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A force for good

We stand for being rooted in our communities because when they flourish so does our business.  Our mission is to use our expertise to improve outcomes for society and the communities we serve.

In 2022, we were excited to take the next step in our social mobility journey, focusing our Community Fund and the aim of building a more inclusive and equitable Britain. We additionally looked to provide support to those in need at home and abroad, with our colleagues' donations for charitable causes around the UK, and contributions made to the Disasters Emergency Committee efforts in Ukraine and Pakistan.

Giving back

Over the course of 2022, we supported a variety of charitable causes. This included:

  • Donating £150,000 in total to the Disasters Emergency Committee campaigns in Ukraine and Pakistan.
  • Our colleague-led Community and Social Committees (“CASCs”) distributing £100,000 to local causes.
  • Sponsoring the NSPCC’s Great Chefs dinner, which raised almost £300,000 to help children around the UK.
  • Our Diversity Network Alliance giving £90,000 to organisations aligned with their diversity and inclusion goals.

Road safety

Our campaigning for improved road safety continued, working in partnership with the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety (“PACTS”). An updated report1 was published in 2022 which set out actions to increase seat belt wearing rates in the UK and save preventable loss of life on roads. The report highlighted that wearing a seat belt reduced the risk of death for drivers in a road collision by some 50%.

Prompt payment code

As a responsible business, we are a longstanding signatory of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Prompt Payment Code, a voluntary code of practice for businesses to ensure payments are made to suppliers on time. During the last year, when cost of living challenges were significant and the importance of swift payments were even more recognised, we were awarded a Fast Payer Accreditation Award by Good Business Pays, recognising our role in supporting our suppliers, big and small.

Human rights

Our aim is to be a force for good and we want to build a reputation for being an ethical business which drives our commitment to have employment practices and policies that exceed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are committed to ensuring modern slavery is not present in our supply chain. Our risk profiling, including specific requirements within our due diligence and assurance processes, incorporates the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Community Fund

Since the start of 2020, our Community Fund has helped over 300 charitable causes, supporting over 200,000 families and individuals facing adversity, mental health challenges and food poverty. Building on these achievements, and with so many of our colleagues feeling passionately about social mobility, we were delighted to focus our Community Fund in 2022 with a new ambition: to build a more inclusive and equitable Britain. Partnering with three organisations, Envision, Springpod and Young Professionals, we have launched a programme of engagement, to use our expertise across the business to help equip younger people with key career skills.

Work experience

In-person and virtual events focusing on employability skills and workshops on data and technology were held, giving participants the opportunity to learn about important career skills.

Mentoring

Highlighting the variety of roles on offer at Direct Line Group, colleagues from Finance to Technology to Marketing gave students an insight into what their day-to-day job entailed.

Insight events

Hosted across several office sites across the country, sessions on topics such as how an insurance company works, building a sustainable business, and how to run a marketing campaign took place.

Reach

  • 500 students engaged to improve employment skills.
  • 85% were from an ethnic minority background.
  • 100% were eligible for free school meals.
  • 58% identified having a parent/parents with a working class occupation.
  • 150+ colleagues signed up to be a mentor, participate in work experience or attend an insight event.

Impact after taking part in the programme

  • 93% felt they understood how an insurance company operates,
  • 83% felt more able to ask someone for a connection to build their professional network, and
  • 74% felt more confident to apply for jobs.

 

Note:

1. Source: https://www.pacts.org.uk/pacts-briefing-seat-belts-time-for-action/