate strongly with our CR cornerstones.This is particularly true in areas relating to customers and colleagues.

The following sections of this Reviewexplain in more detail how we performed in 2007 against each of these cornerstones.

We do not view CR in isolation. We try to embedthis thinking into our operational activities. As partof this process we presented 24 roadshows acrossthe Group to explain to colleagues what we meanby CR and how they can take the cornerstones intoaccount in their daily roles.

‘Before the presentation I was scepticalabout how CR would assist the business,except as a box-ticking exercise. Theroadshow highlighted several benefits that can be achieved through embeddingCR into all that we do – by participating in these initiatives the Company canpresent a positive image which is good for the business.’

Welcome Financial Services, Compliance, 25 June 2007

‘Understanding CR will allow me to take a more holistic view and not just basepeople development on numbers andtargets. I need to develop and grow myteam as responsible human beings and not just target-driven employees.’

Welcome Finance, Area Manager, 10 July 2007

‘Very beneficial – reinforced all the goodthings that Cattles are doing at themoment, not just for work colleagues butalso for the outside community as a whole.’

Shopacheck, Area Manager, 12 September 2007

‘CR is integral in our business – it starts with our induction and continues throughthe colleague life cycle.’

Cattles Invoice Finance, Senior Manager, 22 November 2007

Case study RISK.MANAGED.

CR roadshowsand colleaguefeedback

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GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS Board responsibility for CR rests with ourChief Operating Officer, Ian Cummine. OurCompany Secretary manages CR day-to-day,supported by our CR Manager. He alsokeeps CR on the business agenda throughregular reports to the Board.

But to live up to our responsibilities we need to involve all our colleagues. By embedding CR into what colleagues do every day, we use their experience andexpertise more efficiently. For example, part of our Fleet Manager’s job is toimprove the environmental performance of the company car fleet. By harnessing his expertise we have improved ourperformance in this area (see page 32 for more details).

APPLYING OUR ‘RISK.MANAGED.’PRINCIPLES TO CR‘Risk.Managed.’ is our thorough, methodicalapproach to the risks we face as a business.It requires unrelenting awareness andcontrol of risk in everything we do –including the way we manage CR.Understanding risk allows us to make theright decisions at the right time, anticipateand prevent problems and capitalise onopportunities as they appear. Failure to dothis could easily damage our reputationand our business. Indeed, many CR risks arecore to our business – for example, makingsure we treat our customers fairly.

The Board has delegated responsibility for risk management and internal control to the Audit Committee. This includes the evaluation of social, ethical andenvironmental risks (SEE risks) commonlyconsidered part of CR, so we take accountof relevant guidance on CR, such as thatestablished by the Association of BritishInsurers. The Audit Committee is supportedby the Risk Management Group, whichincludes the Company Secretary. He is ableto feed in relevant CR risks to this group andmaintains the strong link between CR andrisk management.

Our CR and risk management teams havebeen working closely together to ensure we have the necessary controls to manageour CR risks – particularly in the eyes of ourregulators, who are taking an increasinginterest in this area.

POLICIESTo support our CR cornerstones, we havedeveloped a suite of policies on the mainCR-related areas. Copies can be downloadedfrom our website at www.cattles.co.uk.

• Cattles’ approach to Health and Safety

• Cattles’ approach to Supplier Standards

• Cattles’ approach to Human Rights andColleague Care

• Cattles’ approach to CommunityInvestment

• Cattles’ approach to EnvironmentalManagement

• Treating Customers Fairly

‘Risk.Managed’. requires an unrelenting awarenessand control of risk in everything we do.

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continued

OBJECTIVES AND TARGETSEach year we set objectives that provideclear direction for our activities. These aresupported by more detailed targets. A summary of our progress against thesetargets can be found on page 34.

In 2007, we set six main objectives:

Embed our CR strategyinto colleagues’operational processes

We are working hard to find ways to embed CR into the business. In some instanceswe have been very successful – for example, incorporating CR into the induction anddevelopment of colleagues working in our Customer Sales and Service Centres – seepage 20 for more detail. But this is an ongoing process which will take time.

Objective Summary of performance

Establish clearperformance measuresand confirm that ouraims are being achievedat both corporate andoperational level

We continued to develop a CR scorecard including 26 key performance indicators(KPIs) across the three cornerstones. Data is collated monthly or quarterly and used bythe CR Manager.

Review our supportfor financial education to identify opportunitiesto generate better value from investmentin this area

We continued to support Credit Action and DebtCred in promoting financialeducation and money management. We also began a significant project to fundproduction and distribution of a Moneymanual to over 500,000 students seekinguniversity places in September 2008. This is a source of information for young peopleon the brink of financial independence.

Increase two-waycommunication withcolleagues to enhance CR awareness in the business

We continued to promote better communication on CR. Four questions on CR wereincluded in our Speak Up colleague perception survey, and we held 24 CR roadshowsto promote awareness and obtain feedback on CR activities already under way.

Invest in localcommunities where welive and work, andpromote colleagueinvolvement incommunity activities

We continued to invest in community initiatives – focusing on raising standards infinancial education, improving the welfare of young people and addressing issues ofsocial disadvantage. In 2007 we invested £635,085 in community activities andcolleagues volunteered 2,644 hours on community projects.

Improve environmentalperformance and delivertangible benefits to thebusiness in our highpriority impact areas

Progress against our 2007 targets is shown on pages 34 and 35. Of the five targetsthat we set, we achieved four. A number of initiatives, including our new ‘MeetingZone’ teleconferencing system, brought the business tangible benefits. In MeetingZone’s first nine months we used it for some 3,000 meetings, allowing colleagues tominimise CO2 emissions by reducing travel.

To help the CR Manager and senior managers around the business to determine how wellwe are performing, we have developed a CR scorecard. This comprises 26 different KPIsacross our three cornerstones. Where appropriate, we try to acquire data from existingmanagement information systems around the business. This should help to embed CRinto the business, linking it clearly with our business objectives, while avoiding duplicationof effort in data collection.

We aim to embed our CR strategy into colleagues’ operational processes.

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OUR STAKEHOLDERS Our stakeholders’ views and opinions areimportant: they help inform our thinkingand tell us how well we are performing.Listening to these groups helps us toidentify the issues that concern them and take a balanced view of what isimportant or ‘material’ when we developour response.

As stakeholders become more interestedin CR their expectations of us grow. It isincreasingly important that wecommunicate and demonstrate ourapproach clearly. Our CR cornerstoneshelp with this process, but proactivelyengaging with our stakeholders gives usan opportunity to explain the nature ofour business, our strategy and how weimplement it. Through constructivedebate we hope to influence their opinionof us.

Each of our businesses takes responsibility for its own internal communication along lines that are shared acrossthe Group. They all have intranets and run annual business conferences, regular management briefings, questionand answer sessions with senior management, and annual colleague engagement surveys.

Colleagues

Customers

Brokers and introducers

Regulators and legislators

Investors

Suppliers and business partners

Growing a successful business depends on developing good relationships with customers. Most customercommunication is achieved through direct contact, whether face-to-face, by telephone or by letter. Each businessundertakes regular customer surveys and monitors customer feedback.

Brokers and introducers are important business partners. We develop good relationships with them to ensureconsistent service for our customers.

Dialogue with regulators and legislators is managed at Group level. A key role of our Compliance team is building aconstructive relationship with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to ensure we meet its standards. Our CorporateAffairs team is responsible for the contribution we make to consultations affecting the financial services industry.They also manage the development and maintenance of relationships with policymakers and legislators.

We are a member of FTSE4Good and continue to engage with shareholders and key research agencies on CR issues.Investor communications are managed centrally, with involvement from the business units as required.Communication channels include analyst presentations, meetings with investors, our website and publicationsaimed specifically at investors.

We seek to develop long-term mutually beneficial relations with our suppliers and business partners. This relies ongood two-way communication. Relationships are managed by our Group Services department, supported byfunctional expertise when appropriate. We set minimum CR standards for suppliers and encourage them toconsider CR issues.

Communities and charitable organisations We actively engage in local and national community initiatives that meet our community investment criteria. Ourinvolvement is managed by our CR team and Community Investment Officer, supported by appropriate colleaguesfrom around the business.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) These are bodies with no affiliation to governments, whose work is focused on specific issues. They campaigndirectly with companies or indirectly via public awareness campaigns. We seek to engage with NGOs in waysappropriate to the issues being addressed.

By working with trade associations we contributeto the legislative debate.

We continue to remain a member of FTSE4Good.

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BEING A RESPONSIBLE FINANCIAL SERVICES ORGANISATION

As a company operatingin the non-standardconsumer finance market,we face increasingscrutiny from a widerange of stakeholders.

