Calverts provides high quality, environmentally conscious communications design, printing and web services to a wide range of commercial, third sector, government and community organisations in the UK.

Activities range from copywriting, illustration, branding and graphic design to digital, litho and wide format printing, mailing and distribution. Products include every type of print collateral, from brochures, magazines and stationery to information packs and exhibition materials.

Calverts is London's leading ethical and environmental printer. The company holds Forestry Stewardship Council and Greenmark certification, as is working towards the ISO 14001 environmental management accreditation.

Calverts is a common ownership co-operative, incorporated as an Industrial and Provident Society. All employees are eligible for membership, and each member has a single, non-transferable voting share.

Business vision

To be recognised as the UK's leading co-operative provider of communications design and printing services.

Business philosophies and beliefs

It is part of human nature to want to improve the conditions of our work. As a co-operative, Calverts enables its employee members to take part in the democratic control of their working environment and life. We strive for better, fairer and more dignified ways of working.

A co-operative is an autonomous association of people united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. Calverts therefore operates according to the seven co-operative principles:

1. Voluntary and open membership
2. Democratic member control
3. Member economic participation
4. Autonomy and independence
5. Education, training and information
6. Co-operation among co-operatives
7. Concern for community

Business Values

Self-help

Self-responsibility

Democracy

Equality

Equity

Solidarity

Honesty

Openness

Social responsibility and caring for others

Business mission

To provide the highest levels of quality and service in communications design and print services

To provide secure, meaningful and properly compensated work for the members of the co-operative

To generate wealth in order to improve the quality of life of the members

To develop a culture and practice of democratic self-management in the workplace

To support the sustainable development of our communities

Business Information

Date established:: 1977
Contact details: Sion Whellens, Client Services Director, sion@calverts.coop, 020 7739 1474
Business structure Help Basic business structures under UK law include: sole trader, partnership, private company limited by shares, private company limited by guarantee, community interest company, public limited company, private unlimited company, and franchise.: Co-operative (Industrial & Provident Society)
Address of company headquarters: 9-10 The Oval, London, E2 9DT
Countries of operations: UK
Countries where goods and/or services are sold: UK
Size of workforce: 15
Financial year Help The 12 months used as a company's accounting period. This may or may not be a calendar year.: 1st October to 31st September
Market capitalisation Help The market value of a public company's issued share capital, i.e. the number of shares multiplied by the current price of those shares on the stock market. For private companies, 'company value', estimated by the book value of all assets or by using comparable companies, is a more appropriate term. This information is not compulsory.: GBP 262,000 before goodwill
Turnover (last financial year) Help Income that the business receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. Also known as total revenue, total sales or the top line.: GBP 1,380,000
Profit (last financial year) Help Gross profit is the total turnover minus cost of sales. Net profit is the turnover minus all expenses, including payroll and tax. Businesses are asked to state gross profit, net profit or both. This field can be left blank.: GBP 31,000
Details of owners: Common Ownership Co-operative with 15 members, each holding a one pound, non-transferrable voting share
Directors' other business interests Help Businesses are asked to list other directorships held by their directors and company secretary: Sion Whellens is a non-executive director of Co-operatives UK Ltd

Goods and Services

Calverts services include:

Graphic and communications design

Branding, corporate identity and campaigns

Illustration, photography, copywriting and editing

Web development

Reprographics

Printing - litho, digital and wide format

UK and worldwide mailing and distribution

Free samples, dummies and advice

Calverts products include:

Websites and e-newsletters

Brochures and catalogues

Annual reports and reviews

Newletters and magazines

Flyers, leaflets and posters

Stationery, folders, packs, binders

Books

Exhibition and display materials

A full range of recyled papers

Calverts is dedicated to providing integrated communications design and print that is financially, environmentally and socially sustainable.

As a Forest Stewarship Council certified printer, we can also demonstrate that our clients' projects are printed using paper made from well-managed forest products; from 100% post-consumer recycled paper (made in paper mills which are themselves FSC accredited); or from 'mixed source' FSC papers. Our clients can use the FSC claim on their own publications.

