Community

Oxford Biomedica continues to build and strengthen its involvement in the local community, recognising the value of being a good local citizen and delivering positive benefits to the community.

Oxford Biomedica recruited over 200 new employees at all levels across the organisation during 2021, and continued to develop its apprenticeship scheme, supporting science education. Oxford Biomedica behaves as a responsible neighbour, complying with national and local laws and regulations, particularly with regard to emissions, waste, property planning, and the traffic impact caused by employees. To help minimise the traffic impact on the community, Oxford Biomedica has put in place a range of transport initiatives including a well-established cycle to work scheme, bike shelters and other infrastructure, and a partnership with a local cycling group.

Apprenticeship scheme

As part of Oxford Biomedica’s focus on delivering local benefits and providing high skilled jobs to the local community, Oxford Biomedica has an apprenticeship scheme in collaboration with Advanced Therapies Apprenticeship Community and multiple training providers. At the end of August 2022, Oxford Biomedica had 35 apprentices enrolled across different programmes in the business and has recently been recognised as “Apprenticeship Employer of the Year 2022” in the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards. The apprentices include school leavers from the local community who are enrolled on a training scheme in the highly skilled areas of Manufacturing and Analytical testing. Oxford Biomedica is committed to supporting the apprentices through in-post learning, training, and expanding the scheme in the future.

Further details of the 2022 ESG Community objectives are set out on page 61 of the Annual Report.

Charitable giving

Oxford Biomedica’s charity team, Helping Hands, forms part of our commitment to provide support to a local charity. The Helping Hands team organise fundraising events in aid of a charity selected by employees. The employee-selected charity in 2021 was SeeSaw (Registered Charity No. 1076321), an Oxford based charity providing support for bereaved children, young people and their families when they face a death in the family. Oxford Biomedica raised £17,000 for SeeSaw, through a variety of fundraising initiatives including sponsored shave, sunrise Blenheim Palace walk, fire walk, unused clothing drive, Christmas wreath-making and raffle.

At the end of 2021, after supporting SeeSaw for three years, the Helping Hands team asked employees to suggest new charities for the company to support for the next three years. Nine charities were suggested, and through an employee vote, Oxfordshire Mind (Registered Charity No. 261476) and Homeless Oxfordshire (Registered Charity No. 297806) have been selected as Oxford Biomedica’s nominated charities for the period 2022 to 2024.

In 2021, Oxford Biomedica provided all employees the opportunity to support good causes through monthly payroll contributions. Payroll giving is a voluntary way for employees to support any UK-registered charity in a tax-efficient manner.

Oxford Biomedica encourages employees to get involved in community work and helps to support employees that participate in such initiatives. A community volunteering activity scheme was introduced in the first half of 2022, allowing employees to request up to seven hours of paid time off for volunteering each year. Oxford Biomedica regards community projects as a great way to meet people, develop new friendships, and most of all improve employees’ own wellbeing.

For more details on Oxford Biomedica’s community initiatives including our apprenticeship scheme and charitable giving see page 61 of the Annual Report.