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Creating Social Value
2011/12
0151 702 0550
www.frcgroup.co.uk
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Welcome
Acknowledgements
Methodology
About FRC Group: What we do, our values, how
we work
Our Stakeholders – the people we matter to and
who matter to us
Overview of 2011/12
FRC Group – How we do business: Performance
in 2011/12
Being Great for People Living in Poverty
Being Great for Unemployed People
2012/13 The Year So Far
Auditor’s Statement
Stakeholder Engagement Analysis
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46
Welcome to our Social Impact report for 2011/12. This is
the thirteenth report FRC Group has published to tell our
stakeholders – all the people who matter to FRC Group and
to whom FRC Group matters - about what is different as a
result of our work, what our impact has been.
In this report you can read about the work we have
done to improve the lives of people living with long-term
unemployment and facing a tough jobs market and how
we help low-income households to furnish their homes to a
good standard.
This report is not a set of financial accounts with
photographs of social impact activities and its not a report
that is for prospective funders or investors, highlighting our
successes or reporting using their terms or metrics. The
information you will read has been collected, analysed and
reported because it is relevant to telling you, the reader,
about what we have done.
What you will read is our honest appraisal on how we have
done. We focus on the impact that we create and we are
tough on ourselves. We are not afraid to be clear about
what is the impact of FRC Group and what is actually the
impact of other organisations work. In these difficult times of
austerity budgets and economic recession, we need to have
honest information about the impacts we create so that we
can make the right decisions about how we allocate our
time and resources. Creating impact is about doing as
much as we can, not about laying claim to the impacts
created by others.
Shaun Doran
Chief Executive Officer
Welcome
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Methodology
Our warmest thanks to the people who have played a part in
producing this report:
Everyone who makes FRC Group a great place to work:
the staff, trainees, Launch Pad work placement participants
and volunteers including our Board of Trustees.
All the people who collect and analyse the data in the
report, particularly Carol Cassidy, Colin Davies, Helen
Eversley-Gibson, Tommy Fisher, Mick Hart, Helen Halpin,
Nicola Hough, Jackie Middleton, Laura Squires, Shirley
Spofforth, Sam Stanford and Collette Williams.
Members of the Social Value Committee, a committee of
the main FRC Group Board, who provided guidance and
oversaw the development of the report – Jeremy Nicholls,
Erik Bichard and Chris Watson.
Adrian Henriques of JustAssurance who audited the report.
Adrian’s statement can be found on pages 45-46.
Amy Stokes, Hayley Jones and all at Brava Design
who designed the report.
Zoe Richards of Zoe Photography who took
the photographs.
Special thanks go to Verity Timmins, FRC Group’s Impact
Manager who compiled the data and wrote our Impact
Report in July and August 2012.
The timescale of our reports matches the dates of our
financial year, with this report covering April 2011 to March
2012. It brings together the data we gather throughout the
year to understand the impact we have made.
We collect qualitative and quantitative information from all
parts of the organisation and we gather feedback from the
people who matter to us – our stakeholders. For a list of the
stakeholder consultation that we carried out this year, see
page 48.
This report has been written concentrating on the most
significant impacts that are created. The focus of the report
is on the social impacts that FRC Group seeks to create
through its social businesses. On pages 12 to 15 there is an
overview of FRC Group’s business performance to provide a
context to the social impact information presented.
The report is published on FRC Group’s website
www.frcgroup.co.uk which provides a lot of contextual
information about what we do. On the ‘Proving It’ page of
the website you can find all of our previous social reports.
Acknowledgements Investing for the Future To show how the performance in this report compares
with our targets and priorities for the year, these symbols
are used to indicate:
our performance is at a lower level than last year
we met or exceeded our target
we made some progress but still aim for more. For numerical targets, this symbol indicates we achieved at least 90% of the target
we missed the mark and we will try to improve our performance
Where there was no specific target we use these symbols
to show how performance compares with previous years
we improved on the previous year’s performance
we achieved a similar level as last year
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About FRC Group: What we do, our values, how we work
FRC Group is a group of social businesses run by
Furniture Resource Centre, a registered charity with the
mission statement “to run businesses to create profits
and opportunities to improve the lives of people in poverty
and unemployment”.
The businesses within FRC Group are:
Furniture Resource Centre is a one-stop shop selling
furniture, appliances, carpets, window coverings, small
electrical and starter packs (bedding, crockery etc). Our
customers provide furnished accommodation for people
who are in need of furniture to make their house into a
home. Our customers include Housing Associations, Local
Authorities, charities, private care homes and construction
companies. Delivering to customers all around the UK,
Furniture Resource Centre provides a seamless project
management service from interior design and product
specification to delivery and installation, and finally the
removal and recycling of packaging and any old furniture /
appliances which are being replaced. The products supplied
through Furniture Resource Centre are brand new, contract
standard items which furnish properties of all shapes and
sizes from individual tenancies through to communal living
environments such as sheltered accommodation units.
Bulky Bob’s is a collection, reuse and recycling service for
domestic bulky household waste. Operating contracts for
local authorities, the items we collect from householders are
predominantly furniture and appliances that are no longer
wanted. The Bulky Bob’s model maximises the volume of
items that are reused and recycled, to prevent good quality
items and useful materials from going into landfill.
FRC Group’s purpose is to bring about a positive change
in the lives of people living in material poverty and
unemployment. We want to be Great for People by getting
good quality furniture to people who need it and by creating
training and work experience opportunities for long-term
unemployed people and socially excluded groups.
How we do itThe way FRC Group does business is also important.
We aim to be:
Great for the Planet by managing our businesses to reduce
environmental harm
A Great Place to Work by listening to what our employees
say about working at FRC Group and creating an
environment in which people can develop their personal and
professional skills
Great to do Business with by providing first class service to
all of our customers, asking for feedback from suppliers and
customers and acting on what they tell us
Our culture is crucial to delivering positive social change
and doing business in the way we intend. FRC Group’s
values – Bravery, Creativity, Passion and Professionalism
– are our beliefs in action. They are visible in the behaviour
of our people and how we act as a business. We use our
values to attract, recruit and reward staff; and these values
are evident in the business decisions made by our Board,
Chief Executive and Senior Management Team.
Investing for the Future What we do Our valuesBulky Bob’s Furniture World is the part of Bulky Bob’s
which sells great quality ‘pre-loved’ furniture and
reconditioned appliances. Bulky Bob’s Furniture World is
a high street store in Liverpool and in Oldham it is located
at our depot near the town centre. In both Liverpool and
Oldham, Bulky Bob’s Furniture World is also taken out ‘on
the road’ when we take sales of ‘pre-loved’ furniture out
to community venues. We aim to reuse as many of the
items we collect though Bulky Bob’s as possible. Everyone
is welcome to shop at Bulky Bob’s Furniture World and
low-income households are encouraged through a pricing
structure which offers them discounts.
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Our Stakeholders – the people we matter to and who matter to us
Our stakeholders are all the people who matter to FRC
Group and the people that FRC Group matters to.
Great for People
Our most important stakeholders are those with whom we
work to make a positive change in the lives of people living
in poverty and unemployment.