Responsiblegrowth


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Our greatest obligation is to our customers:our success and positive reputation depend on treating them fairly and with respect – offering them the rightproducts, and lending and collecting in a responsible way that takes properaccount of their circumstances.

Priorities• Maintain high operational standards

• Meet our regulatory obligations

• Engage and influence policymakers

• Ensure excellent customer service

• Promote financial education

Performance highlights• In Welcome Financial Services (WFS), five

Customer Expectations and the CustomerExperience Group established to supportdelivery of excellent customer service

• Investment in innovative technology tosupport our high operational standardsand business growth, and to help usmanage the customer experience better

• Collaboration with the Association ofBritish Credit Unions (ABCUL) to highlightthe impact of financial exclusion on the poorest in society and ways out of this problem

• Launch of long-term collaborative projectwith Credit Action to distribute 500,000copies of its Moneymanual each year to students leaving school, and researchtheir attitudes towards moneymanagement

UNDERSTANDING OURRESPONSIBILITIESWFS is one of the UK’s leading players in non-standard consumer finance. It comprises Welcome Finance andShopacheck, its lending businesses, andWelcome Car Finance, its car retail operation.It lends to individuals with non-standardcredit profiles – people who may not haveaccess to mainstream lending, typicallybecause of perceived shortcomings in theiremployment, residency or credit histories – and gives customers an opportunity tobuild or repair their credit profiles.

Through WFS we offer a range of productscarefully tailored to our customer base. Byapplying rigorous lending and screeningcriteria we ensure these products do notoverburden our customers or place them infinancial difficulty. We treat our customersfairly and believe our products and servicescan play a role in helping to mitigatefinancial and social exclusion.

Sometimes a customer’s financialcircumstances may change, for examplethrough redundancy or a family break-up.Our policy of developing close customerrelationships helps us to respond quickly to understand the situation and find waysto help them through their financialdifficulties – for example by acceptinglower loan repayments for a period. If wecan help customers through a problemsuccessfully, we can still do business withthem and prevent a short-term problemfrom excluding them from mainstreamfinancial services for years ahead.

The Lewis Group (Lewis) is a UK leader indebt recovery and investigation services,serving both external clients and WFS. Its external clients are mainly large issuersof credit cards and unsecured loans – as well as both central and localgovernment departments, insurancecompanies, catalogue retailers, utilities,telecommunications businesses andeducational institutions. It is also one of the UK’s largest buyers of non-performingdebt, which it collects on its own account.

Debt recovery, like consumer credit, hascome under increasing scrutiny in recentyears because of improper practicesemployed by some companies in theindustry. These include high-pressurecollection tactics and failure to identify the correct debtor. Lewis has a reputationfor quality and ethical collection practices,and subscribes to the Credit ServicesAssociation’s code of conduct. This providescomfort to blue-chip clients concerned tomanage the risk to their own reputations.

Cattles Invoice Finance (CIF) providesworking capital finance to small andmedium-sized businesses throughout theUK. It has a broadly spread portfolio of 725 clients, typically companies withturnover up to £5 million. If a clientbusiness gets into difficulties, we work with its management to help them resolvethe financial issues.

During 2007, we established our DebtManagement Agency (DMA) in Welcome Financeto support customers receiving debt advice andcounselling. Why? Because we believe customersin financial difficulty may need more time andattention from us. They are often unable to makelarge payments and may have a number ofcreditors to satisfy. Colleagues working in theDMA are expert in assessing such situations andfinding the right solution for both the customerand ourselves.

Establishing our DebtManagementAgency

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continued

MAINTAINING HIGH OPERATIONALSTANDARDSWe need high operational standards tomanage all the risks associated with thenon-standard consumer finance market.We cannot afford to be imprecise oruncontrolled in our approach: at best thiswould risk damaging our customerrelationships and at worst we might treatthem unfairly or place undue financialburden on them. That is not what we or ourregulators want. Maintaining these highoperational standards is perhaps the mostimportant aspect of what we do each day.

In WFS we have standard operatingprocedures that define the way colleaguesmust work, particularly to meet theexpectations of its regulators, the FSA andthe Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Ourcompliance team of over 50 peoplemonitors how we meet these standardsand is quick to identify any failure to upholdour standards or any better way of working.

To live up to our standards we ensure thatall colleagues are well-trained andknowledgeable about the industry and theissues they may face. We introduced ourLicence to Sell and Licence to Collecttraining programmes in 2006 to enhanceour sales and collection processes. Both aresupported by formal accreditation, whichcolleagues must pass.

We have also revised our induction processfor new colleagues. For example, peoplejoining our branch network attend a two-day workshop on the essential skillsneeded to manage customer accounts andmeet our exacting standards. This includesa test, which they are expected to pass, andforms the basis of ongoing training over thenext three months, including Licence to Selland Licence to Collect. This off-the-jobtraining is supported by a skills workbookthat new colleagues must complete, withsupport from their branch manager.

Our standard operating proceduresdefine the way our colleagues must work, particularly in relation to addressing regulators’expectations.

To live up to our standards we ensure allcolleagues are well-trained and knowledgeable.

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Investing in this training, and other similarprogrammes, means that as we grow thebusiness we will have the trainedcolleagues we need to maintain our highoperational standards.

In Lewis we work closely with clients toensure high levels of service and atransparent and robust approach. Allprocesses in the business are documentedand regularly reviewed, in line with itsISO9001 accreditation. We have clearservice level agreements with clients,defining the standards we must meet. Aspart of this process, our risk analysts workclosely with clients to determine the mosteffective collection process. To protect ourreputation for high ethical standards wewill always take a conservative view ratherthan risk damaging our own standing orthat of our client.

We invest heavily in colleague training,both internally through our own structuredworkshops, one-to-one sessions andseminars, and through external courses. All collections colleagues are encouraged toattend a specialist course run by the CreditServices Association to gain its Diplomaqualification. Several Lewis managers arealso members of the Institute of CreditManagement.

In CIF we have clearly defined proceduresfor evaluating each new businessopportunity and the risks associated with it.Our internal audit team regularly reviewsall our operational processes . Each newclient is assigned a dedicated clientmanager to oversee the relationship so thatwe can respond quickly and efficiently todevelopments. We aim to be straightforwardto deal with, and are trusted by clients andintroducers alike to deliver innovative andflexible solutions in a clear and friendlymanner.


The Credit Today awards recognise and reward topperformers throughout the credit industry. CIFand Lewis were both recognised in the 2007awards: CIF won the Factor and Discounter of theYear Award, while Lewis was commended in theDebt Purchaser of the Year category.

CIF was recognised for its commitment toinnovation and enhanced business practices, and excellent client satisfaction and colleaguedevelopment. Credit Today commented thatits ‘focus on its ambitious goals and attention to the client and developing its staff stood outin this category’.

Lewis was shortlisted for the way it has developedits client services, and invested in infrastructureand resources to meet the ever-changing needs of both purchase and commission-based clients.


continued

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ENSURING CUSTOMER EXCELLENCEWe want to attract and retain good qualitycustomers, and to meet their expectationsof us. In 2007, we worked hard to find waysof improving our customers’ experiencewith us.

In WFS we defined five expectations that form the basis of our dealings withcustomers. These relate to the way ourcolleagues behave and the customerculture we demonstrate. They supportour commitment to the FSA’s ConsumerOutcomes for Treating Customers Fairly(TCF), which set out the outcomes weshould deliver throughout the customerlifecycle. Our commitment to TCF is setout in our Treating Customers Fairly policy,which can be downloaded from our websiteat www.cattles.co.uk.

Our five customer expectations sit under‘everyone deserves a welcome’ and are:

• Everyone deserves a warm welcome

• Everyone deserves to be treated fairly

• Everyone deserves to feel in control

• Everyone deserves the opportunity to improve their life

• Everyone deserves promises to be kept

We have set up a Customer ExperienceGroup, bringing together leaders from every part of WFS, to help embed theseexpectations and identify initiatives to

support the delivery of excellent customerservice. This group is supported by aChampions Group, which reviews andadvises on the development of interactiveteam sessions for developing ourcolleagues in these expectations.

Information technology plays a major rolein the way we work with our customers,and we have invested significantly in new technology such as telephony andhandheld computers. In WFS we have made a multi-million pound investment ina new customer relationship managementsystem, to improve both our customer andcolleague experience. This provides, forexample, a single view of each customerthat can be accessed from all parts of ourbusiness as they travel from initial inquirythrough to their final repayment. During2007 we provided colleagues with over6,400 days of classroom training on thisnew IT system.

Across the business we have been using a number of different interactive voiceresponse (IVR) messages, which may havebeen confusing and inconsistent for ourcustomers. We are now implementing a new IVR message in all parts of thebusiness, using a single voice – one of our colleagues, who was chosen in acompetition. Our aim is to give customersstraightforward and seamless telephoneaccess at any time of day.

