Aim to Win and Earn Trust — Corporate Responsibility

Halfords aims to contribute positively to the communities and environment in which we operate. We recognise that acting responsibly in all our operations, and towards our colleagues, customers and stakeholders, also benefits our business and our brand. Throughout the year our Commercial Director was responsible for ensuring that our corporate responsibility policy was aligned with the strategic aims of our business. Executive management monitors achievement of related KPIs.

Recognising that ultimately Halfords is a business and so our focus is on operating our business to provide our customers with high quality products and services, and to generate value for our shareholders, we continually strive to improve upon the management of our environmental, social and corporate governance impact. It is essential that we live our values by continually monitoring our exposure and responding to safeguard not only our business, but also the environment and the societies in which we operate.

In support of this, we have been looking to expand our corporate responsibility initiatives in recent years. During the period, we commenced a work inclusion programme with Bikeworks, which is discussed further under Bikeworks, and appointed a dedicated Community & CSR Manager to develop the opportunities that Halfords has to make a positive contribution to our local communities, as described under Inspire Others — Community. Further information will be made available on our Corporate Website as the developments progress and will be described fully in next period's annual report and accounts.

Work as a Team — Workplace

Colleagues

As the many faces of our business, our colleagues are fundamental to the achievement of our customer experience ambitions. We strive to be an employer of choice, where commitment to good service standards and our values is both celebrated and rewarded. Our colleagues are expected to be customer-focused, helpful individuals who work as a team to earn trust of our customers in our product and service knowledge so inspiring our customers to invest in products and services from our stores and autocentres – in so doing our colleagues aim to win. In return for this, we offer our colleagues equal opportunities to work in a fulfilling and stimulating environment and further develop their careers within the Group on the basis of merit.

To provide our colleagues with the knowledge to empower them to confidently deliver great service, c.80% of our Retail fitting colleagues (excludes store managers and duty managers) are accredited (2013: 6,092; 2012: 5,780), whilst around 60% (2012: c.60%) of our Autocentres colleagues hold an industry-recognised qualification. There are currently 160 apprentices (2012: c.140) participating in the Autocentres training academy apprenticeship programme, a three-year fully funded technician programme leading to the Institute of Motor Industry NVQ 3 and Diploma, as well as an Automotive Technician Accreditation assessment. Our IMI accredited Academy of Learning delivers a range of technical and management qualification opportunities to Autocentres colleagues.

Our new 3-Gears programme also introduces a training and colleague qualification programme that puts expertise at our core and has the potential to revolutionise our approach to building colleague expertise and our customers' experience.

Diversity amongst our Colleagues

We are committed to operating as an equal opportunities organisation whilst recognising that the nature of our business is more likely to attract certain profiles of colleagues than others. Our commitment to diversity is upheld by the Board as described under Effectiveness and our Equal Opportunities policy sets out our commitments and expectations as regards diversity, colleague behaviours and how colleagues are treated within the business.

Accessibility

As a household brand, our stores and autocentres should be accessible to customers and colleagues alike. We work hard to deliver our products and services in surroundings that are as comfortable and convenient to work and shop in as possible.

Health and Safety Management

Halfords is committed to high standards of occupational health and safety to minimise the risk of injuries and ill health to employees, contractors, customers, visitors and others who come into contact with the business. Our overall annual incident rate remains below the benchmarks of the industries we operate in.

Think Customer — Marketplace

We are committed to helping and inspiring our customers with their life on the move by:

• Continuing to be the largest retailer of bicycles and cycling-related products, stocking a wide range of 177 bicycles suitable for every taste and budget for beginners, intermediate cyclists and enthusiasts alike.
• Delivering over 13,500 Cycle2Work schemes to date for private and public sector organisations of varying types and sizes.
• Assisting our customers to keep their vehicles on the road for longer by providing high-quality car maintenance products in stores and car servicing and initiatives, such as brakes4life, a lifetime replacement of brake pads and brake shoes, at our autocentres.
• Supporting the Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) scheme to ensure our technicians' knowledge remains current, enabling them to deliver efficient servicing to our customers

We recognise that whilst our customers seek quality, reliable products and/or services at reasonable prices, they also expect us to carry out business responsibly. We work hard to ensure that our products meet our high standards, which are consistent with or stronger than relevant legislation, international conventions and codes of practice. For example, our autocentres fit parts which meet OE standards not only maintaining the warranties on our customers' vehicles but meeting legislative requirements. In addition, we have our own quality control systems in place as well as a mystery shopper programme to ensure that our expected standards are upheld. The external organisations VOSA and Trading Standards also monitor our activities. We also take advantage of opportunities to work closely with trade associations, research institutes, standards authorities, universities and government organisations to improve performance standards and safety, and develop and influence best practice. For example, our Autocentres CEO is heavily involved in the VOSA modernisation programme.

Similarly, we place high standards on our selected suppliers, maintaining an Ethical Trading policy which we expect our suppliers to sign up to. This policy is available on our Corporate Website. We will visit manufacturing sources to verify their quality procedures, supply chain arrangements and interactions with their local communities. Our suppliers are expected to, like us, seek to improve their offering and reduce any undue impact on local stakeholders and their localities generally.

The potential impact that our business could have on our stakeholders and the wider world is considered throughout the product or services' lifecycle when we make decisions on choice of offer, packaging and procedures. One such example is that the majority of our products are imported so we are careful to monitor our carbon emissions and restrict our use of airfreight. Typically we ship products, which once landed in the UK, travel via rail to our Distribution Centres in the Midlands.

Our Autocentres business uses small vans which are route managed not dedicated in order to make deliveries as efficient and minimise the environmental impact as practicable.

Throughout the year, our People Team worked closely with Which? Magazine regarding childseat fitting training at Halfords, and as part of the umbrella Digital Radio UK with members of the SMT Working Group for DAB conversion, including the design of an accredited installation and approval of DAB programme.

Be Helpful — The Environment

Our overall greenhouse gas emissions have stayed broadly flat this year as we continue to better utilise our Main and Cycling Distribution Centre, improve the management of store deliveries and use larger and double-decker trailer units to carry more stock per vehicle.