Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Policy

NPS has always understood the need to be a good corporate citizen. It is not only a moral obligation but in a group that has always strived to build long-term relationships with its stakeholders, it is good for business.

Sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Our sustainability principles are:

• Operate in accordance with environmental best practice with legal compliance as a minimum requirement
• Set high standards of environmental management within company procedures
• Act as a good neighbour to the local community
• Take steps to minimize waste, prevent pollution, and pursue good practice in resource management
• Take steps to reduce energy consumption
• Identify, assess and control risks to the environment
• Plan, set and communicate internal targets to monitor defined environmental objectives
• Develop and maintain a positive approach to the environment
• Seek improvement in environmental performance by carrying out internal audits and review
• Provide appropriate environmental communication, education, training and resources to implement the policy

We aim to generate a sustainable return to our shareholders on a long-term basis. We recognise our obligations to all who have a stake in our success – shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and wider society – and seek to keep our responsibilities to them in balance. We are committed to engaging with all our stakeholders in an open, honest and straightforward way and to promoting responsible business practices throughout the business. NPS believes that sustainability and corporate responsibility are very closely linked.

NPS’s corporate responsibility and sustainability policy is applied in four main areas: marketplace, workplace, environment and community.

Our mission is to understand our clients’ business needs and deliver them in a way that delights those clients.

We will provide products and services of good value and consistent quality, reliability and safety. We operate a Quality Assurance management system certified to ISO 9001.

We will develop our delivery and service provision that will aim to help our clients and ourselves to reduce our impact on the environment, both during the course of construction and throughout the life of the completed assets.

We will promote our services and ourselves in an ethical way at all times in accordance with our Ethics policy.

We recognise the importance of our supply chain and will develop secure long-term relationships with our suppliers and subcontractors based upon mutual trust. We undertake to pay them on time and according to agreed terms.

We recognise that our employees are our most important asset.

We seek to recruit and retain good people that reflect the diversity of the communities in which we operate, to give equal opportunities to all of our staff, and to provide the training and development to help them have fulfilling and rewarding careers. We operate Equal Opportunities and Diversity polices to help us achieve this.

The health and safety of our employees and all those that we come into contact with is of paramount importance. We recognise that our responsibility extends beyond construction sites and have adopted policies to manage and minimise occupational road risk.

We will involve employees in continuously improving their own work methods.

We have a strategy of regular communication with employees that enables them to contribute to policy and strategy and helps them understand the importance of their roles to the organisation. We believe that this is vital for the success of the business.

The group recognises the fundamental importance of understanding the full impact of its activities on the environment and is committed to improving that impact through its Environmental policy.

We use an Environmental Management System that operates in accordance with ISO 14001 that is independently audited.

Our most significant contribution to the environment will be through continually improving our efficiency both on site and in our offices and reducing the amount of waste generated. Where we do generate waste we will look to recycle it.

We will promote the use of recycled materials or those from sustainable sources. All our timber is purchased from suppliers certified for sourcing FSC, PEFC or other UK government timber.

NPS is proud that our work, both in the public and private sectors, enhances the communities in which we operate.

We maintain a local presence through maintaining an office close to our clients and the communities that provide our staff and supply chain. We support the local employment of trades and labour. We recognise the benefit that our profitability brings to the community in terms of employment, training, skills, and wealth creation.

Our focus is on local charities that support the care of children and the underprivileged.

We support employee involvement in fundraising for charities and voluntary work, recognising both the benefit to the community and to the employees themselves.

Signed on behalf of the Directors

Daniel Preston

March 2024