Following a successful pilot, we are introducingmobile handheld technology in Shopacheck. This presents us with some very significantbenefits in terms of our customers, cost and the environment. As our agents will no longer be collecting on paper-based collection sheets we will use over 16 million fewer pieces of paper each year. As our agents will now be linked directlywith our central IT systems, they will be able to record collections, issue loans and updatecustomer records in real time. This meanscustomer balances will be updated more quickly and the overall customer experience will be enhanced.

Usingtechnology to improvecustomer service

Through our commitment to TCFwe continue to identify ways toenhance the customer experience.


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We have also introduced new CustomerSales and Service Centres (CSSCs). Thesethree call centres bring together around700 people from across Welcome Finance,combining their knowledge and strengthsto provide excellent customer service.Customers now benefit from improved and more consistent support and longeropening hours. We handle customerinformation better by working as a singleteam, without having to transfer customersbetween operatives. Achieving this requireda substantial investment in training:colleagues joining the CSSCs undergo a 15-day induction programme.

We market our consumer products in avariety of ways, depending on the product.In all our agreements and explanatoryliterature we adhere strictly to theregulations on visual prominence ofinformation such as APRs and the increasedrisk of a loan secured on a property. Alldirect marketing material is reviewed andsigned off against these regulations by thelegal compliance manager.

All customers are given pre-contractualinformation to ensure they are able to makean informed choice. We also try to make ourcredit agreements as clear as possible, toensure that our customers know exactlywhat they are entering into. For example, if they buy an insurance product with aloan they must show their agreement witha separate signature. The Welcome Financecustomer introduction pack carries thePlain English Campaign’s Crystal Mark.

MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTIONIn WFS we undertake regular surveys to findout what our customers think about us.These cover all aspects of the customerexperience including the applicationprocess, branch service and colleagueattitudes. Customers rate each aspect andgive an overall rating out of 10. The figureshave remained consistently high over thepast year, with an average rating of 8.5 out of 10 (2006: 8 out of 10). As a resultof the enhancements to the way wemanage customer experience we believethere will be further improvement in our customer satisfaction ratings. We arecurrently investigating more sophisticatedways to measure satisfaction and gainfurther insight into how we can enhanceour service.

Each Lewis client has a dedicated clientservices manager who works closely withthem to develop the relationship andidentify and address any potential issues. At the beginning of 2007 we supplementedthis with online client surveys solicitingfeedback on clients’ perceptions of therelationships and the level of service they receive. During 2007, 76% of clientsgave a positive response. The surveys will continue in 2008 and our target is an 80% positive response.

In 2007, we began using a new kind ofclient satisfaction survey in CIF: the NetPromoter Score method, used by thousandsof businesses worldwide. The new surveysask clients one core question – ‘How willingare you to recommend CIF to a friend orassociate?’ – supported by nine lifecyclequestions. This allows us to divide clientsinto three categories: Promoters, who are loyal and enthusiastic; Passives, who are satisfied but unenthusiastic; andDetractors, who are unhappy and feeltrapped in a poor relationship.

The proportions of each group give us a score that we can use to track clientsatisfaction. We will roll the method outover the next year throughout CIF to createa complete picture. Thereafter, six-monthlysurveys will be undertaken to highlightareas for improvement.

We continue to invest in our cultural and valuesprogrammes for the benefit of both colleaguesand customers.

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INFLUENCING POLICY MAKERS AND REGULATORSWe operate in an increasingly complexlegislative and regulatory environment. As a responsible financial servicesorganisation, we believe the consumerbenefits most from regulation that protectsthe vulnerable while avoiding excessivecosts that drive up the price of products and services. This means we actively seek to enter into debate on relevant issues. Weprefer to be involved in the debate, ratherthan waiting on the sidelines until changesin legislation are forced upon us – and webelieve our understanding of the challengesfacing both our customers and the industryputs us in a unique position to make apositive contribution.

We make our views known in a number ofways. We strive to create good relationshipswith key policy and decision makers, as well as being an active member of severaltrade associations. Our Director ofCorporate and Regulatory Affairs sits on the high level Consumer Credit Forum, partof the Department for Business, Enterpriseand Regulatory Reform (DBERR), and chairsthe Consumer Credit Trade Association. We are also represented on the ConsumerCredit Association’s National ExecutiveCommittee and, through WFS, the board of the Finance and Leasing Association.

Lewis is a member of the Credit ServicesAssociation, the Debt Buyers and SellersGroup and the County Court UsersAssociation. CIF is a member of theNational Association of Commercial andFinancial Brokers and the Asset BasedFinance Association.

As a member of these trade bodies weadhere to their respective codes of conductand work closely with them to engage withpolicy makers and debate issues in themarkets where we operate.


continued

The understanding of our marketenables us to positively contributeto the debate on regulatory issues.

We understand the challenges facing both ourcustomers and the industry.

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WFS is regulated by the FSA for advising on and selling general insurance products.We seek a close and proactive relationshipwith the FSA and support its aims ofmaintaining market confidence, promotingpublic understanding of the financialsystem, securing appropriate consumerprotection and reducing financial crime.

In November 2006, the CompetitionCommission reported on its investigationinto the home credit market. Cattles waspart of this inquiry. The report identified anumber of adverse impacts on competition,and recommended remedies. TheCommission made an Order to give effectto these remedies in September 2007 with the aims of opening up the marketto greater competition and bringingconsumers lower prices and more choice.Practical steps to achieve these objectivesinclude a requirement for home creditcompanies to share data on their existingcustomers’ payment records. Lenders arealso required to publish information on theprice of loans on a website, making it easierfor customers to shop around and compareoffers. We endorse greater transparency in the home credit industry and have takena leading role in shaping the way theremedies will be implemented throughoutthe industry.

In February 2007, the OFT referred paymentprotection insurance to the CompetitionCommission for inquiry. The Commissionplan to publish their provisional findings in May 2008 and expect to issue their finalreport in late 2008. We have submitted 22 separate response documents to theCommission and will continue to co-operate fully.

In 2007, we submitted responses to over 20 consultation papers issued by the FSA,OFT, Financial Ombudsman Service andDBERR. We also submitted responses toconsultations from the Better RegulationExecutive, Insolvency Service and others.

Cattles was invited to speak at the Citizens’Advice Scotland Debt Focus Group inEdinburgh at the end of November, a returnvisit after a talk given the previous year. The theme of the 2007 talk was ‘Oneperson’s financial inclusion is another’sirresponsible lending’ – a quote by MarkHoban MP at the Conservative partyconference fringe meeting.


Working inpartnership withthe Associationof British CreditUnions

In autumn 2007, we joined with the Associationof British Credit Unions (ABCUL) to host successfulfringe meetings at the major party politicalconferences. The meetings examined the impactof financial exclusion on the poorest in societyand ways out of this problem. Each was addressedby a leading figure from the relevant party.

This was the first time that credit unions hadshared a platform with a non-standard financeprovider to present a united, co-operativeapproach to legislators and other stakeholders.The Government is committed to makingaffordable credit and banking services available to the financially excluded. ABCUL recognises thatexisting credit unions lack the capacity to meetcurrent demand and spoke about the need fornew legislation to enable the sector to scale up.

All the party speakers expressed their strongsupport for the work being done by thenon-standard finance sector and credit unions to tackle this significant problem. The meetingsenabled us to send a very credible message toGovernment and Opposition about the dangers of over-regulation: the more restrictions that areplaced on the sector, the more people will facefinancial exclusion.

16Cattles plc



continued

During the year, we continued to supporttwo prominent organisations in financialeducation, through financial assistance andcollaborative projects:

• Credit Action (www.creditaction.org.uk) is a charity that is widely regarded as oneof the most important voices in the fieldof money management and education. It offers a range of resources, tools andtraining to help everybody manage theirfinances. It operates at national levelthrough advocacy, collaboration andpartnerships with various groups andcompanies; and at local level throughprojects targeted particularly at thosemost vulnerable to financial difficulties.

• DebtCred (www.debtcred.org.uk) is theHigh Sheriffs’ financial literacy project. Its primary aim is to prepare young peoplefor university life or employment byeducating them about the sensible use ofcredit, personal financial managementand the hazards of over-indebtedness.

During 2007 we took part with CreditAction in a pilot project sponsored by theEsmée Fairbairn Trust to develop a set ofjargon-free postcards offering moneymanagement advice. The aim was to see ifthese were a useful way to offer ourcustomers additional support and advice to

stop them getting into financial difficulty.Shopacheck managers used the cards in 44postcode areas, predominantly in Bradfordand Leeds. This initial project indicatedsome clear benefits from using the cards – for example, they help us establishcommunication with customers who maybe embarrassed to talk to us. But the initialtake-up of cards was low in comparisonwith the project’s aims. We are currentlyreviewing the project results to understandif this approach represents a usefuladdition to the advice we currently provideto customers.

