Our main quality-related principles are as follows:

• to consider the requirements and needs of clients and other persons of interest;
• to offer quality products and maintain punctual deadlines;
• to follow legal- and other requirements in all activities;
• to develop the skills of all company employees and to raise their awareness by offering training processes;
• to constantly increase company efficiency through usage of modern methods of leadership and planning;
• to keep the quality control system functioning and to fulfill goals through management’s leadership;
• to constantly improve subject related processes and activities;
• to decrease energy usage by implementing energy-efficient methods;
• to invest in new contemporary production and lab equipment with the goal of ensuring better product quality and more efficient controls on materials.

This quality control policy has been forwarded and explained to all company employees. Goals have been put in place to implement this quality control policy, which has been documented and certified by all board members.

The quality control policy has been publicly presented on a billboard and published in the web-based document management system QMS (Quality Management System).

The policy formulates:

• To ensure that all current and future environmental legal acts and other relevant requirements, related to business activities of the enterprise, are fully comprehensible and fulfilled;

• To monitor the performance of the environmental activities and promote good environment-oriented practice throughout the supply chain, actively using all resources and good management of the business areas and processes.

• We are consistently improving the processes under the condition of the assessment of the importance of the environmental impacts on our activity and setting environmental goals and purposes. Through constant improvement we:
  • Monitor, control, and reduce the use of natural resources;
  • Decrease energy consumption via the introduction of systematic management and energy-saving measures;
  • We effectively recycle our waste in accordance with good practices.

• We provide training to all our employees, ensuring skills, knowledge, and measures in the corresponding areas of responsibility. We inspire the employees to complement their environmental knowledge and we encourage and acclaim their practical implementation.
• Specifically, to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills through structured waste recycling activities wherever possible.
• Commit to sourcing 100% energy from renewable sources in The Fine Bedding Company Ltd-owned factory.
• The Fine Bedding Company Ltd commits to meet GRS environmental requirements.

Since April 2014, The Fine Bedding Company Ltd-owned factory The Fine Bedding Company Europe has been implementing an environmental management system ISO 14001. This management system helps us to coordinate, assess and constantly improve the impact on the environment via internal audits and reviews. As a part of the process, we continuously improve the environmental impact, establishing goals and objectives, which are monitored, measured, and consistently reviewed.

The aims of this policy are:

• To encourage staff to report suspected wrongdoing as soon as possible, in the knowledge that their concerns will be taken seriously and investigated as appropriate, and that their confidentiality will berespected.
• To provide staff with guidance as to how to raise those concerns.
• To reassure staff that they should be able to raise genuine concerns without fear of reprisals, even if they turn out to be mistaken.

This policy does not form part of any employee’s contract of employment and we may amend it at any time.
This policy covers all employees, officers, consultants, contractors, volunteers, casual workers and agency workers.

What is whistleblowing?
Whistleblowing is the disclosure of information which relates to suspected wrongdoing or dangers at work.
This may include:

• criminal activity;
• miscarriages of justice;
• danger to health and safety;
• damage to the environment;
• bribery under our Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy;
• financial fraud or mismanagement;
• negligence;
• breach of our internal policies and procedures;
• conduct likely to damage our reputation;
• unauthorised disclosure of confidential information;
• the deliberate concealment of any of the above matters.

A whistleblower is a person who raises a genuine concern relating to any of the above. If you have any genuine concerns related to suspected wrongdoing or danger affecting any of our activities (a whistleblowing concern) you should report it under this policy.
This policy should not be used for complaints relating to your own personal circumstances, such as the way you have been treated at work. In those cases you should use the Grievance Procedure or Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy as appropriate.
If you are uncertain whether something is within the scope of this policy you should seek advice from the Whistleblowing Officer, Claire Watkin.

Raising a Whistleblowing Concern
We hope that in many cases you will be able to raise any concerns with your line manager. You may tell them in person or put the matter in writing if you prefer. They may be able to agree a way of resolving your concern quickly and effectively. In some cases they may refer the matter to the Whistleblowing Officer.
However, where the matter is more serious, or you feel that your line manager has not addressed your concern, or you prefer not to raise it with them for any reason, you should contact one of the following:
- The Whistleblowing Officer, Claire Watkin
- The Board of Directors
We will arrange a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss your concern. You may bring a colleague or union representative to any meetings under this policy. Your companion must respect the confidentiality of your disclosure and any subsequent investigation.
We will take down a written summary of your concern and provide you with a copy after the meeting. We will also aim to give you an indication of how we propose to deal with the matter.

Confidentiality
We hope that staff will feel able to voice whistleblowing concerns openly under this policy. However, if you want to raise your concern confidentially, we will make every effort to keep your identity secret. If it is necessary for anyone investigating your concern to know your identity, we will discuss this with you.
We do not encourage staff to make disclosures anonymously. Proper investigation may be more difficult or impossible if we cannot obtain further information from you. It is also more difficult to establish whether any allegations are credible.
Whistleblowers who are concerned about possible reprisals if their identity is revealed should come forward to the Whistleblowing Officer and appropriate measures can then be taken to preserve confidentiality.

Investigation and Outcome
Once you have raised a concern, we will carry out an initial assessment to determine the scope of any investigation. We will inform you of the outcome of our assessment. You may be required to attend additional meetings in order to provide further information.
In some cases we may appoint an investigator or team of investigators including staff with relevant experience of investigations or specialist knowledge of the subject matter. The investigator(s) may make recommendations for change to enable us to minimise the risk of future wrongdoing.
We will aim to keep you informed of the progress of the investigation and its likely timescale. However, sometimes the need for confidentiality may prevent us giving you specific details of the investigation or any disciplinary action taken as a result. You should treat any information about the investigation as confidential.
If we conclude that a whistleblower has made false allegations maliciously or with a view to personal gain, the whistleblower will be subject to disciplinary action.
If you are not satisfied While we cannot always guarantee the outcome you are seeking, we will try to deal with your concern fairly and in an appropriate way. By using this policy you can help us to achieve this.
If you are not happy with the way in which your concern has been handled, you can raise it with one of the other key contacts set out in this Policy or alternatively contact the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) or the whistleblowing charity Protect https://protect-advice.org.uk/