Ryder Limited - Section 172(1) Statement 2020
Our Stakeholders
The Directors are aware of and understand their duties under Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 and that engaging with our diverse stakeholder base is key to successfully managing the Ryder Limited Group.
Below we share the groups identified as our key stakeholders and how we engage with each.
Our People
Our people are our customers’ secret weapon, consisting of highly skilled, experienced and dedicated people across the UK, and in Germany. They include the industry’s brightest engineers, safest drivers and the most experienced maintenance technicians, who are all part of the passionate team at Ryder who are dedicated to solving the toughest transportation challenges.
Every Ryder employee is expected to adhere to the Ryder Principles of Business Conduct. As part of the publicly traded Ryder System Inc. Group, our Principles of Business Conduct are especially important at Ryder because our entire business model is built on trust. We operate behind the scenes, as trusted partners, managing critical functions for many of the largest and most well respected companies in the world. As a subsidiary of a publicly traded company with thousands of shareholders, including our own employees, we’re counted on to operate ethically and protect their investments. And, because we facilitate commerce through globally connected supply chains, we have a special industry leadership role in the areas of safety and security. In each of our roles we must continually earn trust. That’s why it’s essential that we hold ourselves to consistently high standards in all that we do.
Our Principles form the playbook that keeps us on the right track so we can maintain the trust we’ve worked so hard to earn. To make it easy to apply the guidelines in our daily work, we’ve organised the Principles according to Ryder’s four Leadership Competencies: Character, Judgement, Relationships, and Results. When we demonstrate the behaviours that live up to our competencies, and follow the Principles outlined in this document, we’re contributing to Ryder’s reputation as a trusted, ethical, and responsible enterprise. Maintaining this reputation has many benefits. But most of all, it makes us proud to say we work at Ryder. A full copy of these Principles can be found on our website at: europe.ryder.com/about-us/principles-of-business-conduct
Engagement with our people includes:
• Comprehensive technical training programs
• Annual sales and management conferences
• Management development programme
• Regular management briefings cascaded to all employees, where feedback is strongly encouraged
During 2020, regular communication with all employees was paramount during the constant changes imposed by the international reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic. The aforementioned management briefings became a platform for the Directors to communicate and coordinate adopted strategies for keeping employees, customers and suppliers safe, and minimising personal interactions. All staff that could work from home, were instructed to do so, with the Group purchasing all equipment necessary to facilitate home-working. The strategic change in the Group’s operating model in the year impacted a number of employees, all of whom were engaged in consultation, with several successful instances of whole teams being transferred to dealer partners, employees accepting alternative roles within the new corporate structure, or regrettably ending with employee redundancies.
Customers and Business Partners
The majority of Ryder’s customer contracts are long term full service leases, therefore it is of special importance that the Group make the correct up-front investment decisions when assessing customer contracts in terms of our ability to deliver the required services and their effects on the long-term profitability of the Group.
Our objective at Ryder is to attract and retain a quality customer and partner base from which we grow long-term relationships for the benefit of all parties. Continual investment into our technology, services and capabilities to enhance these relationships is designed to ensure long-term value is created.
We want to ensure that, for our customers, running their business is their first and only priority. To do so, there is a need to free up time that is lost to the complexities of running a fleet. When it comes to choosing a fleet partner, we want to be sure that our customers are not just sourcing vehicles, but ultimately adding value to their businesses. We know that our customers have a choice. That’s why we provide a flexible but comprehensive solution that is unique to each individual customer, delivering the best value, optimal uptime and compliance.
Engagement with our customers and business partners includes:
• customer satisfaction surveys
• Industry exhibition and category event sponsorship
• corporate roadshows
• customer anniversary loyalty recognition
• digital newsletter communications
• joint case study PR and photography
• social media engagement
In order to maintain continuity of service during periods of national lockdown in 2020, key customers were consulted regarding changes to their requirements. Throughout the pandemic, management used the information gathered from key customers to establish the required levels of staffing to maintain the high quality of service for which the Group is known. Many in-house technicians and other personnel were furloughed during the year but only on a rotational basis in their role as keyworkers.