In 2006 we sponsored the DebtCredKS4Finance project, funding thedistribution of a DebtCred-produced moneymanagement CD to all state secondaryschools in England and Wales. This wasdescribed in last year’s CR Review. The CD isstill being used extensively in schools acrossthe UK, but proposed changes to thecurriculum will require the DebtCredresources and materials to be revised. Whenthe curriculum change is implemented in September 2008, KS4Finance will be three years into a predicted shelf life of four years. During 2008, we will workwith DebtCred to respond to the curriculumchanges and make the material morerelevant to students for today andtomorrow.

By working with DebtCred we help to educateyoung people about money management.

Collaborative working with Credit Action toimprove personal financial awareness.

SUPPORTING FINANCIAL EDUCATIONWe want to promote sound moneymanagement and raise standards offinancial education. Everybody should beable to make informed and educateddecisions about their personal finances,especially when buying financial products.This would help to reduce levels of over-indebtedness and the number ofpeople with debt problems.

Recognising that financial difficulties aresometimes unavoidable, we continue tosupport the Consumer Credit CounsellingService (CCCS), a UK charity that helpspeople facing debt problems. The CCCSprovides a free national telephone serviceand a network of drop-in centres that givefree, independent and realistic advice.

We arecommitted to raisingstandards of financialeducation

17Cattles plc


In 2007, Credit Action produced a Moneymanual forstudents which aims to improve young adults’financial awareness and money management skills.We agreed to fund the production and distribution of the Moneymanual for a period of four years.UCAS has agreed to include the Moneymanual inthe student offer pack it sends to some 500,000students applying for university places this year.Although UCAS estimates that one in sevenstudents who receive an offer pack do not actuallytake up a place at university, distribution in this wayhas the additional benefit of bringing theMoneymanual to a proportion of young people wholeave the education system after sixth form. We willreview our commitment in 2011, by which time weexpect to have reached 2 million young adults onthe brink of financial independence.

The aim of the initiative is twofold:

• To ensure that students start university with abetter understanding of how to manage theirmoney. To this end all this year’s applicants willreceive the Moneymanual in their UCAS offerpack; and

• To monitor the effectiveness of the Moneymanualin helping students to manage their money aswell as increasing understanding of studentconcerns about money and finance throughoutthe university experience.

A research project to assess changes in attitude tofinance and money management behaviour will runin parallel to the four-year distributioncommitment, and forms part of our overallcommitment to Credit Action.


Moneymanualfor students

18Cattles plc


BEING A GOOD PEOPLE BUSINESS

Having the right people,with the right skills and high levels of commitment,is essential to our success.

Growing as people

19Cattles plc


As our colleagues are at the heart of whatwe do and our future growth, we aim toattract the very best people and invest inthe development of their skills.

Developing strong relationships with the communities that we serve can help to raise awareness of the Company.Contributing to the wellbeing of thesecommunities can encourage customers to see us more positively and help us toattract and retain good quality recruits.Enabling colleagues to get involved in localcommunity initiatives can help to boostmorale and a sense of pride, as well asprovide an engaging way to learn new skillsand build relationships with each other.

Priorities• Develop our colleagues to maximise their

talent and match the needs of ourgrowing business

• Attract and retain the very best people

• Recognise and reward colleagues for their performance

• Create a working environment thatmakes our colleagues feel safe and valued

• Promote effective, clear and consistentcommunication

• Invest in the communities in which we live and work

• Encourage colleague involvement incommunity activities

Performance highlights• Best Employer Benefits Communications

Award at the DWF Employer Awards andthe Most Effective Benefits Programme at the HR Excellence Awards

• Over 16,000 days of training delivered,equating to over three days for eachcolleague

• 82% of colleagues taking part in ourSpeak Up colleague perception surveygave a positive response to working forthe Group

• Over £635,000 invested in communityactivities

• Over 2,600 hours of colleagues’ time givento community volunteering initiatives

OUR COLLEAGUES see Fig 1Cattles employed 5,008 colleagues at theend of 2007 compared to 4,449 at theprevious year-end – a 13% increase. Thecomposition of our workforce has remainedunchanged. We believe this reflects thestability of our business and provides a firmfoundation for future growth.

As a consequence of our improvedrecruitment techniques, the introduction of our new Your Reward initiative, ourstrong culture of training and developmentand effective two-way communicationacross the business, we saw animprovement in colleague retention: our 2007 colleague turnover was 30.5%,compared to 33.1% in 2006. The averagelength of service was just over four years.

We have a suite of group policies thatexplain how we support colleagues. Policies include those relating to equalopportunities and diversity, flexibleworking, whistle-blowing, and grievanceand disciplinary issues. The way peopleinteract with our business is summarised in our Approach to Human Rights andColleague Care, which can be downloadedfrom our website at www.cattles.co.uk.

In addition, Welcome Finance andShopacheck are both accredited with theInvestors in People standard.

We pride ourselves on our processes for enablingcolleagues to fulfil their career aspirations.

Fig 1.OUR COLLEAGUES

2007 2006 2005

Number of colleagues 5,008 4,449 4,389% part time 8% 8% 8%Male 50% 49% 51%Female 50% 51% 49%

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continued

PERFORMANCE RECOGNITION AND REWARDWe foster a culture that rewards goodperformance and recognises eachindividual’s contribution to the business.Across the business, colleagues’performance is formally appraised twice a year. These appraisals provide a basis fortheir personal development and influencetheir remuneration.

Our appraisal process evaluates colleaguesagainst a number of criteria relating totheir job role and position in the Company.In many cases CR is implicitly included inthese criteria – for example, treatingcustomers fairly – but colleagues havetraditionally not been measured explicitlyon CR issues. In 2007, we piloted aninnovative project to incorporate CR intothe appraisal of colleagues in our newCustomer Sales and Service Centres. TheCSSC Learning and Development Matrix is a set of personal measurements groupedunder key headings, including CR. Theseallow every colleague to identify theirdevelopment needs and understand how to realise their goals.

We pride ourselves on our processes for enabling colleagues to fulfil theiraspirations with us. In many cases we canadvise individuals on precisely what actionsto take to move from one grade to the next.In 2007, 777 colleagues were promoted

within the business. This is in addition to those recruited externally. Both ensurewe maintain the mix of skills andexperience we need to grow.

In 2007, we continued to develop ourinnovative Your Reward initiative, whichallows colleagues to tailor their rewardpackage so it best suits their needs. Each colleague’s reward is made up of three elements: core benefits, benefits that can be ‘flexed’, and optional or voluntary benefits. Core benefits,depending on position, include pension, life assurance, healthcare insurance, ShareIncentive and Sharesave plans, eyecarevouchers and access to our ColleagueAssistance Programme.

The flex component gives colleagues theoption to trade components of their currentpackage. For example, they can trade twodays’ holiday entitlement up or down foranother benefit. For colleagues on lowergrades who have not yet accrued significantbenefit entitlements, we have introduced a new allowance of £50 each towardswellbeing benefits such as a healthtreatment cash plan, dental insurance and gym membership.

In recognition of our approach to colleaguebenefits and reward we won twoprestigious awards in 2007: Best EmployerBenefits Communications Award at theDWF Employer Awards, specifically for the

Our culture seeksto recognisecolleagues’achievements

777colleagues promoted in 2007

£381invested per colleague in learning and development

20072006

5,300

16,019

Fig 2.COLLEAGUE TRAINING (Number of days)

21Cattles plc


way we communicate benefits andentitlements through our Total Rewardapproach, and Most Effective BenefitsProgramme at the HR Excellence Awards.

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENTWe foster a strong culture of learning and development across the business. We want to give colleagues the skills andknowledge they need to have a successfuland rewarding career while contributing to the Company’s success.

During 2007 we delivered over 16,000 daysof training in addition to regular ‘on the job’training and coaching provided by linemanagers – see Fig 2. This equates to 3.4 days or £381 per colleague. It was asignificant increase on the 5,300 daysprovided in 2006 and reflects additionaltraining to help colleagues make best use of our investments in new technology. Forexample, we delivered over 6,400 days oftraining on our new customer relationshipmanagement system alone. Excludingsystems training we delivered 9,575 days.

All new colleagues receive a thoroughinduction into the business. The length of this depends on the nature of their role.Every induction includes an introduction toour approach to CR and our CR cornerstones.