• Driving Change trainees – previously long-term
unemployed people on our training programmes
• “Launch Padders” (participants in our Launch Pad
programme) – unemployed people with little or no work
experience, people with disabilities or ex-offenders
seeking meaningful community activity on our
Launch Pad programme
• Bulky Bob’s Furniture World customers receiving
discounts – people in receipt of benefits, pensioners,
students, people referred from other support agencies
• People referred to Bulky Bob’s Furniture World in
Liverpool and Oldham for free of charge furniture in
crisis situations
• Social support agencies – the organisations that refer
people to take part in work placements or shop at Bulky
Bob’s or access crisis furniture support
• The people who benefit from the work of the furniture
reuse charities we work with – Bulky Bob’s has relationships
with other furniture and appliance reusers to ensure that as
many of the reusable items as possible are made available
to people who need them
We also have stakeholder groups that are more aligned
with how we do business:
Great for the Planet
• People living locally to where FRC Group operations are
working – general public affected by local environmental
impact from our vehicles and building and our operations
and from our reuse and recycling activities
• The global community and future generations – we
are all affected by the global environmental impacts of
our business
A Great Place to Work
• Staff – permanent employees of FRC Group
• Trainees – people employed on fixed term training
contracts on our Driving Change programme
• Launch Padders - people working with us on a voluntary
basis or taking part in an unpaid work placement
• Trustees – our Board members who provide governance
as volunteers
Great to do Business with
• Furniture Resource Centre customers – the Housing
Associations and other customers who buy furniture and
related items from us
• The tenants who receive and use the furniture that is
delivered by Furniture Resource Centre
• Bulky Bob’s customers – the local authorities that
contract with us to provide collection, reuse and recycling
services for furniture and white goods
• The householders who receive the Bulky Bob’s collection
service in Liverpool, Oldham and Warrington
• Bulky Bob’s Furniture World customers – all the people
who shop in Bulky Bob’s Furniture World
• Our suppliers – the companies who supply us with goods
and services
• The other furniture reuse charities that Bulky Bob’s works
with by supplying them with reusable items.
• Funders and supporters of FRC Group – the
organisations who provide funding, advice, corporate
engagement and pro bono support to FRC Group
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Overview of 2011/12
In FRC Group’s long-term strategy for growth 2011/12 was
a year of development and investment. The reality was that
the continuing recession made it even harder for FRC Group
to implement the business plan for growth. As a result it was
a year of consolidation.
Furniture Resource Centre increased the capacity within
its sales team to target sales growth in the East and
West Midlands. We also appointed a new Sales Director
following the departure of the previous post holder.
Furniture Resource Centre launched its own website
www.furnitureresourcecentre.co.uk to market the
one-stop furniture service.
This year Furniture Resource Centre made 4,494 deliveries
of furniture to customers that provide furnished tenancies
and communal living settings. This included the final
phases of deliveries to the Leeds Independent Living
Accommodation Consortium (LiLAC), a 3-year project to
provide new purpose built accommodation for people
receiving care from social services in Leeds. Furniture
Resource Centre supplied bespoke furniture to a range of
specialist settings.
In total, Bulky Bob’s operations diverted 2,498 tonnes of
furniture and appliances from landfill. This was achieved by
embedding the improved reuse and recycling procedures
introduced in 2010/11. It also includes a new pilot activity
working with Halton Council to reuse and recycle the bulky
waste collected by the Council’s own collection crews.
Evidence of the worsening economic climate is that we were
able to send fewer reusable items to our main ‘pre-loved’
furniture outlet Bulky Bob’s Furniture World Liverpool. The
quality of the items we collect has noticeably deteriorated
since the economic downturn began as people are less
likely to replace items until they are broken.
2011/12 should have been a year that Bulky Bob’s
announced a new contract with Oldham Council. Having
successfully tendered for a new contract in March 2011,
the uncertainty around public sector spending had an
effect on this contract. The May 2011 local elections saw
Oldham Council change from Liberal Democrat control
to Labour and a block on the award of any new contracts
was put in place. In 2011/12, Bulky Bob’s Oldham ran on a
12-month extension to the original contract the tender and
in March 2012 submitted another tender for a new contract.
Consequently it was difficult for Bulky Bob’s Oldham to put
any plans in place for future developments.
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World added a new string to its bow
by starting to sell reconditioned white goods for the first
time. For many years Create, a Liverpool social enterprise
had rented space in the Bulky Bob’s Furniture World store to
sell white goods but this partnership came
to an end. In response to customer demand for white goods
alongside ‘pre-loved’ furniture, Bulky Bob’s Furniture World
developed a source of reconditioned appliances and
began to sell them. In this year we sold 491 reconditioned
white goods.
Building on its relationship with HMP Liverpool, Bulky Bob’s
worked with HMP Styal to establish a Bulky Bob’s workshop
for female offenders. The partnership with Bulky Bob’s has
allowed HMP Styal to give women studying for vocational
qualifications in Painting & Decorating and Industrial
Cleaning to gain more real-life experience by practising their
techniques on upholstered and wooden furniture collected
by Bulky Bob’s.
This year Bulky Bob’s also launched a stand alone website
www.bulkybob’s.co.uk.
2011/12 was also a year in which additional investment
was made into FRC Group’s People & Learning Team which
delivers training and development for people from long-term
unemployment. On pages 38-42 of this report you will read
about the recruitment of a Placement Coordinator to
deliver the Launch Pad programme and about the
additional activities of the People & Learning Team to
assist our Driving Change trainees and Launch Padders
into employment.
A significant venture in 2011/12 was FRC Group’s attempt
to make an acquisition of a private sector company.
Ultimately we were not successful in buying a private sector
company this year but this forms part of our future plans.
Our intention is to acquire a business which can be ‘retro-
fitted’ to become a social business. The primary objective is
to acquire a business which can create opportunities for a
training programme to be developed. Through this route we
will be able to give more training to long-term unemployed
people and broaden the skills in which we offer training.
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FRC Group – How we do business:
Performance in 2011/12
Year
2001/02
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
Income
£7,490,451
£5,045,661
£4,758,731
£4,085,568
£3,449,274
£3,324,402
£3,623,922
£4,358,064
£5,177,396
£5,030,577
£4,717,898
% income from grants
10.0%
4.0%
7.0%
7.0%
4.6%
4.2%
5.0%
4.4%
3.8%
7.7%
2.7%
% income from sales
90.0%
96.0%
93.0%
93.0%
95.4%
95.8%
95.0%
95.6%
96.2%
92.3%
97.3%
Unrestricted funds profit/(loss)*
£431,299
£28,265
(£11,124)
(£149,267)
(£205,024)
(£320,599)
(£159,881)
(£49,604)
£81,927
£73,902restated as
(56,092)
(£246,614)
Permanent Staff
Data not
available
78
94
81
71
69
68
62
66
57
72
Carbon footprint (CO2
equivalent emissions in tonnes)** Data not
available
Data not
available
280
319
307
298
300
322
344
307
294
* The unrestricted funds figure is used as it shows the year to year trends in operational performance
** Figures for previous years have been recalculated using the most up to date conversion data relating to that year in
accordance with the Defra guidelines
Financial Performance
FRC Group ended 2011/12 making a loss of £246,614 in
unrestricted funds. The performance in the previous year
(2010/11) had been reported as making a profit but at an
operating level 2010/11 had been a loss-making year. The
reported profit in unrestricted funds in 2010/11 was as a
result of a number of exceptional items in that year which
masked the underlying position. In 2010/11 we received
exceptional payments of £140,000 relating a charitable
donation to Bulky Bob’s Furniture World and refund of
4 years VAT payments made by Revive / Bulky Bob’s
Furniture World.
