Sutcliffe is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the ‘Aspiring Level’ in the Liverpool City Region Fair Employment Charter. Through achieving this status, Sutcliffe is proven to be an organisation dedicated to creating a safe and inclusive work environment for all employees and supports its staff to grow and develop, while working towards creating a fairer, more inclusive city. 

Our managing director, Sean Keyes said:

“At Sutcliffe, our aim is to provide a thriving workplace for all our employees. We are committed to fair pay, fair hours, and rewarding our staff for the incredible work they do to keep business pushing forward. 

We are proud to have been awarded ‘Aspiring Level’ in the Liverpool City Region Fair Employment Charter and we will continue to provide our team with a safe, inclusive and positive workplace to learn and grow”.

The Fair Employment Charter includes four main pillars which we are required to meet. They are as follows: 

1. Healthy Pillar – We commit to safe workplaces supporting a healthy workforce
2. Fair Pillar – We commit to fair pay and fair hours
3. Inclusive Pillar – We commit to inclusive workplaces that support staff to grow and develop
4. Just Pillar – We commit to a voice for staff to help deliver justice in the workplace with opportunities available for young people 

At Sutcliffe, we combine the operations of our HR team, with the work of an external consultancy named High-Performance Consultancy, with both parties helping to keep the company up to date with any changes that need making to the auditing process and contracts.

We do not provide our staff with zero-hour contracts and although we very rarely provide temporary contracts, our HR team regularly review these type of contracts accordingly.

As proud Real Living Wage employers and a proud supporter of the Government backed Kickstart Scheme, Sutcliffe employed a number of Kickstarters (16 – 24 year olds on Universal Credit) from 2020 – 2022. 

Paying all Kickstarters the Real Living Wage, Sutcliffe also actively recruits work experience students on a quarterly basis, with the company engaging with numerous schools, colleges, and universities in the Liverpool City Region, regularly attending workshops, open days, and careers fairs.

Managing director Sean Keyes and director William Baldwin also both joined the company on the YTS (Youth Training Scheme) back in the 1990’s, with Sutcliffe boasting a proud track record of taking apprentices from juniors right through to senior engineers and managers.

In terms of creating a positive environment for mental health, our directors operate with an ‘open door’ policy for all employees. Our senior team regularly attends mental health training seminars and workshops, with this information and training then cascaded throughout the office and into sub-teams. 

With the mental health at work policy also in place, we have created a ‘perks at work’ scheme portal to full effect, with staff members having 24/7 access to mental health assistance, occupational therapy, and counseling services. 

This aforementioned health and well-being portal also allows staff members to book telephone and face-to-face consultations with mental health professionals, with the portal also providing access to everything from menopause support to meditation guides, podcasts, and relaxation and wellness training programmes.