At WFS we use the Aspire programmeto identify, log and monitor personaldevelopment. This helps line managers to identify colleagues’ training needs andmonitor their progress against clearlydefined career paths. It also helpscolleagues to track their progress, incombination with our appraisal process,and meet their career objectives. During the year 189 colleagues were promoted into higher grades (2006: 165), an increaseof 15%. A further 588 colleagues werepromoted within their current grade (2006: 511), an increase of 15%.

In our 2006 CR Review we reported theintroduction of the Management Academy.This is a structured managementdevelopment programme designed toenhance the management skills of talentedindividuals at various levels in the business.The Foundation Management Skills course,part of the Management Academy aimed ataspiring first time line managers, has sincereceived external accreditation from theInstitute of Leadership and Management.This means that colleagues completing thecourse now receive an externally recognisedqualification. The first colleagues to benefitfrom the new course graduated inDecember 2007.

All Lewis colleagues have access to onlinetraining, which fulfils many of their trainingneeds. This is supported by a dedicatedteam of trainers who provide job specifictraining, for example, on the collectionprocess and our operating procedures. All our collections staff are encouraged to attend a specialist course run by theCredit Services Association to gain the CSADiploma qualification.

Similarly, CIF has an extensive trainingprogramme to ensure that colleagues can perform to their full potential. All linemanagers are required to attend a one-daycourse on how to recruit effectively,manage performance and get the best outof their teams. All colleagues are required to attend anti-money laundering and dataprotection training sessions on an annualbasis. We also offer colleagues openworkshops to support them in their currentor future roles. These include sessions onunderstanding finance and financialanalysis, taking the first steps intooperational and client management, andeffective communication. We also supportcolleagues through relevant professionalqualifications such as those with the AssetBased Finance Association.

Developing our colleagues to maximise theirtalent and match the needs of our businessis key to our success.

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continued

LISTENING TO OUR COLLEAGUESWe have a range of mechanisms forcommunicating with colleagues and lettingthem know what is happening in ourbusiness. This helps to create a sharedculture and a belief that everyone cancontribute to and benefit from the successof the Group. We endeavour to create aculture in which colleagues’ views andopinions are considered important. Wewant colleagues to feel valued and able toprovide ideas and perspectives thatimprove working practices.

Our annual Speak Up survey, covering WFS,Lewis and Cattles support functions, askscolleagues their views on a number ofdifferent issues including their perceptionsof the Company, its leadership, linemanagement, team working, training and development, wellbeing, customerexpectations and CR. In this year’s surveywe were pleased to maintain anexceptionally high response rate of 87%.The proportion of colleagues agreeing or strongly agreeing with favourablestatements about the business was 82%.In addition, 97% said they ‘get on withcolleagues’ and ‘demonstrate TreatingCustomers Fairly in dealing with customers’.

To gain a better view of colleagueperceptions we have changed the wayresponses are measured to provide anindexed value. This value recognisescolleagues’ responses more accurately andis weighted to highlight differencesbetween what we do well and what wecould do better, to help us learn andimprove. In 2007, this indexed value was 59out of 100. We will report on this basis andin more detail in next year’s CR Review.

The Speak Up findings are used across theGroup to develop action plans that willdeliver a better working environment forour colleagues. This is done at Group leveland within individual teams. Eachdepartment head or area manager is givenanonymous feedback on the survey resultsfor their team, including an analysis ofstrengths and weaknesses. They can thenplan specific changes that, although oftensmall, can make a significant difference to the way colleagues feel about workingfor us.

Colleagues continue to believe we arecommitted to caring for communities and the environment, and that they are encouraged to support good causes –see Fig 3. It is particularly encouraging to see that colleagues still support ourongoing commitment to improve standards

‘I am encouraged tosupport good causes.’

‘I believe the Company makes apositive difference to the world we live in.’(new for 2007)

‘I believe we shouldsupport moneymanagement educationin schools.’

‘The Companydemonstrates itscommitment to care for communities and the environment.’

Understanding our colleagues’ perceptions of CRThe Speak Up survey includes four questions onhow the business addresses CR. These only give usa snapshot of some of the issues, but help inbroad terms to gauge colleagues’ views of ourperformance.

Three of the four questions have remainedunchanged for the past three years and we cansee how colleagues’ responses have evolved. Weadded one new question this year on whether theCompany ‘makes a positive difference to the worldwe live in’.

20072006

7973

20072006

59

20072006

88 90

20072006

80 79

Fig 3.SPEAK UP 2007: CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY (% favourable – Agree or strongly agree)

87%response rate in colleague Speak Up survey

82%of colleagues gave positive response toworking for the Group

Case study

23Cattles plc


in money management education. It is notentirely clear why the question aboutmaking a positive difference to the worldwe live in received a lower score; we willinvestigate this over the coming months.

We run a similar colleague perceptionsurvey twice a year in CIF. As with Speak Up,the most recent results are very positive –96% of colleagues said they were satisfiedworking for CIF, 99% said they understoodthe business’ objectives and 92% thattwo-way communication in the businesswas effective.

Our 2006 Speak Up survey showed thatsome colleagues felt the business did notalways listen and needed to improvecommunication from the top. In responseto these findings, we established our SpeakBack Forums in 2007. These are regularmeetings held between WFS directors andcolleague representatives from all gradesacross the business (excluding CIF, whosesimilar Innovation Forums were describedin last year’s CR Review). Forums are heldtwice a year; the main points discussed areshared with the business through volunteerSpeak Back representatives and a dedicatedintranet site. Matters discussed so farinclude trading performance, our way ofworking, health and safety, and policychanges.

ENSURING HEALTH AND SAFETYWe undertook a significant review of ourapproach to health and safety during 2007,including a revision of our health and safetypolicy and management procedures. Thesedo not alter our commitment to the safetyof colleagues and anyone else coming intocontact with the business, but they betterreflect changes in the way the businessoperates.

Health and safety issues are managed byour Group Health and Safety, Fleet andEnvironment Manager, supported by aHealth and Safety Policy Committee thatagrees the health and safety plan each yearand reviews its implementation. They arealso incorporated into our Speak BackForums to give colleagues a voice on thesematters.

We operate a system of continuous trainingfor colleagues on display screen equipment,manual handling, fire, pregnancy andgeneral health and safety in the workplace.This is available online, and in 2007 over13,000 risk assessment and trainingmodules were completed. Our directorshave also received a Safety Training forSenior Executives course accredited by theInstitute of Occupational Health and Safetyto ensure they fully understand theirresponsibilities to colleagues in this area.

Some of our activities inevitably involvepersonal risk, particularly collections.Personal safety training remains a keyconcern. We continue to provide onlinetraining and workshop sessions on thisissue. In 2007 we ran a Lock It! campaign toencourage collection agents working forShopacheck to lock their cars immediatelyon entering to avoid the risk of robbery. Wealso supported the Suzy Lamplugh TrustPersonal Safety Day in October. In the eventof an incident we are quick to react and doall we can to ensure the ongoing safety ofthose affected and their security. Thisincludes changes to their workingarrangements and providing access tocounselling if appropriate.

In last year’s Review we reported our workto improve our company car drivers’ drivingstandards and reduce the risk of incidents.We have continued to work hard in this area and have introduced a system of driving licence checks with the DVLA. In 2007, we made 1,350 checks and usedthe information to prioritise drivers fordriver training. We continue to work withthe RAC to provide online driver riskassessments, which are also used toidentify drivers for training.

Meeting the directorsEffective two-way communication is fundamentalto our success. At the WFS Directors’ Roadshows in October 2007, the Managing Director of WFSand other directors met with over 800 colleaguesat eight venues across the UK. The main purposeof these sessions was twofold: to let the seniormanagement team share information and their perspectives on the business; and, justas importantly, to let colleagues ask questions and give their views.

Each business also holds conferences for itscolleagues to review performance, business aimsand objectives, and celebrate its success. Forexample, WFS held its Aspiration 2007 event toreward key achievers from across the business.Regular team briefings and other communicationmedia such as intranets and internal magazinessupplement these events.

Engaging withcolleagues

RISK.MANAGED.

24Cattles plc



continued

With this investment in driver training, our overall accident frequency, in terms ofinsurance claims made per 100 drivers, hasreduced from 70% in 2006 to 63% in 2007.Moreover, analysis shows that the severityof accidents occurring has reduced asindicated by the overall cost of each claim.This has reduced from £641 per claim to£438 for our trained drivers.

In 2007, we had three RIDDOR incidents(legally reportable under the UK Reportingof Incidents, Diseases and DangerousOccurrences Regulations 1995). Thiscompares with only two in 2006, when thenumber of people we employed was lower.

We want to look after our people, and ourWellbeing programme aims to increasetheir awareness of the benefits of healthyliving and improve their workingenvironment. This includes benefits such ashealthcare, eyecare and childcare vouchers,and discounts on leisure activities andhealth insurance.