2011/12 was budgeted to be a year in which FRC Group
made a small profit based on the substantial investment
in the Furniture Resource Centre sales team. Despite
the challenges of the economic climate and the impacts
of recession and public spending cuts on our housing
association and local authority customers, Furniture
Resource Centre achieved a small growth in sales.
However, this was not in line with the expectation and
towards the end of 2011/12, FRC Group underwent a
review of costs resulting in a number of efficiencies which
removed £250,000 worth of costs from the business. This
was achieved through purchasing improvements and a
small number of redundancies across the Group, including
the position of Deputy Chief Executive. These costs were
all incurred within the reporting year to enable FRC Group
to start 2012/13 from a strong position. To date in 2012/13
FRC Group is performing in line with budget expectations
to be in profit at the conclusion of the financial year. Despite
the challenges of the economic climate and the impacts
of recession and public spending cuts on our housing
association and local authority customers.
Carbon Footprint
FRC Group runs an environmental management system
to control its environmental impacts. The most significant
issues defined in the system are carbon footprint, waste and
recycling and the impacts of Furniture Resource Centre’s
supply chain.
Our carbon footprint is calculated based on the energy
use from our buildings (gas and electricity) and the fuels
used in our fleet of vehicles. We use the standard carbon
conversion factors published by Defra in their Environmental
Reporting Guidelines.
This year FRC Group’s carbon footprint was the lowest
it has been since 2003/04. This reduction is due to the
renewable electricity generated by FRC Group’s solar
photovoltaic system. The solar panel system was installed
in January 2011 and 2011/12 is the first reporting year in
which the system was operational throughout. The overall
reduction in carbon emissions as a result of the solar panel
system was 9.3 tonnes.
“This year FRC Group’s carbon footprint was the lowest it has been since 2003/04.”
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Permanent Staff Team
This year there were 11 new starters and 10 leavers in the
permanent staff team, a similar level of staff turnover as in
2010/11 when 14 people joined the organisation and 12
people left.
It is our practice to carry out an exit interview with people
who are leaving the business to gather their views on their
time at FRC Group. This year only 1 of the leavers had an
exit interview. In the cases of the other 9 people who left, 5
were made redundant and 4 left at very short notice. One
was dismissed, one was not kept on at the conclusion of
the probationary period, one resigned and departed the
business very quickly and one terminated their employment
whilst on unauthorised leave.
This year FRC Group was awarded the Workplace Wellbeing
Charter by Liverpool Primary Care Trust. The accreditation
looks at 7 areas of workplace wellbeing and ranks a
business as either ‘committed’ ‘achieving’ or ‘excelling’ in
each area.
FRC Group excelled in two areas – smoking and sickness
and absence management. In four areas – leadership,
alcohol and substance misuse, healthy eating and physical
activity- we reached the ‘achievement’ level. The only area
we were ranked as ‘committed’ in was mental health and
stress. This is an area for more focus for FRC Group
in 2012/13.
Health & Safety
FRC Group’s Health & Safety performance is important
to all the people who work in the organisation, our
customers and suppliers. This year we had 77 accidents.
This was an increase on the 63 accidents that happened
in 2010/11, which reflects the greater number of people
(staff and Launch Padders) in the business. However, the
severity of accidents was reduced. In 2010/11, 7 of the 63
accidents were RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases
and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations ) reportable
(serious accidents which must be reported to the Health
& Safety Executive) compared to only 6 of the 73 accidents
in 2011/12.
2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
10
11
Number of leavers in the
permanent staff team
Number of new starters in the
permanent staff team
Percentage of serious accidents (RIDDOR reportable)
Number of serious accidents
(RIDDOR reportable)
610/11 11/12
7number of RIDDORreportable accidents
2010/112009/10 2011/120%
4%
6%
10%
14%
2%
8%
12%
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Being Great For People Living in Poverty
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Giving people who need it access to furniture was the
reason that Furniture Resource Centre was founded in
1988. In 2011/12, FRC Group continued to fulfil this core
social objective through its Bulky Bob’s social business.
This chapter describes the social value created by Bulky
Bob’s through the Bulky Bob’s Furniture World activities: our
high street store in Liverpool and the Bulky Bob’s Furniture
World outlet in Oldham. Through Bulky Bob’s, FRC Group
creates positive social impacts through a combination of
selling and donating ‘pre-loved’ furniture. The customers
who buy and receive furniture are predominantly from low-
income households.
REALITY CHECK Furniture Resource Centre’s activity to
sell a one-stop furnishing service to Housing Associations
and other customers, is not considered as an area in which
FRC Group is the principal instigator of social change. As
such, the social value created by the provision of furnished
tenancies for social housing tenants, is considered to be
‘owned’ by the housing associations that create these
furnished tenancy programmes1. This is an example of how
we think carefully about the social value that we claim.
In this case we see the housing association as the main
instigator of social change.
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World is the Bulky Bob’s store in
central Liverpool. Everyone is welcome to shop at Bulky
Bob’s Furniture World, but low-income customers are
targeted through the tiered pricing structure in operation.
The ‘standard’ prices of ‘pre-loved’ furniture are set at an
affordable level plus 10% and 20% discounts are available.
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World store in Liverpool:
1. Bulky Bobʼs Furniture World prices items to make them affordable to the shoppers we want to attract. While other charities may sell furniture to raise funds for their cause, our purpose is to make furniture available cheaply to people on limited incomes.
2. The majority of our sales are to people who receive a 10% discount off our standard prices. These are people who are in receipt of benefits, older people and students. These customers self-declaretheir status.
3. A small number of customers come to us through referrals from social support organisations. These customers receive a free delivery as well as 20% discount.
1 As described in detail in pages 90-94 of FRC Group’s 2009/10 Social Impact Report
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World also donates bespoke
packages of ‘pre-loved’ furniture to people who are in
urgent need and do not have the means to buy items. To
reach people in most need, Bulky Bob’s works with support
agencies who act as trusted referral partners. This year, we
have increased the agencies we work with from 33 to 62.
Packages of ‘pre-loved’ furniture are donated and delivered
free of charge. Typically, the recipients are people who are
moving into an independent tenancy and do not have basic
items of furniture. They may be moving from a supported
living setting such as a hostel, refuge or NASS (National
Asylum Seekers Service) accommodation. Without some
basic furniture, these people and families face the prospect
Donating furniture packs to people in crisis
0
1000
2000
3000
500
1500
2500
3500
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
117 232 399
108 83 132
2317 2175 2021
610Standard
10%
20%
Crisis
635 513
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World Customers
Numbers of Customers
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World Customers
of living in an empty property. Statutory sources of funding
such as Community Care Grants or Social Fund loans are
not available to all and an application is no guarantee
of money being awarded at the end of a 2-3 month
application process.
