Our global approach to sustainable purpose
Within the Improve International Group, our environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) reinforces who we are, how we act, and how we serve the veterinary community, along with the wider world. Here we share our global approach to sustainable purpose which underpins the basis of our decisions by focusing on business ethics and compliance, people, culture and community.
Improve International exists to deliver our Purpose of providing veterinary professionals with the skills and confidence to deliver compassionate animal care through advanced training and qualifications. We are dedicated to upholding ESG principles and recognise our responsibility to our customers, employees, and suppliers. We are committed to ongoing improvement of our ESG credentials and strive to do better every day.
Environmental Responsibility
We are dedicated to minimising our environmental impact by implementing sustainable practices throughout our operations. This includes reducing waste, conserving resources, and supporting initiatives that promote environmental conservation and protection.
Through our environmental colleague focus group, we have implemented a number of recycling initiatives, which include:
Recycling within our offices but also across the delivery of our courses, for example reusing surgical items
Recycling of PPE throughout all of our global training centres
Where possible, sourcing local materials for delivery of our courses
For our books and publishing, we use PEFC certified paper and encourage the use of online publications rather than printed
Social Impact
We welcome everyone who becomes part of our learning community and passionately believe in education for all, aligned to our Mission and Purpose.
As a Group we prioritise fostering a diverse, inclusive, and fair workplace where all employees are valued, respected, and provided with equal opportunities for growth and development.
Diversity
Along with our environmental focus group, we have a number of diversity champions from across the organisation, all of who have received specific training.
In January 2024 the Improve International Group gained Stonewall Membership and are currently working within the business on awareness and allyship.
In addition to the company’s policies around Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (including recruitment), we actively promote and share progression with monthly updates in our town halls. Our regular employee pulse surveys are used to seek feedback on current activities and ideas for improvement areas.
Health and Wellness
All colleagues around the world have access to an employee assistance programme (EAP) which means they can gain support on a range of topics as well as counselling. In addition, our mental health first aiders are externally trained and available day-to-day.
To regularly communicate health and wellbeing initiatives, a dedicated Teams channel provides monthly newsletters / updates for health support and work life balance.
The Group’s flexible working policy illustrates our commitment to supporting colleagues with managing work alongside personal lives.
For our customers, we offer different ways to learn based on learning preferences / styles, including face-to-face, online and a mixture of the two (blended). In addition, this choice supports our customers to balance the challenge of learning alongside busy day-to-day practice.
Charitable giving
Our Charity focus group was created to engage with communities to support a range of initiatives, including supporting animal welfare globally and local initiatives where we have offices. Colleagues within the focus group have selected a few charities that Improve International is supporting for 2023/2024
StreetVet
StreetVet delivers free veterinary care and services to the pets of people experiencing homelessness in the UK. Improve Veterinary Education is proud to sponsor the StreetVet Vet and Nurse of the Year awards.
WVS
WVS provides free expert care to animals in need all over the world. They send vets where they are needed most, training them to increase the standard of care globally and by shipping urgent aid supplies worldwide.
We have WVS collection points in our UK offices as well as our Frankfurt and Madrid training facilities.
Associação Animais da Quinta
With one of our largest offices in Porto (Portugal), colleagues chose to support a local charity; Associação Animais da Quinta – an inspirational charity that houses around 40 dogs in their shelter as well as supporting stray animals.
The Porto office and our venue at Montenegro Veterinary Hospital have a collection point for valuable supplies including: dewormers, dog food and cleaning materials.
Governance
We uphold high standards of governance integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in all aspects of our business. This includes maintaining an accountability framework with all our stakeholders, adhering to regulatory requirements, and ensuring that our actions align with our core Values and Mission.
At the core of this framework is strong governance and a robust risk and compliance framework. This framework is supported by procedures to ensure that we apply, at all times, high levels of personal and professional integrity. We have put in place the necessary policies and procedures to ensure that the highest standards of compliance are embedded right across our Group operations.