More recently we have introduced ourColleague Assistance Programme. This is a free, independent, confidential andimpartial personal support service availableto colleagues and their immediate family members. It provides a telephonehotline with qualified advisers and alsoface-to-face meetings with specialists if required. Advisers can provide general,legal and financial advice, and counselling if appropriate.

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT see Fig 4Our community and charity work addressesa number of risks and opportunities. At themost basic level, healthy communitiesmake for healthy businesses so we aim toplay our part in them. There are also clearbenefits to be gained from improving ourreputation and profile in the communitieswhere we live and work. But perhaps ourstrongest motivation comes from within:taking part in community activities ispopular with our colleagues. In thecompetition for recruitment and retention,this kind of positive experience can makean important difference.

When the UK was hit by widespread flooding in 2007, our offices in Hull were particularly badlyaffected. There were two immediate concerns:ensuring the safety of our colleagues – many of whom were personally affected by flooding at home, and maintaining continuous service for our customers.

On the afternoon the floods began, it was clearthat our Hull CSSCs were likely to be affected. We put our crisis management plan into action.Business was transferred to our Nottingham CSSC where colleagues volunteered to work extrashifts to deal with customers’ calls.

A buddy system was implemented to ensure thatall our colleagues were accounted for and theirsafety assured whilst travelling through theflooded areas between office and home.

We very much appreciate our colleagues’ teamworkand commitment during this difficult time.

Case study

Colleagues develop new, andenhance existing, skills throughcommunity activity – these skillsare transferable to the workplace.

28% increase in colleague volunteering hours

Managing a crisis – Dealing withflooding in Hull

25Cattles plc


We aim to provide tangible support directlyin the communities we serve by focusing onthree areas:

• Raising standards in financial education

• Improving the welfare of young people

• Addressing issues of social disadvantage

We do this in three main ways:

• Developing partnerships with a smallnumber of key charities or communityorganisations whose work relates to our business activities and communityinvestment policy. This concentratesour support to maximise its impact.

• Favouring community activities in which our colleagues have a particularinterest or skills. We believe communityinvolvement should contribute tocolleagues’ personal development, so weencourage volunteering by offering paidtime in line with our volunteering policy.We facilitate and promote payroll giving,and participate in matched fundraising.

• Focusing our donations of money, timeand gifts in kind on community initiativesthat link with our core business and meetour community investment policy.

Our Community Investment Officeridentifies and co-ordinates our communityactivities, particularly volunteering projects.A Charity Panel of senior managers, chairedby the Company Secretary, evaluatesrequests for financial donations over £5,000against formal criteria in line with ourcommunity investment policy. Donationsunder £5,000 are considered by the CRManager and approved directly by theCompany Secretary. More details are givenin our Approach to Community Investment,which can be downloaded from our websiteat www.cattles.co.uk.

In 2007, the Group invested £635,085 in community activities and initiatives. This includes financial donations, as well as donations of time. It equates to 0.38% of pre-tax profits.

RISK.MANAGED.

2007200620052004

491

1,7172,059

2,644

Fig 5.VOLUNTEERING HOURSDONATED

Fig 4.COMMUNITY INVESTMENT

2007 2006 2005 2004

Financial donations £409,946 £433,621 £396,101 £262,727Gifts in kind – £50,972 – £2,300Volunteering £46,799 £33,726 £26,079 £7,931Management time £178,340 £167,598 £127,929 £114,837Total investment £635,085 £685,917 £550,109 £387,795% of pre-tax profits 0.38 0.52 0.48 0.38

26Cattles plc



continued

Our volunteering projects included:

Wheeler Street Primary School gardening project, HullColleagues from one of the Customer Sales and Service Centres in Hull workedalongside the Woodland Trust to create a lasting memento of the children’s work at the Wheeler Street Primary School. They excavated part of the school playingfield and fixed concrete paving slabs, whichthe children had created, into a nauticallythemed display. Logs created the outline of a boat and trees were planted toenhance the whole play area.

Community benefit: Wheeler StreetPrimary School teacher, Julie Nunn said:‘Cattles has been fantastic, and with thehelp of volunteers we now have a pleasantoutdoor environment for pupils to enjoy.’

Business benefit: This project gaveindividuals from different departments theopportunity to work together. They learnedthat teamwork, important in the workplace,was just as vital for the project. It improvedtheir communication skills and builtrelationships that have continued in the business.

Ollerton Pit Woods restoration project,NottinghamOne of our senior managers took his wholemanagement team out on a team buildingday. Colleagues from two sites, separated by some 80 miles, joined to clear deadwood as part of the Forestry Commission’sprogramme for safe use for the community.This opened up an overgrown pathwaythrough Ollerton Pit Woods, a 225-acreNottinghamshire beauty spot beingnurtured on a former colliery site by theForestry Commission.

Community benefit: The ForestryCommission said: ‘The help we had wasinvaluable: we do not have the manpowerto carry out such tasks. The transformationis amazing and visitors can once againenjoy walking and exploring, while enjoyinggreat views over the local countryside.’

Business benefit: The management teamwanted to inspire their own teams to getinvolved in community activity and feltthat leading by example was the wayforward. It was also an excellent way tobuild team spirit and see a positive resultfrom the team’s efforts.

COLLEAGUE VOLUNTEERINGWe promote colleague volunteering in the firm belief that it not only helps buildstrong links with local communities butalso gives colleagues opportunities tolearn new skills and build team morale.

Hands Up, our volunteering initiative,encourages colleagues at all sites to make an impact in their localcommunities. We work closely withBusiness in the Community’s nationalemployee volunteering programme, Cares,which encourages businesses to developpartnerships with local communities and helps colleagues to volunteer theirexpertise and skills to community projects and initiatives. However, we are increasingly sourcing our activitiesthrough the Hands Up Committees atour main office locations, because they can develop closer links with localcommunities and better understand their needs.

In 2007, our colleagues undertook 2,644hours of volunteering – an increase of 28% on 2006. This indicates thecontinuing commitment shown by ourcolleagues and the importance we attachto these activities.

Taking partin communityactivities ispopular with our colleagues

27Cattles plc


Ings Road Resource Centre, HullColleagues from our office at Hessle workedtogether to create a sensory garden at theIngs Road Resource Centre, a communitycentre used by the local community andadults with learning difficulties. Theyerected and painted fencing and brightenedup the whole area, working with other localbusinesses to provide plants and shrubs.

Community benefit: The volunteerstransformed an overgrown area into a garden designed to provide sensoryopportunities for sight, sound, touch andsmell that both disabled and able-bodiedvisitors can enjoy. They also widened accessareas to enable wheelchair users to enjoythe area. The Centre did not have the fundsfor this refurbishment and the labourprovided was invaluable.

Business benefit: The team was motivatedto complete the challenge as they feltthe users of the Centre deserved betterfacilities. It had a really positive effect ontheir commitment to our business and afeeling of pride to represent us in the widercommunity. Bad weather forced them to‘think on their feet’, and this helped themdevelop their problem solving skills.

Coaching at West Bridgford High School,NottinghamColleagues undertaking the coachingmodule of the Management Academy were able to swap role play for some real-life coaching with 22 Year 10 studentsat the West Bridgford High School inNottingham. Each student received a40-minute coaching session, with each of the managers delivering two sessions.

Community benefit: The students gained a unique insight into our business and thetypes of skills required for working in a largeorganisation – talking with someone fromthe world of business gave them a differentperspective. The school felt the exercise was extremely valuable in helping studentsto achieve their potential and to set goalsand targets.

Business benefit: The coaching sessionsenabled managers to put into practicethose skills they had learned throughformal training, in a real-life and relatively‘safe’ environment. This helped withconfidence and technique. The feedbackfrom the Academy candidates was positive,as they found the experience challengingand enjoyable.

Tree planting, HullAs part of a wider team from the localcommunity, 13 volunteers spent the dayplanting trees in the Bransholme area ofHull. Three thousand trees were planted – double the day’s target of 1,500.

Community benefit: Hull is reportedly the UK’s least tree-populated city. The timewe donated for planting trees has broughtlong-term benefit to the local communityand wildlife. This has promoted awarenesswithin the community and our colleaguesthat getting involved will help futuregenerations, and given all involved a senseof belonging.

Business benefit: Our colleagues workedhard to achieve the number of trees theyplanted and they were rightly proud of their achievement. As ambassadors for ourbusiness they took pride in making a lastingcommitment to their city, supported by thebusiness they work for.

Christmas activitiesIn addition, there was a substantial amountof volunteering activity over the Christmasperiod in 2007. In total we supported 25 community partners, provided 453 giftor food hamper donations, and helped 266 children enjoy a visit to either a party or a pantomime.