To address this immediate need for basic furniture and
to offer an alternative to using high-cost credit such as
loan sharks or ‘pay-weekly’ furniture stores, Bulky Bob’s
donates a package of items suited to the requirements of
the individual or family. Referrals are submitted with a list of
the items that are required and Bulky Bob’s Furniture World
works hard to provide as many of these items as possible.
Often, we are restricted by the supply of items coming in
through the Bulky Bob’s collection service or by the high
demand for particular items.
% of customers
receiving 10% discount
% of customers
receiving 20% discount
% of customers
receiving crisis donations
In 2012/13 and beyond, Furniture Resource Centre intends
to stimulate the creation and expansion of furnished
tenancies and will report on the social impact created by
these new programmes that are instigated as a result of
Furniture Resource Centre’s activities.
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Bulky Bob’s Furniture World in Liverpool at a glance What our stakeholders say:This year only 9 furniture recipients completed our survey
asking for feedback about the furniture and service they
received. This is a very small sample of the people who
received furniture. To get feedback from the people who
receive furniture is very challenging. Their lives are often
chaotic and they face many issues so providing feedback to
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World is not a high priority for them.
We rely on the referral agency to ask for feedback as we
do not want to do this at the point of arranging or delivering
the furniture package as this would certainly influence the
answers given.
11/12
£26,346 £18,395 10/11
4,63811/12
6,62510/11
3,065* 11/12
3,125 10/11
Number of ‘pre-loved’ furniture
sent to Bulky Bob’s Furniture
World to be sold
Number of people in crisis given
free basic furniture items
Value to crisis customers of items donated
Number of sales of ‘pre-loved’
furniture made to Bulky Bob’s
Furniture World Customers
Crisis customer feedback
Number of agencies referring people
in crisis situations.*Exclude white good sales
39911/12
23210/11
6311/12
3310/11
1009/10
0
ExcellentGoodOKPoor
What do you think ofthe furniture?
What sort of service did you receive from the shop staff?
What sort of service did you receive from the delivery drivers?
2
4
6
1
3
5
7
8
9
10
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We also asked for feedback from the referral agencies about
the service their clients receive and about the difference
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World makes to the clients and to
them as workers. The most common benefits the workers
mentioned were
• Improved basic living conditions such as having a bed
to sleep on and somewhere to sit
• The speed of response from Bulky Bob’s
which prevented people from having to stay in
temporary accommodation
• How the service makes the client feel – that another
organisation is giving them support and that they can
have pride in their home
• That the service reduces stress on the family / individual
What difference has it made to receive furniture? Eight
of the respondents described in their own words the
difference having furniture made…
“it made a difference. I had a good nights sleep. I had
something to sit on. Yeah, it made a difference”.
“Due to leaving NASS Accommodation had absolutely
nothing really helped my wife and children settle into the
property without the further stress of having no furniture.
Would still be trying to find extra money to make my
children comfortable but now they have beds and can
concentrate on other things”
“By just obtaining the mattresses it has made a huge
difference as would not have been able to afford anything
after leaving NASS supported accommodation”
“its better than sleeping on the floor”
“A lot of difference, I was sitting in a garden chair, so
thank you”
“A hell of a difference! Procedure very easy,
service excellent”
“Stopped me sitting on the floor- turned empty living room
into somewhere I could call home”
“It has helped me settle into my new home”
“It made a difference. I had a good nights sleep. I had something to sit on. Yeah, it made a difference”
Excellent
Good
OK
Poor
18
What do you think of the furniture that
your clients receive?
In the final quarter of 2011/12, we began to see an
increase in the number of customers shopping at Bulky
Bob’s Furniture World who were not accessing any of the
discounts available to people receiving benefits or referred
from support agencies. We welcome shoppers from all
walks of life to come and buy ‘pre-loved’ furniture but in the
past we have not considered the ‘standard price’ customers
to be a significant part of the social value that is created by
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World.
Against the background of rising costs of living and
stagnating wages, it is possible that the increased number
of ‘standard’ customers could reflect a new social need that
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World is serving. These people may
be working but earning low wages and struggling to make
ends meet.
If this trend continues in 2012/13, this is an area of potential
social impact that FRC Group will examine further.
Creating Social Value through Bulky Bob’s Furniture World
It has made a big impact to the woman we have
made applications for. It helps them feel that there are
agencies out there that are helping with out making any
judgements. PD, Liverpool Domestic Abuse Service
It does reduce stress levels when people are moving
into their own accommodation also gives them piece
of mind that essentially their children will have
somewhere to sleep. It also helps people settle. MH,
Liverpool City Council
It has been extremely positive. The fundamental need
to have a bed to sleep in and somewhere to sit is the
difference between an empty property and somewhere
that is starting to feel like home. LW, Riverside ECHG
We surveyed the referral agencies who make referrals
and 19 people responded. 18 answered a question
about the furniture that is received and 100% said they
thought the furniture was excellent or good.
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Bulky Bob’s Furniture World in Oldham Bulky Bob’s Oldham does not have a separate Bulky Bob’s
Furniture World site. Instead, ‘pre-loved’ furniture is sold
and donated from the warehouse at the main Bulky Bob’s
Oldham site. Bulky Bob’s Oldham is a smaller operation
than Bulky Bob’s Liverpool and does not generate such
a large quantity of reusable ‘pre-loved’ furniture.
Additionally, the Bulky Bob’s Oldham depot is located
within walking distance from Oldham town centre and is
more widely accessible.
2011/12 was a challenging year for Bulky Bob’s Oldham
because a fire caused damage to the warehouse in April.
Operations were affected until June when the warehouse
repairs were complete. During this time, Bulky Bob’s
was not able to store any ‘pre-loved’ furniture or to have
members of the public come to the warehouse to buy items
or arrange crisis donations. The retail sales opened up to
the public in September and the crisis donations of furniture
began in June
An aim for 2011/12 had been to standardise how Bulky
Bob’s Oldham and Bulky Bob’s Furniture World in Liverpool
sell and donate furniture to low-income families. In the
past, Bulky Bob’s Oldham had run a referrals system
through which people in need to could access furniture
for free but would pay a £5 delivery charge per item. The
break in operations caused by the fire damage created an
opportunity to bring in a change of system and to widen the
range of agencies in Oldham who could make referrals.
In October we launched Bulky Bob’s Furniture World
Oldham with a tiered pricing structure and crisis referral
system to match Bulky Bob’s Furniture World Liverpool.
We carried out a short online survey using SurveyMonkey
and 8 of the referral partners responded. 86% said the
furniture their clients received was either excellent or good.
408 items were sold to 55 low-income households, 387 of these were between September and March.
232
Number of furniture donated to 90
people or families in urgent crisis need.
