Economic Contract

The Leekes Retail & Leisure Group are pleased to support the Welsh Government’s Economic Contract initiative which requires businesses to demonstrate their commitment to growth, fair work, employee health & skills, and reducing their carbon footprint.

 There are a number of areas where we can demonstrate the support the Group gives to the aims of Welsh Government to develop businesses to meet the needs to today and to prepare for the challenges and opportunities of the future which include:

• The Group, which operates across a number of industries and locations including:
• Six retail stores trading across over 67,000 square metres.
• A 143 bedroom hotel.
• Two championship golf courses.
• A leisure club and spa.
• A wedding venue based in a Grade 1 listed castle.
• A distillery and bottling production facility is headquartered in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales just a few miles from the location of the first premises used by the business when it was established in 1897.
• The Group has over 750 employees and regularly utilise over 125 subcontractors to carry out work on its behalf.
•   We actively endeavour to utilise local Welsh businesses wherever possible for the supply of products and services to the Group.
•   Over 80% of the Group’s employees are based within Wales, many working in the same county that they live in.
•   The Group prides itself on the large number within the team who have worked for the Company over an extended length of time. There are currently 80 members of staff (over 10% of the workforce) with over 25 years service within the business, evidencing sustainable employment opportunities.
•   The Company operates a family friendly policy, where flexible and part-time working requests are accommodated where ever possible.
•   The Company’s recruitment and career development strategy ensures that everyone regardless of  background, race, ethnicity or gender have equal opportunities.
•   The breadth of career opportunities has enabled the company to create a business environment that attracts and retains a good balance of men (49%) and woman (51%).
•   All new vacancies are advertised internally to ensure that all of the team are given the opportunity to develop and progress their careers.
• Performance Development Reviews are carried out across the business on an annual basis to ensure that every member of the team is given the opportunity to develop their skills and their careers.
•   The Directors hold six monthly meetings with all employees to update them on the business operation, the future plans and to answer any questions personally.
• Employees are encouraged to participate in health and safety committee meetings which are held in each site on a monthly basis. These meetings cover areas such as training, promoting health and mental well being within the business and ensuring that we are operating in a safe environment.
• The Group is enrolled in the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme. We survey all of our properties on a regular basis to identify areas of investment that can help us reduce our energy consumption and reduce our carbon footprint.  Completed projects have included migration to LED lighting, replacing inefficient heating and cooling systems with more efficient technology, investments in improved insulation, the implementation of building energy management systems to automate energy savings. 
• The Company reviews energy use on a monthly basis to identify, investigate and address any anomalous usage. 
• The Group is actively reviewing its fleet of vehicles investing in a number of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. 
• Where the Group undertakes development works to our properties, we look to make further investment in energy saving technologies, as an example we have plans to introduce solar PV to a number of sites in the immediate future.
• The Company heavily invests in technology with a large internal software development team that work on process automation on an ongoing basis. Some of the areas of focus in recent times include automated invoice scanning and processing, paperless processing of customer orders and automated customer communication. 
• The Group continues to invest in the multiple websites we operate across our areas of operation  and are undertaking a £200,000 project migrating our transactional Leekes Retail website to a new platform offering a series of enhanced features to better serve our customers including a customer portal that enables customers to track their orders, make balance payments and book deliveries reducing the requirement for staff intervention and empowering the customer to engage with our business at their own convenience.