28Cattles plc


INTERNAL COMMUNITY PROGRAMMESCattles 50/50 ClubThis is our Give As You Earn (GAYE) scheme.Colleagues’ contributions are matched bythe Company and donated to five charitiesselected by colleagues’ online votes on ourintranet. Colleagues who participate arealso entered into a monthly prize draw. In July 2007 we donated £10,600 to eachcharity: Macmillan Cancer Support, TheChildren’s Variety Club, Promise Dreams,Mencap and Henshaws Society for theBlind.

Over 700 people now participate in thescheme – 15% of all our colleagues. Thishigh level of participation earned us a GoldPayroll Giving Quality Mark in aGovernment-funded scheme run by theInstitute of Fundraising.

We were also runners up in the MostInnovative Promotion category at theinaugural National Payroll Giving Awards2007. These celebrate the efforts ofemployers, charities and professionalpartnerships in promoting payroll giving inthe workplace. The judges commented:‘The online colleague voting and prize drawobviously help to engage employees. Thiscompany shows a real willingness to learnand to be adaptable in offering a GAYEopportunity to its colleagues.’

CashMatchThis initiative gives colleagues theopportunity to double their fundraising for charitable and community activities. We will contribute an equal amount, up to £500, provided certain criteria are met. In 2007, we CashMatched 22 projects with contributions totalling £7,420.

We continue to support the Leeds Project,brokered by Outward Bound. This givesschoolchildren from disadvantaged areas inLeeds the opportunity to participate in afive-day residential programme of activitiesto promote self-confidence and personaldevelopment.

We have also participated in theEmployability Programme for YoungLearners in Nottingham. This is a pilotscheme to encourage young people toundertake vocational qualifications. Tosupport it we have offered a student fromthe area a 10-week day release placementin our IT department. This gives the studentan opportunity to learn how a companyoperates and to develop their skills in awork environment, whilst enabling us tobuild strong relationships with the localcommunity and potential recruits. One ofour colleagues is assigned to mentor thestudent over the 10 weeks, giving them anopportunity to enhance their coaching andcommunication skills.


continued

Hands Up, our volunteering initiative, encouragescolleagues to make a positive impact in the localcommunity.

15% of colleagues participate inCattles 50/50 Club

22 community groups benefited fromCashMatch awards

29Cattles plc


Welcome Car Finance donated a car to a group offirst-year apprentice mechanics from WakefieldCollege as part of Wakefield’s ‘Make Your Mark’campaign.

Make Your Mark is a national campaign to inspireyoung people to turn their ideas into reality bystarting a business or social enterprise, or makingan idea happen, in their community or school. ARover 200 car was the prize in a competition tocome up with an innovative and environmentallyfriendly way to transport it from Welcome CarFinance’s Castleford branch to the College’sWakefield campus.

Three teams of students took part in the challenge,which focused on enterprise skills includingcommunication, ideas generation, teamwork,planning and presentation, competitive spiritand innovation. Each team gave a PowerPointpresentation, and the winning idea of ‘vegetable oil’was selected by a panel of judges.

Paul Hibbert, Welcome Car Finance operationsmanager, explained: ‘We were delighted to supportthe Make Your Mark campaign. As a business werecognise the importance of encouraging youngpeople, who will be the workforce of tomorrow, tohone their entrepreneurial skills.’

On behalf of Wakefield College, Mark Butcher said:‘We are very grateful to Welcome Car Finance for generously donating the car, which we will use for training including stripdowns and rebuilds.’


Oiling thewheels of enterprise

30Cattles plc


BEING ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE

As a growing business we recognise we have an impact on the environment.

Considerate Growth

31Cattles plc


We have a duty to manage ourenvironmental impact and minimise itwhere we can, and to raise awareness ofenvironmental issues among our colleagues.Our stakeholders expect us to do this, and it also helps us to operate more efficientlyand reduce our costs.

Priorities• Increase awareness of environmental

issues within the business

• Focus on our high priority impact areas

• Operate in an environmentally efficient way

• Improve our environmental performanceto generate tangible business benefits

Performance highlights• Company car fuel consumption reduced

by 11%

• CO2 emissions from electricity use in buildings reduced by 8% per unitof revenue

• Hybrid cars introduced to company car choice list

• Meeting Zone teleconferencing systemlaunched to help reduce business travel

• Successful pilot of the use of mobilehandheld technology in Shopacheck,which will reduce paper use significantly

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT We have identified four significantenvironmental impacts on which we focusour efforts:

• Energy used in our buildings

• Fuel used by our transport fleet,particularly company cars

• Use of materials and consumables such as paper

• Waste generated through our activities

Our commitment is set out in our Approach to Environmental Management,which can be downloaded from our website at www.cattles.co.uk. We take themanagement of these issues seriously: as an office-based business we have arelatively small environmental impact, butwe recognise that as a growing businessthis impact will increase unless we putstructures in place to manage it effectively.

Our environmental impact is managed day-to-day by a dedicated EnvironmentOfficer, working closely with the FleetManager and the Health and Safety team.

We set environmental objectives and targetsannually. Progress against our 2007 targetsis shown on pages 34 and 35, and discussedin the sections below. Of the five targetsthat we set, we have achieved four.

We have continued to participate inBusiness in the Community’s Yorkshire and Humber Index of EnvironmentalEngagement to assess our environmentalperformance, and in 2007 we maintainedthe Bronze position we achieved in 2006.

We continued our environmentalawareness raising programme amongcolleagues, including a number ofpresentations to teams across the Group.We also published articles on theenvironment in the WFS colleaguemagazine and posted an environmentalquiz on the intranet.

BUILDING ENERGY USE see Figs 6 - 8We use energy, predominantly electricity, to heat and light our buildings and powerour computers and office equipment.Owing to difficulties in obtaining accuratedata for some of our smaller sites andleased properties, we only measure theelectricity used by our main offices – whereover 25% of our colleagues work.

In 2007, we used 4.9 million KWh ofelectricity – unchanged from 2006, despitesignificant growth in our business. Thisequates to 2,564 tonnes of CO2 emissions.To assess our efficiency we monitor ouremissions against revenue. In 2007 weemitted 2.7kg CO2 per £1,000 of revenue,compared with 2.9kg in 2006 – an 8%reduction. This stems, we believe, from thecolleague awareness initiatives and the‘switch off’ campaign undertaken last year.

We focus our efforts on reducing energy used in our buildings.

20072006

4.9 4.9

Fig 6.ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION INBUILDINGS (Million KWh)

20072006

2,096

2,564

Fig 7.CO2 EMISSIONS FROM BUILDINGENERGY USE (Tonnes)

20072006

2.92.7

Fig 8.CO2 EMISSIONS FROM BUILDINGENERGY USE PER UNIT OF REVENUE(kg/£1,000)

32Cattles plc


BEING ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE

continued

In November 2007, we invited the CarbonTrust to help us find ways to reduce ourenergy consumption. It undertook a seriesof site visits to identify opportunities forgreater efficiency. We are now consideringits recommendations and expect toimplement a number of them during 2008.

BUSINESS TRAVEL see Figs 9 - 11We have a substantial fleet of 1,452company cars (2006: 1,354), plus threecommercial vehicles and six vehicletransporters in Welcome Car Finance.

In 2007, our fleet used 2.3 million litres of fuel, a reduction of 11% compared with2006. Key factors were more efficient carsreplacing older vehicles and more drivertraining. Fuel use equated to 6,030 tonnesof CO2 emissions. As an indication of fleetefficiency, this represented 6.3kg CO2 per£1,000 of revenue compared to 9.5kg CO2

in 2006.

But this does not give the whole picture. For a variety of reasons, an increasingproportion of colleagues either do not use a fuel card (on which our consumption data is based) or choose to drive their ownvehicles and reclaim fuel costs for businesstravel. While our fuel card data covers themajority of fuel used on company business,giving a representative measure ofperformance, some consumption isomitted. Determining how this can bemeasured accurately is an aim for thecoming year.

During 2007 we introduced a new fleet policy that gives colleagues moreinformation on the cars they are able to choose and the benefits of drivingefficiently. We also revised our list toinclude hybrid cars for the first time. Thisunderlines our commitment to reducingour fleet’s environmental impacts.

We have continued to develop our supportfor greener travel, and to this end weundertook an initial survey of colleagues tounderstand their travel habits. From thisinformation we plan to offer realisticoptions that encourage colleagues to beless reliant on car travel. We hope to reportmore fully on this in next year’s Review.

Projected saving of 16 million sheets of paperfrom introduction of mobile handheld technologyin Shopacheck.

