Read more about how we seek to promote and respect human rights through the continued implementation of policies and practices covering our colleagues, customers and suppliers.
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Supply chain
Our ambition is to create a diverse and responsible supply chain, be fair and transparent with our suppliers and reach net zero by 2050 across our operational value chain.
NatWest Group Supplier Charter
Our annual review of the Supplier Charter clearly sets out our own commitment, progress to date and our ask of suppliers in the areas of ethical business conduct, real living wage, prompt payment, human rights and modern slavery, environmental sustainability, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
We’ve also added new guidance around digital accessibility, included some developments on the horizon and valuable learning opportunities for you and your wider value chain.
We ask all NatWest Group’s suppliers, direct and indirect, to meet or exceed the requirements of responsible business practice and behaviour set out in this charter, and where possible share best practice so we can collaborate together. We understand, however, that several aspects of this charter will be more relevant to some suppliers than others depending on a variety of factors including the size, nature, products and services you supply. Aligning to our Supplier Charter will play a key part in any tender or contract renewal process.
Read our NatWest Group Supplier Charter (PDF 1.1MB).
Archive
NatWest Group Supplier Charter 2022 (PDF 176KB).
Our collaboration with EcoVadis
Aligned with the objectives of our supplier charter, we have worked with EcoVadis since 2020, a leading organisation providing third-party evidence-based assessments of sustainability performance of businesses. The assessments help us to understand and measure our own performance and that of our suppliers against core ESG pillars, enabling us to identify social, environmental and ethical improvements required.
For more details on EcoVadis, please see the ‘Engaging our Suppliers’ section of the 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Disclosures Report (PDF 9.6MB).
Supporting our suppliers to Net Zero
Our ambition is to halve our wider value chain operational emissions including supply chain emissions by 2030, and have a minimum 90% reduction by 2050. There is a huge focus on how we start to work with our suppliers and customers on understanding and reporting their own emissions and build the capability to measure and report these together. Our suppliers’ data will enable us to measure and monitor our own indirect climate impact which will enable us all to take the right steps towards net zero.
We are in the process of scoping out a multi-year programme to work with our supply chain to reduce carbon emissions. In 2022, we have undertaken data analysis to understand the capability of our suppliers, where they are on the journey to net zero, and what help they might need to progress.
Working together
We continue to collaborate with our suppliers to encourage and enable a diverse supply chain that is not only sustainable, but is also expected to have a positive impact on the global community. This collaboration also supports the bank’s ambition to get to Net Zero.
Some examples include:
- Supply chain managers are continually trained internally on onboarding and performance management of suppliers, as well as on key ESG topics, such as climate, diversity and inclusion and sustainable procurement to equip them with the knowledge and skills to drive forward supplier discussions and activity.
- Embedding EcoVadis principles into performance objectives of procurement and implementing improvement plans for suppliers who fall below the EcoVadis global benchmark.
- During 2022, we worked with FLAIR to help us measure our progress towards a racially equitable culture within our own supply chain services operations.
- We launched a new inherent risk questionnaire to simplify how we interact with our suppliers and stakeholders.
Prompt payment and cost of living
We continue to pay our suppliers promptly for the services they provide to us. Our standard payment terms are 30 days; however, we have continued to maintain immediate payment on goods and services on receipt, which supports our suppliers during the cost of living crisis. This goes significantly beyond our commitment undertaken as a signatory to the Government’s Prompt Payment Code, which requires payment to be made in 60 days.
Good Business Pays is a campaign to end late or slow payments to suppliers. For the second year running, NatWest Group was recognised for fast payment throughout our organisation, winning the Fast Payer Award, placing us in the top seven companies in 2022.
‘NatWest Group is one of the best examples of a Fast Paying company. They have managed to build a culture of fast and on time payment across all their businesses and subsidiaries.’
Terry Corby
Chairman, Good Business Pays
Read more about who our key stakeholders are, how we engaged with them, what we discussed and the outcomes.