Number of referral agencies Bulky Bob’s
Oldham worked with.
Number of items of ‘pre-loved’
furniture available to shoppers and
crisis customers
1811/12
1,22611/12
Excellent
Good
OK
Poor
8
What do you think of the furniture that
your clients receive?
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Great For Unemployed People
Priorities for 2012/13
80% of customers to be from low-income households
To set up models to forecast the social value that will be created through this work in 2013/14.
To review FRC Group’s potential to be an influencer and instiga-tor in the creation of more fur-nished tenancies in the social housing sector.
To consider ways in which FRC Group can develop other ser-vices to get furniture to people in low-income households.
500 people and families in crisis to receive furniture packs
3,700 customer sales at Bulky Bob’s Furniture World outlets
To review FRC Group’s existing methods for getting furniture to people in low- income-households.
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One of the ways FRC Group changes the lives of people
living in poverty and unemployment is by creating
opportunities for long-term unemployed people to gain
skills, experience and employment within our business
activities. This chapter looks at the various ways we have
given opportunities to unemployed people and what the
outcomes have been.
FRC Group runs two different programmes “Driving
Change” and “Launch Pad”. Both programmes work with
long-term unemployed people to improve their skills,
experience and employability. The two programmes are very
different in their approach and this chapter will describe the
programmes and the outcomes in detail.
REALITY CHECK Since 2009, we have reported about
our activities working with prisons to establish training
workshops in which offenders can gain skills. Whilst the
work with two prisons – HMP Liverpool and HMP Styal
– continues and FRC Group may also engage with other
prisons in the future, this area of work is not considered
to be one in which FRC Group is creating sufficient social
impact for it to be included within this report. FRC Group’s
part in the prisons partnerships is to provide furniture items
to be refurbished. These workshops help Bulky Bob’s to
increase the number of furniture items that are available for
reuse but FRC Group does not play a role in working with
the offenders to provide any training or support.
2011-12 has seen radical change in government policy
and funding around supporting unemployed people back
into work. FRC Group is committed to delivering training
and support for long-term unemployed people and has
always been successful in attracting funding aligned to
the service we deliver. A feature of this year has been the
radical change in policy and the funding available. FRC
Group’s response to the changing national picture has been
to commit to deliver the Driving Change programme entirely
within our own resources if necessary but to seek sources
of funding which complement the work we are doing. In
recent years, FRC Group has run other salaried training
programmes in addition to Driving Change. These have
been in warehousing, retail and administration. In light of the
changes to training funding, FRC Group has not continued
Driving Changeto deliver these additional programmes and is focusing on
the Driving Change programme.
The previous government’s Future Jobs Fund which had
funded large numbers of salaried training positions came
to an end and was replaced by the Work Programme. The
ethos of the present government’s Work Programme is to
get unemployed people into work as soon as possible rather
than providing training. Work Programme has a ‘payment by
results’ funding model and private sector ‘prime contractors’
invest in the programme based on expected payments
from government when people enter any employment. FRC
Group’s Driving Change programme works with people
over an intensive 12-month period to train them for future
sustained employment within the logistics industry. As such,
Driving Change does not currently fit with the mainstream
‘welfare to work’ provision so is not receiving funding from
this programme. The level of external funding in Driving
Change in 2011/12 was the lowest during the past five
years. In fact the funding in 2011/2012 represents only 10%
of the total funding received for training between 2007/08
and 2011/12.
The introduction of Apprenticeships as the main route to
training for unemployed and employed people is another
shift in government policy. The intake of Driving Change
trainees recruited during 2011/12 are all enrolled on
Apprenticeship programmes in Driving Goods Vehicles
or Warehousing and Storage. This approach to training
will deliver the industry specific qualifications that Driving
Change has delivered previously and will also give trainees
a qualification equivalent to NVQ Level 2. Attached to the
delivery of Apprenticeships, FRC Group has secured a small
amount of funding per trainee and in Liverpool 7 trainee
places are supported by the Merseyside Apprenticeship
Programme a funded Apprenticeship programme managed
by Liverpool City Council, Sefton MBC and Knowsley MBC
with support from Connexions, Liverpool City Employment
Strategy and European Social Fund.
Salaried fixed term training contract
Real on the job training working as part of the Bulky Bob’s team in Liverpool, Warrington or Oldham
Transferable skills: First Aid, health and safety, manual handling, environmental awareness, equal opportunities, job search skills.
Industry specific training:
- For Drivers: LGV Class II theory test, practical test, hazard perception test, tachograph training and drivers certificate of professional competence. Plus for 2011/12 intake, Apprenticeship Level 2 qualification in Driving Goods Vehicles
- For Loaders: Car theory test, practical test. Plus for 2011/12 intake, Apprenticeship Level 2 qualification in Warehousing and Storage
- For all: Choice of specialist training – Forklift Truck Licence Counterbalance and Reach, HIAB (loader crane) or ADR (transporting hazardous goods)
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Comparing 2011/12 with performance in recent years is
complicated by some structural differences in how the
programmes ran this year. Figures from previous years
include the full range of training programmes FRC Group
has run in retail, administration and warehousing. The end
of these programmes due to the termination of the Future
Jobs Fund accounts for the substantial drop in the numbers
of trainees.
Timing issues around the recruitment of Driving Change
trainees in 2011/12 have also created some unusual
circumstances. In Oldham, Bulky Bob’s’ contract with
OMBC was extended and then retendered. As a result, FRC
Group was unable to offer 12-month training contracts to
trainees and offered 6-month contracts instead. The cohort
of trainees recruited in November 2010 had completed
their qualifications prior to the beginning of this reporting
year. Consequently a much smaller number of qualifications
overall were delivered and the number per trainee is
reduced by more than 50%.
At the end of the 6-month training contract some of these
trainees were recruited on temporary contracts to work for
Bulky Bob’s until the new contract was in place and training
funding secured.
In Liverpool there was a short time after the conclusion of
one Driving Change programme and the recruitment of the
next cohort through the Apprenticeship Programme. In this
situation, as has happened before, FRC Group recruited
some of the trainees as temporary staff. Accounted for
within the figures below are 5 Oldham trainees and 3
Liverpool trainees who found work as temporary staff
with Bulky Bob’s.
Driving Change has been delivered by FRC Group for over
fifteen years and during that time has worked with different
groups of long-term unemployed people and in different
economic circumstances. Each year there are differences
between the cohorts of trainees, the exact way the
programme is run and the jobs market in which our trainees
complete it. Last year we developed an indicator to try and
smooth over some of these fluctuations and give a sense
of how our programme is performing in its aim of making
people from long-term unemployment more successful in
the jobs market. We calculate how our trainees have fared
in comparison with people of a similar age and length
of unemployment. In 2011/12 we believe this calculation
shows that The group of trainees in Liverpool who
completed Driving Change were 7 times more likely to find
employment after completing the Driving Change
programme than they were when they joined the
programme
Driving Change 2011/12 “The group of trainees in Liverpool who completed Driving Change were 7 times more likely to find employment after completing the Driving Change programme than they were when they joined the programme.”
