Business Ethics

In last year’s Sustainability Report we noted our decision to provide more practical support to our employees in the area of business ethics by formally articulating a set of guidelines which would enshrine principles for the everyday conduct of business. As a diversified Group, the freedom to manage and make decisions locally in our business, which has been critical to DCC’s success, has been underpinned by a common set of values of ethical behaviour, trust and accountability. These values have now been enshrined in a set of guidelines, the DCC Business Conduct Guidelines, which set out our common commitment to the highest standards of behaviour in the everyday carrying out of our responsibilities.

Given the breadth of DCC’s operations and the different legal and regulatory environments in which all DCC’s businesses operate, the guidelines do not set out to address every situation. They are complementary to the employment practices and policies already set out for employees by each of DCC’s operating subsidiaries. As well as outlining basic legal and ethical principles, they offer guidance on behaviour, framed with useful examples in respect of the complex issues that can arise in the business environment in which we operate.

The guidelines have been distributed to employees in all the Group’s subsidiaries. They have been translated into the local languages as required for DCC’s European businesses and also into Chinese for the employees based there.