Case study

20072006

2,6302,331

Fig 9.FUEL CONSUMPTION BY COMPANY CAR FLEET (Thousand litres)

■ Petrol ■ Diesel

20072006

6,7796,030

Fig 10.CO2 EMISSIONS FROM COMPANY CAR FLEET (Tonnes)

20072006

9.5

6.3

Fig 11.CO2 EMISSIONS FROM COMPANYCAR FLEET PER UNIT OF REVENUE (kg/£1,000)

11% reduction in fuel consumption

47% of waste recycled

20072006

75.082.7

Fig 12.PAPER USE(Reams ‘000)

33Cattles plc


PAPER USE see Figs 12 - 13We are an office-based company and use a lot of paper. In some instances this isunavoidable – for example, when handlingcustomers’ credit agreements. But in othercases we are able to cut our consumption.

As already mentioned, following asuccessful pilot we expect to move in 2008 to mobile handheld technology in Shopacheck to save over 16 millionsheets of paper a year. And, as part of CIF’sbusiness efficiency programme, we havemade debtor statements virtually paperless– saving over a million pieces of paper andan estimated £200,000 a year. This hasbeen made possible by encouragingdebtors to accept statements by fax(generated and sent electronically) or email, which both reduce postage, CO2 emissions and the use of envelopes. We are currently looking to apply theseprinciples to other paper-basedcommunications. By the end of 2008, weaim to be communicating electronicallywith 85% of the CIF client base.

Despite these and other initiatives, our useof office paper increased by 10% in 2007.But this was less than the growth inbusiness. Paper use per £1,000 of revenueimproved by 17% reflecting the moreefficient use of paper within the business.The primary reason for this improvementwas the increase in the number of printersbeing used across the business withdouble-sided print capability.

WASTE see Fig 15During 2007 we focused on improving themanagement data received from our wastemanagement contractors. This enhanceddata enables improved control over theinitiatives that we implement and moreprecise measurement of the associatedperformance improvement. We are nowconfident that we have reliable data whichcovers the Group.

In 2007, we generated 1,077 tonnes ofwaste compared with 927 tonnes in 2006 – an increase of 16%. In terms of kg per£1,000 of revenue we improved ourefficiency by over 12%.

Almost half the waste we generated (47%)was recycled. This proportion relates mainlyto paper waste. Our policy is to shred andrecycle all paper used in the business,whether it is confidential or not.

Meeting Zone – teleconferencing to reducebusiness travelDuring 2007 we rolled out a new internalteleconferencing facility. This allows colleagues fromdifferent sites around the business to communicatewithout the need for travelling. Colleagues wishingto minimise CO2 emissions by reducing travel havewelcomed the system and adoption rates havebeen high since its introduction in April.

In the first nine months of 2007 there were 2,878Meeting Zone conferences. Although we do not yethave a 12-month record, these preliminary findingsare encouraging. During 2008 we will continue toraise awareness of the system as a key way toreduce car use.

RISK.MANAGED.

■ Recycled ■ Landfill

Q4Q3Q2

433

832

1,613

Fig 14.TELECONFERENCING ACTIVITY IN 2007

20072006

927

1,077

Fig 15.WASTE GENERATED AND RECYCLED(Tonnes)

20072006

0.100.09

Fig 13.PAPER USE PER UNIT OF REVENUE(Reams/£1,000)

1.

34Cattles plc


SUMMARY OF PROGRESS AGAINST OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS

Embed our CR strategy into colleagues’operational processes

Publish CR policy on website

Review opportunities to incorporate CR into colleague training and induction process across the Group

Provide regular Board updates on CR activities and performance

Objective

2.Establish clear performance measures andconfirm that our aims are being achieved at both corporate and operational level

Review business management scorecards developed across the business to ensure link with CR and to avoid duplication of effort

Rationalise KPIs and strengthen the relationship to the CR cornerstones

Incorporate graphical elements to the scorecard to facilitate interpretation

3.Review our support for financial education to identify opportunities to generate bettervalue from investment in this area

Develop an engagement plan to facilitate better links with organisations working in the areas of responsible lending and financial education

Develop a flagship project for Cattles, focusing on financial education for implementation in 2008

4.Increase two-way communication withcolleagues to enhance CR awareness in the business

Undertake CR awareness presentations at WFS, Lewis and CIF

Develop an internal communications plan for CR

Review the CR element of Speak Up perception survey to ensure it supports ongoing CR activities

5.Invest in local communities where we live and work, and promote colleagueinvolvement in community activities

Develop an impact review framework to measure the benefits of our community activity

Increase overall volunteering hours by 10% a year

6.Improve environmental performance anddeliver tangible benefits to the business inour high priority impact areas

Reduce CO2 emissions from our energy consumption by 3% per £1,000 of revenue

Reduce fuel emissions from our car fleet by 5% per £1,000 of revenue

Reduce paper use by 5% per £1,000 of revenue

Develop a Group-wide green travel policy

Increase waste recycling by 2%

Target

35Cattles plc


Some opportunities have been identified (for example, within the CSSCs) but these have beenlimited during 2007 – however, CR is now included in all colleague induction

CR updates are provided for each Board meeting and are a regular agenda item

CR policy published on website

KPIs now support CR cornerstones

Scorecard has been developed to include charts and graphical elements that allow morestraightforward interpretation and review

Other scorecards used in the business were reviewed, resulting in some managementinformation now being shared

We are now working with Credit Action to distribute its Moneymanual to sixth formers leavingschool, and researching their attitudes towards money management

Key stakeholders have been identified and engaged in ongoing dialogue

This target became redundant as a result of the success of the CR roadshows – however, CR hasbeen featured in existing internal communications such as articles in internal magazines

Four questions on CR included in 2007 survey

24 CR roadshows have been undertaken to date

We donated 2,644 hours of colleague time to volunteering activity in 2007, a 28% increase on 2006

Will be completed during 2008

Emissions from the company car fleet per £1,000 of revenue have reduced by a third comparedto 2006

Paper use reduced by 17% per £1,000 of revenue

We reduced CO2 emissions from energy consumption at main sites by 8% to 2.7 kg CO2 per£1,000 of revenue

Recycling increased from 35% in 2006 to 47% in 2007

Draft green travel plan developed and awaiting formal approval

Comment for 2007Status

Achieved Ongoing Not achieved

36Cattles plc


THE YEAR AHEAD

PLANS FOR 2008We are committed to the principles of CR and achievement of our three CR cornerstones. In each of these areas we demonstrated our ability to improve our performance throughout 2007. We will strive to continue this trend in the coming year.

We are confident that we have thefoundations in place to deliverimprovements in the way we operate and to meet the expectations of our stakeholders.

The Group has set a number of high levelobjectives for 2008:

• Review our CR governance arrangementsto ensure they accommodate the growthof the business

• Seek further opportunities to embed theCR cornerstones into our operationalprocesses

• Integrate CR key performance indicatorswith our existing business managementsystems, particularly those relating to riskmanagement

• Continue our colleague engagementprogramme to promote awareness of ourCR cornerstones and activities

• Instigate a programme of dialogue with external stakeholders to ensure our approach to CR is consistent withtheir perceptions and expectations of the Group

• Support financial education initiativesand the development of moneymanagement skills

These objectives are supported by detailed targets.

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINKUnderstanding the views of ourstakeholders is important to us. It providesuseful feedback as we develop ourapproach to CR and implement initiativesacross the business. It also gives usconfidence that we are reporting on theareas our stakeholders want to know about.If we are not doing something right, wewant to know so we can do our best to putit right.

To obtain a copy of any document referredto in the Review or to provide feedback,please contact:

Jayne JohnsonCR ManagerCattles plcKingston HouseCentre 27 Business ParkWoodhead RoadBirstallBatleyWF17 9TD

If you would prefer, you can also contact usby email at [email protected].

The cover of this Review is printed on Challenger Offset 100% ECF pulp, sourced fromsustainable managed forests. Environmental care system ISO 14001 is in place withregard to waste management. The mill is EMAS registered. All chemicals are treatedin an aerobe and anaerobe purification plant and discharges are kept to a minimum.

The text pages of this Review are printed on Challenger Offset paper which isrecyclable. A large proportion of the raw material used is the by-product from otherproduction processes i.e. saw mill waste and waste which results from forestthinning. The mill holds not only ISO 2002 but also the ISO 14001 accreditation for their environmental management systems, which include an active policy onsustainable forestry management.

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Registered in England: Number 543610

Tel: 01924 444466Fax: 01924 442255

www.cattles.co.uk

5177 Cattles Rev 08 02a · Cattles plc Corporate Responsibility Review 2007 CATTLES PLC – AT A GLANCE OUR BUSINESSES Welcome Financial Services The Lewis Group Cattles Invoice Finance

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