Average number of qualifications
gained per trainee
29
Number of training positions available in 2011/2012Number of people who took part in the training programmes
6610/11 2911/125409/10
09/10 10/11
2.04.2
Number of qualifications gained
= 61
Number of training programmes across FRC group
1110/11
909/10 11/12
210/1109/10 11/12
81% 76%83%
Number of trainees who completed the programme
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Employer EngagementDriving Change is all about helping people from long-term
unemployment to gain skills and qualifications that will help
them to go into work. In the context of the credit crunch
and economic recession, Driving Change ‘completers’ have
found it increasingly difficult to find work in recent years.
This year, FRC Group took the decision to invest in more
resource in our People & Learning Team by creating a
dedicated position to coordinate the Launch Pad placement
programme. This new post and the reduced number of
trainees allowed the existing resource to focus more time
on engaging with employers. The team has been working to
raise awareness of the training FRC Group offers and to find
out about vacancies for which our trainees can apply.
The aim of employer engagement is to build relationships
with local employers and this first year has laid solid
foundations on which to build. One of the five Driving
Change Liverpool trainees who went into work at the end
of the programme found work with an employer that FRC
Group has worked with. After a trainee from a previous year
found work with Staffords Ltd, our People & Learning Team
worked hard to build relationships there and has supported
three more trainees to find employment with the company,
including one from this year’s cohort.
An early success in this new work was when we secured
an interview with Bibby Financial Services for a trainee
from our Administration training programme. Sam Adams
had completed a 6-month programme at FRC Group and
was looking for permanent work. Through the work of the
People & Learning Team, FRC Group managed to have
Sam’s CV included in a recruitment process that was being
handled for Bibby by an outside recruitment consultancy.
Sam was selected for interview but was not successful
in securing the entry level administration position. He
performed so well in the interview that Sam was in fact
offered a role at a higher level.
77%
Percentage of completers who went into jobs, further education or training at the end of the programme
Overall percentage of who went into jobs, further education or training at the end of the programme
65%
Number of trainees who left this year
Number of people who went into a job
17
11
10 of the 11 people who got jobs had completed their training programme
91% of those who went into jobs had completed the programme
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About their financial situation
“I have bought things for my baby and thrown a party
for my niece”
“I’m in paid work so I’m contributing at home”
“It has been great to have some spare money to go out with
the children, socialise with family and friends”
After Driving Change
We try to keep in touch with past trainees for 18-months
to find out how they are getting on. In past years we have
sent out paper surveys to our past trainees and offered a
prize draw as an incentive to take part. This year we have
started trying to use social media to keep in contact with
our past trainees. We have found that our past trainees
often change their address and telephone number so social
media could be a more consistent way to be in contact. To
this end we have established a Facebook presence for FRC
Group Training and tried to contact as many past trainees
as possible.
This work is in the very early stages and we are learning
how best to use Facebook. It has been a way to gain
information about whether past trainees are in employment
and we would like to improve how we use it to gather
feedback proactively.
A Personal view Statistics give a sense of overall performance, but what
about the individual’s experiences? As well as gathering
performance data for Driving Change, FRC Group collects
information about how the participants feel. During the
training programme, all trainees have a one-to-one review
with the training programme coordinator every 6-weeks to
discuss their progress and any issues or queries that may
arise. They also have a leaving review to round off their time
on the programme.
Driving Change Trainees have said this about their
experiences
About the Driving Change training programme
“I would recommend the training programme to others
as it is really good”
“This has been a great opportunity for me to get back
into work”
“I will miss this so much as this has been the best”
“I have received help when I have needed it due to
my dyslexia”
And only one negative comment about the work that
trainees carry out
“I found it hard to motivate myself to get the jobs done
in difficult weather”
About what they have learned
“I have more confidence now than when I first started”
“I have got more confidence and feel settled”
“I have learned to deal with my dyslexia in a positive way”
“ I am stronger than I thought and more confident”
“I found reading and writing and map reading was a
challenge because my English is not good..and also
arriving to work on time”
“Anything is possible if you want to do it” Driving Change
Trainee, Bulky Bob’s Oldham
All of our trainees have their own personal story.
Chris, a trainee in Liverpool, has radically changed his future
as a result of the energy and efforts he has put in during the
Driving Change programme.
Chris was out of work for 3 years before coming on the
Driving Change programme. He had left school with no
qualifications and had struggled with reading and writing.
As a Driving Change trainee, Chris threw himself in to the
programme. He proved to be a very determined character
who wanted to make the most of what was on offer to him.
Chris had an excellent attendance record and gained every
qualification that was on offer to him during the programme
including gaining his Large Goods Vehicle Class 2 Licence.
Chris was the only trainee in his group of 4 Driver trainees
who passed the LGV Class 2 and FRC Group was able to
offer additional training to Chris. He went on to gain the LGV
Class 1 Licence enabling him to drive vehicles weighing
between 18 and 44 tonnes.
Steven had been unemployed for 4 years before getting
a place on Driving Change. He had had to leave his last
job to take on caring responsibilities for a close family
member and despite some very challenging circumstances
in his personal life, Steven was the first trainee in his group
to gain all of his qualifications. Steven was on the Driver
Loader programme and gained a car licence as well as a
fork lift truck licence.
For Steven, a noticeable change was that his confidence
soared and he was a respected member of the Bulky
Bob’s team.
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Launch Pad Offering flexible work experience placements to long-term
unemployed people has been part of FRC Group’s work
since 2006 and has grown from test activity with a small
number of people to a formalised programme. What had
previously been FRC Group’s Placement Programme has
this year become Launch Pad.
This year saw a significant investment of resource into FRC
Group’s work with long-term unemployed people. FRC
Group’s Board took the decision to invest in this social
impact activity despite the financial performance of the
commercial businesses and the lack of any external funding.
In 2011/12 we appointed a coordinator for our work
placement programme and put into place the structured
approach described in last year’s Impact Report. Having
offered voluntary work placements since 2006/07 on a small
scale, FRC Group has been developing a more structured
approach to delivering social value through this work.
With the appointment of a full time Placement Coordinator
in May 2011, Launch Pad has had a level of resource to
greatly improve the level of support given to participants
and to proactively recruit more people to take part in a wider
range of placement opportunities.
In this first year of having the dedicated resource it has been
possible to create some increase in the number of people
who have taken part (our launch padders) and we expect
to see participation increase significantly in 2012/13. Our
Placement Coordinator was not in post until mid-May and
has built up the promotion of Launch Pad opportunities
over the year. Our experience in the first six months of the
year was that it was difficult to recruit participants because
of the launch of the Government’s Work Programme. This
radical new programme replaced many existing welfare to
work programmes and during the first part of the year many
existing contacts and organisations were no longer working
in the same way. This problem was experienced across
the charitable and voluntary sector as new contracts came
into place and existing services wound up. In the latter
part of the year it became easier to make our opportunities
available to people as our Coordinator developed new
networks to promote the Launch Pad programme.