Business Responses

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Human Rights

Does your company have a policy to ensure that neither the company nor its suppliers or contractors use forced, bonded or child labour?

Question developed with ActionAid

Rationale for question

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and subsequent human rights documents set out protection against servitude and forced labour as a fundamental human right, i.e. a right from which there can be no derogation. It can never be right to tolerate forced labour in the supply chain.

Forced and bonded labour is not an issue limited to companies operating in developing countries. For example, research from Anti-Slavery International has uncovered forced labour in the United Kingdom. The NGO explains that forced labour occurs primarily in industries that depend on casual and temporary labour, offer low-wages and predominantly subcontract, which often makes it hard to track supply chains. Forced labour is most likely to be found in agriculture (along with related businesses, such as food processing, packaging and shellfish picking), construction, services (restaurants, hotels), domestic work, nursing and care, and the sex trade. In addition to the damage to the individual, society also suffers the effects of the criminal activity generally associated with forced and bonded labour.

Some forced or bonded labourers may be children. However, other children may take on work 'voluntarily' as a means for survival. As pointed out by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other child and labour advocacy groups, the question of acceptable and unacceptable work done by those under 18 years old is a complicated one that is dependant on numerous factors, including the child's age, type of work, and conditions of work.

Defining Terms

As stated in International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 29 concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, 'forced labour' is all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily. The individual may be paid little or no wages for the work. Another example is an employer holding the identity papers or travel documents of workers so they are unable to leave their employment.

One form of forced labour is 'bonded labour', which is work exacted from a person as means of repayment for a loan or a debt. Such bondage is designed to hold the person in perpetual servitude, long after the value of the original debt has been paid off. It may even be inherited. Debt bondage is the most widely used method of enslaving people, with at least 20 million bonded labourers around the world according to the ILO.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 'child labour' is work done by children that amounts to economic abuse (e.g. unpaid work) and/or work that is likely to be hazardous, interfere with the child's education, or harm the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

'Light work' will not be considered as child labour for the purposes of this question. The ILO identifies 'light work' as work that is not likely to be harmful to children's health or development and not likely to be detrimental to their attendance at school or vocational training.

Primary and Secondary answer requirements

ANSWERING YES

Companies must:

describe their policy against the use of forced, bonded or child labour in their operations and those of their suppliers and sub-contractors;
explain how they communicate the policy to workers and suppliers; and
specify how they ensure that the policy is being observed, e.g. through independent verification and/or contract specifications.

Companies may:

state where this policy is published and provide a hyperlink, if available;
describe any other good practice they implement, such as setting out directives to follow should forced, bonded or child labour be discovered in the supply chain and ensuring that adequate returns are given to suppliers; and
state whether they are members or supporters of any organisations seeking to improve labour standards in supply chains.

ANSWERING NO

Companies must:

explain why they do not or cannot answer YES to this question, listing the business reasons, any mitigating circumstances or other reasons that apply.

Companies may:

explain the extent to which they do follow any of the practices detailed above; and
mention any future intentions regarding this issue.

DON'T KNOW is not a permissible answer to this question.

NOT APPLICABLE is not a permissible answer to this question.

NO ANSWER YET is only permissible under extraordinary circumstances and then for only a limited period.

Calverts

NO

Calverts has no formal policy or statement on forced, bonded or child labour. We see no need to adopt a special policy or statement on labour standards, because our principal mission as a company is to promote the wellbeing of our employees and the communities in which we work and upon which we impact. In addition, Calverts is a member of Co-operatives UK, itself a member of the International Co-operative Alliance. Both bodies campaign on fair trading and labour standards, and their efforts have been recognised by the UN and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). As a worker co-operative, Calverts complies with and exceeds ILO labour standards.

Both Calverts own operations and those of our regular suppliers and subcontractors are based either wholly in the UK, or elsewhere in northern Europe, where legal protections exist. We would consider any evidence of our suppliers using forced, bonded or child labour with the utmost seriousness.

In the purchase of commodities such as tea and coffee, we buy only fair trade certified products. When we occasionally source materials directly from the developing world (for instance, cotton clothing and carriers for overprinting), Calverts buys fair trade products as a matter of policy.

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