We play an active role in our local community. We want to create a brighter future for our clients, our people, the local community and the environment that we work in. Our recent involvement has been as follows:
2023-24
Following the success of our first annual all-company volunteering day last year, we helped Scouts Scotland at their Bonaly campsite this year by carrying out various outdoor tasks including preserving the timber poles they use for pioneering projects, cutting up scrap timber for use as kindling which they sell to raise funds and creating new furniture from re-purposed items.
We held our staff strategy day at the Poppy Scotland factory and made a donation to the charity for the use of their facilities. In return, ex-servicemen gave us all a fascinating tour of the renovated factory.
This year we have chosen Dr Bell's Family Centre, supporting families in Leith since 2006, as our Charity of the Year. We will fundraise through various staff events over the next 12 months and Mearns & Company will match the sum raised by staff at the end of the year.
2022-23
We held our first annual all-company volunteering day in August. We helped the Water of Leith Conservation Trust with path maintenance and litter picking, quite a challenge given the bin strikes taking place in Edinburgh at the time! The Water of Leith Conservation Trust works to conserve and enhance the river, its heritage and wildlife.
We also took part in the world’s biggest coffee morning, an initiative led by Macmillan Cancer Support, who support people living with cancer.
2021-22
We held a raffle at Christmas and donated all the proceeds to Leith Gives, Leith Gives is a collaboration of local charities, businesses and volunteers seeking to help those on low incomes who have been struggling through the pandemic, and those whose circumstances, health or employment, has changed due to COVID, being pushed into further hardship.
We also continued to support The Teapot Trust by donating all the proceeds from our Valentine’s Day Bake-Off competition to them.
2020-21
As part of our Christmas activities we donated a sum of money to The Teapot Trust, a local charity based in Musselburgh. The Teapot Trust provides art therapy across the UK for children living with chronic conditions (and their families).
2019-20
Our staff nominated charity for 2019-20 was Fresh Start. Fresh Start is an Edinburgh based charity that works towards ending homelessness for good by helping people who have been homeless get established in their new home, resettle in their community and re-join the workforce. Read about Fresh Start and the work they do here.
2018-19
Our staff nominated charity in 2018 was CCLASP (Children with Cancer and Leukaemia Advice and Support for Parents) who help children and teenagers suffering from cancer or leukaemia in Scotland. Read about CCLASP and the work they do for children with cancer and leukaemia here.
In July 2015, Scotland become one of the pioneering countries in the world to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals created by the United Nations (UN).
We believe that the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. Although we are a small company, it is important that we fulfil our responsibilities as a company to achieve each goal before 2030.
By using the Sustainable Development Goals, our firm, employees and external stakeholders are guided towards a bright and sustainable future.
We have chosen to focus on the goals which align with our strategy and operating model.
For a deeper understanding please see our sustainability graphic
Since we were founded in 1994, we have developed a strong, ethical culture. Our values are clearly defined and embedded in policy and practices. We ensure workforce performance is managed to these values, and we recruit based on values and attitude first, and experience second.
The culture of our company is based on our shared values of
Each value is backed up by three practical examples of what it means to live by these things — this is important, as it converts values from ‘lofty phrases’ into easily understood expectations. Our team regularly use the values to drive business decisions and to help inform policies and procedures within our business.
As a company we proactively look to the Zero Waste Scotland principles to reduce waste, save energy and reduce our carbon footprint.
We are committed to minimising our consumption of fuel and electricity through behavioural changes and the implementation of energy efficient lighting systems in our office.
We regularly review our waste and recycling activities along with our supplier, ChangeWorks, to ensure we are doing the most we can to reduce our carbon footprint. Through responsible purchasing, innovative waste solutions, reuse and recycling, we strive to reduce our output of waste and increase recycling.
Our Corporate Social Responsibility team also support our local community in protecting our environment. Such as attending clean ups at our nearby nature hotspot the Water of Leith.
Our team is 46% female and 54% male. We believe in and promote equality from employment opportunities and pay to development and career progression.
4% of our workforce have nationalities from beyond the UK.
We have a good age spread across the company, as follows:
<25 19%
25-34 31%
35-44 23%
45-54 19%
>54 8%
Anchor House
112 Commercial Street
Edinburgh
EH6 6NF
© Mearns & Company
Registered in Scotland, Company Number: SC288945
Mearns & Company are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (reference number 465557)
The guidance and / or advice contained within this website is subject to the UK regulatory regime and is therefore targeted at consumers based in the UK