Launch Pad ImpactThis year we have more data than ever before to understand
the impact of Launch Pad. With the recruitment of a
Placement Coordinator, we have the resource in place to
collect information from participants about their objectives
and their achievements. During this year a system of regular
reviews was introduced for Launch Padders. Our Launch
Padders have an intensive induction which includes a review
of their goals for the programme. Whilst on programme,
they have regular one-to-one sessions with the Placement
Coordinator to review their progress and when they leave
the programme we carry out an exit interview. These
systems were introduced and refined this year and will start
to produce more detailed and comparable information in
future years.
Only a sample of the participants had regular reviews
which captured the social impact data. This is because the
systems were introduced part way through the year and the
capture of information relies on a series of reviews to set a
baseline for that individual and then track progress against
it. During the year we set baselines with 26 people but of
these only 9 had the follow up sessions to track progress.
This was a new system introduced during the year. The 9
people with follow up sessions were those who started after
the introduction of the system and stayed for four weeks
or more. In 2012/13 this will become embedded in how the
Launch Pad programme is run.
Voluntary work placements
Placements offer people the opportunity to gain skills,
confidence and experience to build towards finding
employment or can be an opportunity for people who
are not seeking employment to spend their time in a
meaningful way and a mainstream environment
Flexible participation – placements can be short or
longer term depending on individual circumstances.
The average duration in 2011/12 was 23 working days.
Defined placement opportunities in specific tasks:
warehouse, recycling, retail, administration
We identify tasks using criteria that we believe
ensure they provide participants with meaningful
experience and skills but do not use unpaid labour
to carry out core tasks that are essential to the
running of FRC Group.
Launch Pad
54 51 7410/11 11/1210/11
Launch Padders
10,368 hours of experience gained (3,904 in 2010/11 and 7,000 in 2009/10)
Placements were offered in 8 areas of FRC Group (5 in 2010/11)
100% of Launch Padders said they were working towards employment
Launch Padders chose their own goals. The average personal improvement against these goals was 30%
Why take part in Launch Pad? (Sample of 26 people)
What difference does Launch Pad make? (Sample of 9 people)
63% said their aim was to find employment
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Launch Padder Stories Launch Pad and Employer EngagementThe majority of Launch Padders are on the programme
to gain experience and skills that will improve their ability
to find work. The People & Learning Team’s efforts in
Employer Engagement include promoting our Launch
Padders as well as Driving Change trainees. Many Launch
Padders were supported in their search for work with
interview and application preparation and signposting to
available vacancies.
A highlight of the year was that two Launch Padders were
successful in their application for a place on the Driving
Change training programme in Liverpool. These two were
recruited as part of the cohort staring in January 2012. Their
dedication on the Launch Pad programme gave a great
impression and FRC Group was very pleased to be able to
offer progression on to the salaried training programme.
Danny was referred to FRC Group from the ‘Anything
But Ordinary Project’ which works with young people
with learning disabilities in June 2011. Daryl started his
Launch Pad programme working on recycling activities
and enjoyed this so much that he increased the number of
days he attended and spent time in both the Bulky Bob’s
recycling warehouse and in Bulky Bob’s Furniture World.
We worked with the ‘Anything But Ordinary’ project to
identify some potential funding through Remploy which
allowed ‘Anything But Ordinary’ to employ a Peer Mentor.
Daryl was successful in applying and interviewing for
the job and now works giving support to other young
people with learning disabilities, particularly around their
aspirations for employment.
Jenny was referred to FRC Group through Business in
the Community who were offering her support in order to
regain some independence and employment following a
period in prison. She was on Launch Pad for a short period
of time but she made a big impression, receiving a values
award in recognition of the passion she showed.
Jenny was extremely motivated to turn her life around,
work really hard in the Bulky Bob’s recycling warehouse
and threw herself into searching for a job. This paid
off as she was offered a paid position for 6 weeks with
Create and went on to gain permanent employment in
warehousing with B&M in Liverpool.
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Priorities for 2012/13
26 Driving Change training positions to be available across FRC Group
75% of Driving Change programme ‘completers’ to go into employment, further training or education
80 people to participate in the Launch Pad programme
To engage with 25 employers
To set up models to forecast the social value that will be created through Driving Change and Launch Pad in 2013/14.
2012/2013
46
2012
/201
3
45
The first quarter of the year at FRC Group has been one of
hard work by everyone in the organisation. As a result of all
of our efforts, FRC Group has achieved its commercial and
social impact targets for the first quarter.
Bulky Bob’s has won a new contract with Oldham MBC
to deliver the Bulky Bob’s service for 4 years. Bulky Bob’s
has also launched a commercial collection service in the
Merseyside area. Building on the reputation Bulky Bob’s has
and the experience of doing commercial collection work for
many years, we have launched the service formally.
Furniture Resource Centre has met its financial performance
targets for the year despite having a below strength sales
team in the first quarter. We are currently recruiting for a
new senior sales person and developing new services within
FRC which we hope will stimulate the growth of furnished
tenancies in the social housing sector.
At a Group level, we are hard at work in developing a new
social enterprise concept for a social business which could
form a third trading company within FRC Group. In keeping
with our mission this is an idea to develop a social business
that helps low-income households to furnish their homes.
Headlines80% of customers at Bulky Bob’s Furniture World
Liverpool were low-income households
Over £8,500 worth of ‘pre-loved;’ furniture has been
donated to families and individuals in crisis need in
Liverpool and Oldham
50 new “Launch Padders” have started on the Launch
Pad programme
60% of the “Launch Padders” who left in this period had
achieved the objective they stated as their primary goal for
the programme
15 Driving Change trainees are on programme
Auditor’s Assurance StatementFRC Group, 2012
2012/13The Year So Far
Scope and objectivesFRC Group2 commissioned justassurance3 to undertake
independent assurance of its 2011/12 Social Report (‘the
Report’). justassurance was paid £5,000 for this work.
justassurance has no other relationships with FRC Group
that might compromise its independence.
The assurance process was conducted in accordance with
AA1000AS (2008). We were engaged to provide Type 2
moderate assurance, covering:
• evaluationofadherencetotheAA1000APS(2008)
principles of inclusivity, materiality and responsiveness (the
Principles)
• thereliabilityofkeyperformanceclaims.
We used the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Quality of
Information Principles as Criteria for evaluating performance
information.
Responsibilities of the directors of FRC Group and of justassurance The directors of FRC Group have sole responsibility for
the preparation of the Report. Our statement represents
our independent opinion and is intended to inform all FRC
Group’s stakeholders including management. We adopt a
balanced approach towards all FRC Group stakeholders.
We were not involved in the preparation of any part of the
Report. We have no other contract with FRC Group and this
is the ninth year that we have provided assurance.
The work was performed by Adrian Henriques.5
Basis of our opinionOur work was designed to gather evidence with
the objective of providing assurance as defined in
AA1000AS (2008).
To prepare this statement, we reviewed the scope of the
Report, visited the Atlantic Way site in Liverpool, assessed
areas of risk, interviewed management and scrutinised
underlying data and documents, checked claims within the
Report, considered the efficacy of the management systems
and reviewed the consistency of the Report with supporting
information. We provided some feedback to FRC Group
on aspects of drafts of the Report and where necessary,
changes were made.
