Suppliers
Working closely with suppliers
In 2007, Aviva Group Centre had a cleaning team who worked unsociable hours, and were unknown to our staff. With supplier ICS, we switched to daytime cleaning, and introduced housekeepers to staff, both in person, and through a poster campaign. The move to daytime cleaning has been a success for all involved; housekeepers enjoy better working conditions and staff turnover has dropped. Working relationships have improved, as has the service, resulting in a reduction in costs.
Aviva UK’s operational services has also worked closely with its catering services supplier Avenance to implement a number of initiatives to minimise waste. These include:
- compostable paper napkins made from non-bleached recycled material
- recycling cardboard, tins, milk bottle tops and coffee grounds for garden compost
- using refillable sugar shakers instead of paper sachets
- biodegradable plastic cutlery, sandwich boxes and labels
- switching as much packaging as possible to biodegradable corn starch.
‘Avenance is proactively responding to changes in the market, particularly regarding increasing environmental concerns. We are keen to work as partners to share ideas, trial new products and ultimately lighten our environmental footprint.”
Viv Shinner operations manager, Avenance
Fairtrade Fortnight
Aviva kicked off the Fairtrade Fortnight in February with a breakfast at Aviva global headquarters for City professionals, suppliers and representatives from the City of London Corporation, the Fairtrade Foundation and the Fairtrade steering group,established to promote fair trade within the Square Mile and across London.
Guests heard from Erica Kyere, a farmer from a cooperative in Ghana, who highlighted the impact that the price guarantees from Fairtrade partnerships can make. During the same two weeks, Caron Services, a family-run vending machine business, supported Aviva France by running a promotion at its head office, as well as providing a coffee machine, Fairtrade coffee and snacks for a Telethon event.
Stationary stationery
First 2 Office, Aviva’s stationery supplier, challenged eight Master’s students at London’s Royal College of Art to create sculptures from unwanted stationery donated by customers including Aviva. In just two days, 84 pallets of unwanted supplies were collected, of which 62 were recycled, 11 were donated to charity and 11 were turned into sculpture for The Office Stationery Amnesty Arts Award. As part of the London Sustainability Festival, Aviva exhibited the winning pieces in the Aviva’s global headquarters main reception.