VALUES AND STANDARDS

Shepherd Neame plays a significant role in the local community, bringing employment to 270 people at its Faversham headquarters and more than 3,000 through its estate of 370 pubs.

We put back significant sums into the community each year while the company pays around £20 million to the Government in excise duties and corporate tax.

Shepherd Neame is a family brewer and pub retailer which has distinct standards on how business should be conducted, and a sense of responsibility towards the community and the environment as a whole.

Founded in 1698 in Faversham, we are Britain's oldest brewer. No other brewer has produced beer from the same site as long as we have.

We are proud of our rich heritage yet we are always looking for new, and better, ways of doing things. Innovation, tradition, investment, individuality and community spirit are qualities we hold dear.

Supporting the local community
The pub is the hub of the community and we have helped make life easier for people in remote rural locations by investing significant amounts in installing wireless broadband technology and post office services.

We support community initiatives such the Kent Charity Walk, in partnership with the Kent Messenger, as well as sport at grassroots and county level, including rugby, cricket and golf. The company has long-term sponsorship agreements with Kent County Cricket Club and Essex County Cricket Club.

Supporting local suppliers
We also support the community through our 'Local Food From Local People' initiative, backed by acclaimed chef Phil Vickery, in which we endeavour to forge business partnerships with Kent suppliers to bring Shepherd Neame customers the choicest fare the county has to offer.

This approach has benefits for the local environment and the local economy and means our pub restaurants can serve the freshest, best quality produce from the finest fisheries, farms, and orchards in the Garden of England.

For instance, the barley used to make Bishops Finger is grown near the brewery at Denne Hill Farm, Womenswold, near Canterbury.

Such partnerships are already reaping benefits and the concept has even been extended to the global community as Fairtrade coffee and tea is now served in all our pubs.

Supporting our licensees
We believe in working in partnership with our pub tenants, trusting in their judgment, while helping them to develop their potential through investments and initiatives like Master of Beer, our in-house beer appreciation scheme to ensure that every pint of beer is of a consistently high quality.

Environmentally sound
We consider our impact on the environment seriously, and our award-winning team is constantly striving to maintain and improve our position as the UK's “greenest” brewery. We're using less water, less electricity, making less noise and making fewer road journeys. More than 50 members of staff have been given free bicycles to travel to work.

ISO 14002 and The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development 2006.

Developing our employees
Investment in people is important to us and we have pioneered a new national training scheme in licensed hospitality and helped brewery production staff achieve NVQ certificates in conjunction with the Learning and Skills Council. The brewery regularly communicates with pensioners, arranging day trips and special hospitality.

Responsible retailing
We are well aware of our responsibilities, both to our customers and society as a whole. The company is a strong advocate of responsible retailing and we have our own charter covering key issues such as the prevention of disorder, public safety and smoking in pubs.

We are members of the Portman Group, a body dedicated to the promotion of sensible drinking and avoiding alcohol misuse, and took a leading role in the campaign against 24 hour drinking in pubs.

Our strict values and high standards have not gone unnoticed, and we have been fortunate enough to win a number of awards for qualities as diverse as imaginative marketing, excellence in pub retailing and ground-breaking environmental standards.

We try to conduct our business with passion and innovation but also with a sense of responsibility to the wider community.

We know where we came from and what we are. The choices we make today will have a profound impact on our future. We think we're heading in the right direction.