We are satisfied that we have been allowed unhindered
access to the financial accounts, documentation and
reports covering FRC Group’s activities and stakeholder
engagements and to its managers and staff.
Findings & OpinionThe Report’s core focus is on areas where FRC Group
believes it can ‘create social value’, particularly trainees,
placements and those in housing-related crisis. FRC
Group believes these are the areas in which it is making a
difference that other organisations could not have made.
On the basis of the work we have done and in relation
to the scope of the Report, we believe the Report clearly
represents FRC Group’s stakeholder relationships, impacts
on its stakeholders and responses to their concerns.
2 ‘FRC Group’ here refers to Furniture Resources Ltd.
3 ‘justassurance’ here refers to Just Assurance Network Ltd,
trading as justassurance. Two Tomorrows Group Limited provides
assurance services to justassurance. Two Tomorrows is a licensed
AA1000AS assurance provider and oversees justassurance’s
assurance work using AA1000AS (2008).
4 There are two levels of assurance: High - where sufficient evidence
has been obtained to support a statement that the risk of our
conclusion being in error is ‘very low but not zero’; Moderate -
where sufficient evidence has been obtained to support a statement
that the risk of our conclusion being in error is reduced, but not
reduced to ‘very low’.
5 Further information about competencies can be found at
www.twotomorrows.com
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The economic climate remains difficult. In that context it
is welcome to see a significant increase in crisis support,
with plans to increase that further in the coming year. There
has also been a gradual expansion of other activities, such
as prisoner training and a significant investment in support
for placements. Reasonable targets have been set for the
core areas of focus. However the Report should set out
more systematically the extent to which the previous year’s
targets have been met.
FRC Group should explore and report indicators that
capture how it creates social value through its mainstream
businesses and through creating socially beneficial markets
in new areas.
Performance in areas that have not been reported remains
good. We recommend that the scope of the report is
broadened to include key information on the full set of
sustainability impacts of FRC Group.
Auditor’s Assurance StatementFRC Group, 2012
Just Assurance Network Ltd
London, September 2012
Adrian Henriques, Auditor,
justassurance, London;
September 2011
ObservationsWithout affecting our assurance opinion we also provide the
following observations.
Inclusivity concerns the participation of stakeholders in
developing and achieving an accountable and strategic
response to sustainability.
FRC Group has identified and consulted with those
stakeholders directly relating to its core focus. It is welcome
to see social media employed as part of this engagement.
Given the prominence that trainees have in relation to FRC
Group’s core mission, an understanding of the effect of
training on trainees’ families, would be welcome.
In other areas the level of stakeholder engagement,
especially those relevant to normal business activities,
remains low.
Material issues are those which are necessary for
stakeholders to make informed judgments concerning FRC
Group and its impacts.
The Report would benefit from an explicit statement of
the process by which issues are deemed material and
therefore within the scope of the report. An important
challenge will be to articulate clearly the mapping of FRC
Group responsibility across the areas beyond its core
focus but within its mainstream businesses, including its
value chain. We recommend that the Report covers at
least those issues for which FRC Group accepts a
significant responsibility.
This year’s Report deals fully with those stakeholders
who are most vulnerable and also central to FRC Group’s
mission. Other material issues, including the environment,
staff, and the furniture business generally, receive very little
attention. The balance of the Report would be improved
through greater emphasis on performance data from these
non-core areas, and particularly from the furniture business
which comprises a significant part of FRC Group’s activities.
Responsiveness concerns the extent to which an
organisation responds to stakeholder issues
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Stakeholder Engagement Analysis
Cre
atin
g s
oci
al im
pac
tH
ow
we
do
bus
ines
s
Gre
at f
or
peo
ple
Gre
at f
or
the
pla
net
Number of stakeholders consulted 30
25
35
No formal feedback was collected
9
19
No formal feedback was collected
8
No formal feedback was collected
No formal feedback collected
No formal feedback collected
Total number
30
17 trainees left
in the year
74
2153
399
62
82
18
52
Unknown
c.6.7 billion
Trainees: Previously unemployed people
Ex-trainees: People who have been on the
training programmes in the past
Launch Padders – unemployed people with little or no
work experience
Bulky Bob’s Furniture World customers receiving discounts: People in receipt of benefits, pensioners,
students, people referred from other support agencies
People in crisis receiving essential furniture items Staff from support agencies: referring people for crisis support
People referred to Bulky Bob’s Oldham: for free of
charge furniture in crisis situations
Oldham referral agencies People who benefit from the work of the furniture reuse charities we work with
People living locally to where FRC Group operations are working – general public affected by local environmental
impact from our vehicles and building and our operations
and from our reuse and recycling activities
The global community and future generations: we are
all affected by the global environmental impacts of our
business
AppendixStakeholder Engagement
How All have regular reviews (approximately every 6-8 weeks) and leavers have
leaving / exit interviews
Past trainees have been invited to link to our Facebook group. Through this we
can post group or individual questions
26 Launch Padders had a formal review. A further 9 had a formal review and
either one or two follow up reviews
A post-delivery satisfaction survey was carried out through the referral partners
A survey was carried out
A survey was carried out
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Stakeholder Engagement Analysis
Ho
w w
e d
o b
usin
ess
Gre
at f
or
the
pla
net
AppendixStakeholder Engagement
Ho
w w
e d
o b
usin
ess
Ho
w w
e d
o b
usin
ess
A g
reat
pla
ce t
o w
ork
Gre
at t
o d
o b
usin
ess
wit
h
Number of stakeholders consulted 71
1
6
Confidential
Formal feedback not collected
3
No formal feedback collected
No formal feedback collected
No formal feedback collected
Informal feedback is gathered
in one-to-one meetings with
key suppliers
No formal feedback collected
No formal feedback was collected
Total number
71
1
6
Confidential
Total number
of tenants not
collated
3
84,000
c.3,000
55
Total number
of suppliers
not collated
Confidential
Confidential
Staff: Permanent employees of FRC Group
Volunteers: People working in FRC Group on a long-term
voluntary basis
Trustees: Our Board members who provide governance
as volunteers
Furniture Resource Centre customers: the social housing
providers who buy furniture and related items from us
The tenants who receive and use the furniture supplied by Furniture Resource Centre Bulky Bob’s customers: the local authorities that contract
with us to provide collection, reuse and recycling services
for furniture and white goods
The householders who receive the collection service from Bulky Bob’s Bulky Bob’s Furniture World customers: all the
people who shop in Bulky Bob’s Furniture World
Bulky Bob’s Oldham furniture customers: all the
people who buy ‘pre-loved’ furniture from Bulky Bob’s
Our suppliers: the companies who supply us with
goods and services
Furniture reuse charities we work with to supply reusable items
Funders and supporters of FRC Group who provide
funding, advice, corporate engagement and pro
bono support
How Feedback gathered through staff performance appraisal “Look Both Ways”
which all staff completed
Included in the “Look Both Ways” process
Informal feedback collected throughout the year
Telephone surveys
Regular contract meetings