Strategic Suppliers
The quality of the products and services we deliver to our customers and business partners is heavily influenced by the careful management of our supplier relationships. In order to meet the customer focussed objectives referred to above, it is necessary that we forge strong long-term partnerships within our own supply-chain in order to create a competitive advantage for Ryder through the purchase of products and services in a fair, transparent and equitable manner.
All significant suppliers to Ryder are required to sign up to the Global Ryder Supplier Code of Conduct which details the behaviour expected and covers legislative and ethical considerations and whistle-blower policies. Additionally for certain key supply groups:
• OEM capital equipment suppliers signup to the Ryder Dealer Code of Practice which covers specific service requirements
• Vehicle bodybuilders sign up to the Ryder Bodybuilder Conditions of Purchase which layout the particular requirements for suppliers of bodywork and related equipment
• FleetCare dealers sign up to the Ryder Repair & Maintenance SLA which details work practices, KPIs and commercial rates
Ryder’s procurement team develops sourcing objectives to support the business strategy through innovative sourcing solutions leveraging the buying power of the Ryder group of companies which takes account of factors such as volume, both national and global, and particular strategic sourcing projects. The strategy encompasses some or all of the following steps:
• define the business need – consult with internal stakeholders as relevant to the requirements
• define the sourcing strategy – gathering data, identifying opportunities and looking at routes to market
• undertake tender activity – develop the tender, distribute and evaluate and award business
• ongoing supplier relationship/contract management – with new and existing suppliers; KPIs and regular reviews
Existing strategic partnerships with key suppliers aim to harness innovation to further drive down costs and increase quality. Regular reviews at all levels with these suppliers ensure focus is kept on costs and service. Throughout the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ryder has maintained close contact with key suppliers to ensure continuity of its high quality services, supporting alternative solutions where the pandemic has caused unexpected challenges to service availability and supply chains.
Supporting the 2020 transition of activity from its own workshops to third parties, the Group has expanded the FleetCare network of more than 300 approved dealer partners, but the Group has also started a significant recruitment drive at its FleetCare control hub in Devizes and in its Ryder Mobile Maintenance Services Division based in Lichfield.
The Community and the Environment
The safety of the general public on the roads, is of paramount importance to the Group. Ryder’s vehicle maintenance standards are maintained at consistently high levels thereby minimising the risk of incident. This also enables vehicles to be run at maximum possible efficiency in an effort to minimise the related emissions. Ryder is constantly striving to look to reduce the environmental effects of its customer leased vehicles, including the availability of roof-mounted solar powered mats being installed on new trailers.
Ryder encourages the charitable activities of its employees throughout the organisation, and maintains a matching contribution policy, doubling charitable donations generated by their efforts.
Shareholder and Debt Funders
While the Ryder Limited Group operates in a geographically and economically separate environment to its ultimate parent, Ryder System Inc., our role as a wholly owned subsidiary is to deliver on the strategic goals of the US parent group, while also ensuring those goals are compatible with the long term success of the Group. This is, in part, achieved annually by the Group producing a long-term five year forecast which is used to coordinate closely with the ultimate parent.
Ryder Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ryder System Inc. group, the Directors are seen to act fairly between members of the company, to which there is only one shareholder.
All funding, be it equity investment by Ryder System Inc. group, or debt funding, from within the parent group, or direct from our principle banking partner, Lloyds Bank, is coordinated by the Treasury Department of Ryder System Inc., within which one of the Directors is primarily employed as Group Director, Treasury. This provides Ryder Limited with access to the most efficient funding available to the largest commercial vehicle leasing business across North America.
Engagement with our shareholder and debt funders takes the form of:
• Regular face-to-face, or virtual, meetings with all branches of management of the ultimate parent company
• Close coordination supporting the full year, and quarterly reporting requirements of the US parent company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
• Formal debt funding agreements negotiated and coordinated by the Ryder System Inc. Treasury Department
• Alongside local UK management, several of the Directors of Ryder Limited are US based with primary roles as senior members of key departments of the ultimate parent including Treasury, Investor Relations and Legal, allowing the Board to coordinate as a whole and to be informed and engage with the relevant stakeholders.