Employer Accreditations

Armed Forces Covenant

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise that together we acknowledge and understand that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy, and society they serve with their lives.

Members of the Armed Forces community bring a wealth of transferable skills and experiences to employers across the United Kingdom.

Awarded at 3 levels: Bronze, Silver & Gold  

Disability Confident

Disability Confident is creating a movement of change, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people and people with health conditions.

Over 7.7 million people of working age in the UK are disabled or have a health condition. Historically there has been a significant gap between the proportion of disabled people employed compared with non-disabled people.

The scheme is voluntary and access to the guidance, self-assessments and resources is free.

The 3 levels are designed to support you on your Disability Confident journey. You must complete each level before moving on to the next.

• Committed (Level 1)
• Employer (Level 2)
• Leader (Level 3)

Stonewall

At Stonewall, we stand for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning and ace (LGBTQ+) people everywhere. We imagine a world where all LGBTQ+ people are free to be ourselves and can live our lives to the full.

Diversity Champions is Britain’s leading programme for ensuring all LGBTQ+ staff are accepted without exception in the workplace.

The Stonewall Top 100 Employers list is compiled from the Workplace Equality Index – the UK’s leading benchmarking tool for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. Completing the index is a voluntary annual exercise that enables employers to measure and improve their existing inclusion practices.

Happy to Talk Flexible Working

Working Families, with the support of the Government’s Flexible Working Taskforce, have developed the “Happy to Talk Flexible Working” strapline and logo to support employers on their journey to bringing more flexible roles to the market. By featuring this strapline and logo in job advertisements, employers can open up their recruitment to wider pools of talent and in turn create fairer and more inclusive workplaces.

Athena Swan Charter

The Advance HE Athena Swan Charter is a framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research. Established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment, the Charter is now being used across the globe to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.

The accreditation is awarded on 3 levels: Bronze, Silver & Gold

Race Equality Charter

The Advance HE Race Equality Charter aims to help universities and research institutes in their work to improve the representation, progression and success of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and students within Higher Education; whilst also providing a framework for action and improvement.

Institutions can apply for a bronze or silver award, depending on their progress.

Investors in People

Investors in People accreditations are recognised around the world, making them the global benchmark when it comes to people management.

For over 30 years, we’ve worked with a huge range of organisations big and small from Public Sectors to SMEs to Charities to PLCs and anything in between.

So we know we speak your language and that through our three frameworks: We invest in people; We invest in wellbeing; and We invest in apprentices

Business in the Community Race at Work Charter

Business in the Community (BITC) is the UK’s largest and most influential responsible business network dedicated to building a fairer and greener world together, supported by His Majesty The King for over 40 years.

The BITC Race at Work Charter asks businesses to make a public commitment to improving equality of opportunity in the workplace.

Menopause Workplace Pledge

The Menopause Workplace Pledge is a commitment made by employers to create a supportive and inclusive workplace for employees experiencing menopause. It involves recognizing menopause as a legitimate workplace issue, fostering open and respectful conversations about it, and actively supporting affected employees. 

Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers

The annual rankings showcase employers providing some of the country’s most successful apprenticeship programmes, and help future apprentices, parents and career advisers identify opportunities with leading employers. The rankings are produced by the Department for Education and are independently verified.

Inclusive Employers

Established in 2011, Inclusive Employers works with hundreds of organisations to audit, train and embed workplace inclusion. We are the first and leading membership organisation for employers committed to prioritising inclusion and creating truly inclusive workplaces. In inclusive workplaces, all employees are valued and contribute to the success of their organisation.

Menopause Workplace Pledge

Women make up nearly half of the UK workforce, yet many feel forced to reduce their hours, pass up promotions, or even leave their jobs due to lack of menopause support.

That's why we're calling on employers and employees to sign the Menopause Workplace Pledge and take positive action to make sure everyone going through the menopause is supported.

4 Day Week Foundation

The 4 Day Week Foundation leads the UK’s national campaign for a four-day working week. We’re campaigning across the UK to make a four-day, 32-hour working week with no loss of pay a reality.

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Numerous studies have shown that reducing working hours - while maintaining pay - improves wellbeing, work-life balance and productivity.

ISO, The International Organisation for Standardisation

International standards ensure that the products and services you use daily are safe, reliable, and of high quality. They also guide businesses in adopting sustainable and ethical practices, helping to create a future where your purchases not only perform excellently but also safeguard our planet. In essence, standards seamlessly blend quality with conscience, enhancing your everyday experiences and choices.+

Cyber Essentials Certified

Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed scheme designed to help organizations protect themselves against common online threats. It verifies that a business has established baseline technical controls, such as secure firewall configuration and access controls, making it ideal for organizations looking to lock down their digital assets

TrustMark

We are TrustMark - the only UK Government-Endorsed Quality Scheme for work carried out in and around the home. We are passionate about quality and assurance and what that means for homeowners and our Registered Businesses.

Since we started in 2005, we have been working to help drive-up standards across the industry and improve the protection offered to homeowners when having work done. We’re a not-for-profit business which means we can focus on our customers – homeowners and tradespeople - and not on shareholders.

NAPIT

We're a fast-growing government-approved and UKAS-accredited membership scheme operator in the building services and fabric sector.

With over 20,000 registered installers across the UK, we serve the electrical, heating, plumbing, ventilation, microgeneration, and building fabric trades in domestic, commercial, and industrial markets.

Committed to raising standards and safety with a friendly, common-sense approach, we operate our membership schemes through NAPIT Registration and NAPIT Certification.

MCS

MCS is the UK’s quality mark for small-scale renewable energy technologies like solar panels, heat pumps, and battery storage. We have two main roles – setting and maintaining standards, and providing consumer protection. 

Our standards define how renewable energy technologies should be designed and installed using MCS certified products – they are a benchmark for quality developed in close consultation with industry.

Octopus Trusted Partner

We have a lot of customers reaching out to us about low carbon technologies, but we can’t help everyone. To start, we’re building an affiliate network so we can refer those we can’t help to local installers who can.

Our partners retain their own identity, quotation, payment and job management, but we’ll be checking credentials to make sure installers meet our quality standards for both work and customer service, before confirming as a verified partner.