Annual report and accounts 2023 - Flipbook - Page 78
A.G. BARR p.l.c. Annual Report and Accounts 2023
Corporate Governance Report continued
Key Stakeholder
Form of Engagement
How This Stakeholder Group Influenced Board/Committee Discussions and Decisions
Customers
We have regular engagement with our customers through
virtual or face-to-face meetings, conferences and events.
Regular reviews of joint business plans take place to ensure
that we are aligned on our shared goals.
The Commercial Director provides a commercial update to every Board meeting.
A formal review of customers and channels is presented to and discussed by the
Board annually.
During the early part of the year we continued to engage
with customers in relation to control measures put in place to
minimise Covid-related risks for our respective employees and
the wider public.
During the year we engaged with customers in relation
to key product launches. We also continued to engage with
customers on their views and attitudes towards plastic
packaging and the planned DRS in Scotland.
During the year, we engaged with our customers in relation
to a planned price increase, with the aim of mitigating the
impact of significant inflationary cost pressures on the business.
Information on customer service levels, including performance against a customer
service level KPI, is included in the Board papers for every meeting. We have worked
hard during the year to maintain good customer service levels despite significant supply
chain challenges, and also raw material and driver shortages. The Board also received
updates regarding customers’ data on their respective suppliers’ performance, which
indicated a good customer service performance from the Company compared to many
other suppliers.
Discussions with customers regarding Covid-related risks and controls influenced the
Board’s discussions and support for the Covid Steering Group’s decisions during the
early part of the year regarding the health and safety of our employees.
During the early part of the year, the Board discussed updates provided to it regarding
the impact of Covid-19 on different customer channels, customer investment plans and
customer management strategy.
Feedback from key customers regarding their ESG concerns and commitments
influenced the Board’s discussions during the year. For example, customer feedback
in relation to plastic packaging and their desire to reduce the use of and increase the
recyclability of plastics used in product packaging influenced the Board’s key decision
to support the move to increase the recycled PET content of our IRN-BRU and Rubicon
500ml plastic bottles to 100% rPET – see further below. Customer feedback also
influenced the Board’s key decision to continue to support the Group’s environmental
sustainability strategy, which is being delivered through the ‘No Time To Waste’
programme of activity, including the delivery of a number of initiatives under the plastics
and packaging workstream, for example the move to 100% recycled film and various
plastic lightweighting initiatives.
Customer feedback also influenced the Board’s key decision to approve the initial
phases of a multi-year asset replacement programme to replace PET and can line assets
at the Cumbernauld factory, which will deliver ESG benefits in terms of providing PET
lightweighting opportunities and the introduction of tethered cap capability, as noted
above.
Consideration of the changing requirements of the Company’s impulse customers
influenced the Board’s key decision to invest in a new single customer management
system with significantly enhanced capability, which will deliver growth in our impulse
business through digital transformation; ‘Winning in Impulse’ is a core foundation of the
Company’s business growth strategy.
Engagement with key customers during the year influenced the Board’s discussions and
decisions regarding the annual budgeting and long-term strategic planning processes
for the Group.
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