Responsibility Deal

What is the Responsibility Deal?

The public health responsibility deal is a new Department of Health initiative whereby public health, commercial and voluntary organisations work together to agree practical actions to secure progress against public health objectives.

What are we doing?

As part of our ongoing commitment to active, healthy lifestyles, we’ve signed up to become a partner in the Public Health Responsibility Deal. The Responsibility Deal consists of five ‘networks’ focused on: Food, Health at Work, Physical Activity, Behaviour Change and Alcohol.

All businesses signing up to the deal have made core commitments to:

• Recognise that they have a vital role to play in improving people’s health
• Encourage and enable people to adopt a healthier diet
• Foster a culture of responsible drinking, which will help people to drink within guidelines
• Encourage and assist people to become more physically active
• Actively support their workforce to lead healthier lives.

Our Pledges

As a first step at A.G.Barr we’ve chosen to make specific pledges around the Health at Work and the Physical Activity networks by encouraging all our staff to be more physically active in the workplace and help them to make even more healthier food choices whilst at work.

In working towards these aims we will take action in the following two collective pledges:

1. P4: Increasing Physical Activity in the Work Place

2. H4: Implement some basic measures for encouraging healthier staff restaurants / vending outlets / buffets.

Our actions in each pledge area

P4: Increasing Physical Activity in the Work Place

We have over 900 employees located at 11 sites across the UK. Each site has a Joint Communication Committee (JCC) made up of staff from each key team or work group based at that site. The JCC works to improve communication and consultation with staff. In order to deliver P4 each JCC at site level will help us to formulate, communicate and action a multi-component programme to encourage and support our employees to be physically active in the work place. As a first step each JCC will nominate a member of staff at their site to take on the role of the Barr Physical Activity Champion (PAC) for their site.

Year 1

We will invest in training for our 11 PAC’s to enable them to have the confidence and knowledge required to fulfil their role.

The PAC’s assisted by their JCC’s will develop and implement 2 physical activity in the workplace initiatives at their site in 2012, e.g. a regular lunch time walk or an afterhours on site exercise class

All staff will be encouraged to complete their own ‘workplace challenge’ in 2012 based around increasing their physical activity in the workplace: e.g. a challenge around a walking, running, cycling or swimming event.

We will encourage all staff within travelling distance of our key road race sponsorships to consider entering and training properly for one of them in 2012.

These include:

• The Men’s Health Forum Scotland 10k (Glasgow)
• The Women’s 10k (Glasgow), The Great Scottish Run (Glasgow)
• The Edinburgh Marathon
• The KILOMATHON Edinburgh and The KILOMATHON London.

We will continue to support all staff who decide to participate in these or any other A.G.Barr sponsored road race events by providing free race entry.

We will provide additional information at each site on walking and cycling routes in the local area

We will encourage colleagues and visitors to use the stairs rather than the lifts whenever possible.

We will provide information on local opportunities to be more physically active to include special membership offers for colleagues with local health clubs and physical activity centres negotiated by our JCC’s.

We will encourage all employees to walk, cycle or use other modes of transport involving physical activity (to travel to and from work as part of their working day).

For those choosing to do this the JCC will help each interested employee at their site to develop a travel plan to work.

H4: To implement some basic measures for encouraging healthier staff restaurants / vending outlets / buffets.

In order to deliver H4 our Joint Communication Committees (JCC) will help us to formulate, communicate and action our delivery plans in partnership with our catering suppliers at site level.

Our main Cumbernauld HO, Production, Distribution and Warehousing site has a fully functioning staff canteen which has offered a wide range of food choices including healthy options for many years. Additionally food and confectionary vending machines are located at our sites at Cumbernauld, Wembley, Middlebrook, Tredegar and Forfar which offer staff a convenient source of food and snacks 24 hours a day. Each of our 11 sites operate multiple Findlays water coolers which provide all employees and visitors with free drinking water throughout the working day. In addition multiple chillers located at each site provide a wide choice of free soft drinks including diet, no added sugar and 100% juice drink options.

In 2008 Cumbernauld canteen was awarded The Healthy Living Award by the Scottish Consumer Council and Scottish Executive. The award was given for the simple steps taken by Cumbernauld canteen to provide healthier meals which included not using salt in cooking, grilling breakfasts, steaming vegetables and reduced fat options.

Year 1

CUMBERNAULD CANTEEN

To build on, and accelerate this success further we will work closely with our new catering partners for Cumbernauld canteen Compact Catering on developing a programme that will deliver even more food choice on site and encourage our staff to make more healthier food choices whilst at work.

This programme will include:

Full GDA values on all main course items by summer of 2012.

Offer the choice of low fat spreads and low salt.

Implementation of Cumbernauld’s new ‘Balanced Choice’ menu as follows:

BREAKFASTS:

• Porridge will be available throughout breakfast with a range of tasty toppings
• A range of yoghurts will be available which are low in fat and high in protein, calcium and essential vitamins and minerals. They will be wheat and gluten free.
• On toast we will as a standard only use reduced fat spread but will have butter portions available should people require them. Wholemeal toast will always be available throughout breakfast.
• Fresh fruit salads, fruit pots and fruit baskets will be available as part of a 5 a day promotion.
• Bacon will always be back bacon and be either grilled or oven baked
• Sausages will always be grilled or oven baked
• We have introduced reduced salt and sugar baked beans
• Poached eggs will be offered for breakfast alongside fried
• Hash Browns will always be oven baked
• A range of Cereal products will be available

MAIN COURSE:

• All food choices will be displayed with the GDA Values with new dishes added regularly to provide choice
• A minimum of 2 vegetables will be offered during hot meal service either steamed or boiled and we will ensure that seasonal vegetables are used wherever possible
• Baked Jacket Potatoes will be available during hot meal services with a minimum of 2 fillings alongside our usual offer
• We will introduce a thicker cut chip as standard to reduce fat absorption
• Brown Rice or Wholemeal Pasta will be offered as an accompaniment twice a week as a minimum
• All our soups will be homemade using pulses, fresh vegetables and lightly seasoned. Cream soups will be made using Easiyo Yoghurt as a replacement to cream.
• Water will continue to be provided by a Findlays Water Cooler located in the staff canteen.

Promotions & Information shots

In collaboration with Compact Catering we will create promotions on a month-by-month basis which will include:

• A healthier option loyalty card
• A 5 a day loyalty card
• Healthier option meal Deals
• Theme days

A series of information leaflets will be available to staff which will offer simple, informative and practical advice on good nutrition and the importance of a balanced diet.

VENDING & CATERING

We will discuss and implement with our vending machine lease partners and caterers who on an adhoc basis supply lunchtime meals to some supplier meetings, measures to ensure that our healthier food requirements are met.