With our roots firmly set on the banks of the River Tyne, we have an unwavering commitment to the region and its growth.
From the team we have, to the clients we work with – our goal is that everything we do supports our community here in the North East of England and enables the people living and working here to thrive.
We want to make a difference in our region and with nearly half our work (48%) dedicated to clients that directly support underserved populations – including Everyturn Mental Health, NHS, Newcastle Hospitals Charity, Northumbria University, and the National Innovation Centre for Ageing, we believe we are making a difference – both through the work we do and our volunteering.
When it comes to procurement we always consider the wider societal benefits, beyond just the cost, when buying goods and services.
Examples of our social impact are listed below:
We employ 15 staff from our offices based on Newcastle’s Quayside. In addition to this we retain the monthly services of four consultants who are contracted as if they were employees.
From time to time, we have provided job opportunities to apprentices and supported work experience opportunities to young people taking their first steps into business.
We are fully committed to environmental sustainability and we practice what we preach. For example, our offices and places of work make use of our investment in solar panels (4KWt), battery storage (25KWt), LED lighting, 100sqm wild meadow garden at our main office etc.
We have a commitment to reducing our carbon emissions and our environmental policy has specific actions that are aimed to help Karol Marketing be a sustainable and considerate North East organization. This includes the use of solar panels at our Ouseburn office, specific pollinator-friendly plants situated around the building, installed bike racks to encourage green commuting, and a hybrid working set up to reduce travel emissions.
Additionally, we prioritise suppliers who use recycled materials, reduce carbon emissions, and support local environmental initiatives.
We give preference to local businesses or social enterprises in our supply chain. For example, we employ locally based videographers and photographers, printers and catering suppliers. Our managing director also volunteers on a formal basis his personal consultancy time free of charge e.g. Newcastle Hospitals Charity.
We make regular financial and time related donations to a nominated charity each year. In recent times we have supported, Bee-Lines, FoodCycle Byker and Newcastle Hospitals Charity.
All our staff are encourages to engage with local communities through volunteering or community projects. Currently members of our team are involved with the Ouseburn Trust, Ballast Hills Grave Yard restoration and Byker City Farm.
We are proud of our young and culturally diverse team which includes two Czech’s, one Argentinian, one Ukranian refugee, and one Polish employee.
We pay all our staff well above the industry average and we support them through flexible, hybrid work arrangements. All staff are enrolled onto a structured mentoring and appraisal process and benefit from training, knowledge transfer and well being days.
Although we have no direct control over this, we actively encourage suppliers to have sustainable practices throughout their supply chain as this is not only important from an ethical perspective but is also frequently aids us in the tender process.
We frown on potential suppliers who choose to source from outside the region without good reason and prioritise suppliers who purchase goods and services from regional and locally based suppliers.