Section 172 (1) Statement

In discharging their duties to promote the interests of the Company under section 172 Companies Act 2006, the Directors of the Company have regard to a number of factors and stakeholder interests. These are described below. As a wholly owned subsidiary, the Directors do not consider the factor listed in section 172(1)(f) (the need to act fairly between members of the company) is relevant to the proper discharge of their duties under section 172.

The business of the Company is the provision of Japanese & Oriental food and drink to the restaurant, retail, wholesale and manufacturing sectors. The Company has its primary business focused on the UK market but is also engaged in Europe and beyond.

Consequences of business decisions in the long term

The company operates in a sector characterised by long term relationships between stakeholders, driven by a relatively small number of market participants. The Company considers that its role in promoting Japanese food and drink, part of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List, is a worthwhile promotion of international relationships and one that entirely coincides with the social and commercial goals of its Board, shareholders and ultimate owners.

Accordingly, consideration of long-term consequences is an inherent part of the Company’s decision-making processes. The Board considers that the interests of the Company and its ultimate owners are aligned in seeking sustainable value creation over the longer term through the Company’s operations and promoting long term strategic decision-making.

To support the promotion of Japanese Food, the company has focused on the synergies created by Tazaki Cash & Carry and its geographical location south of the river Thames. The Company has been able to serve certain of its customer base through Tazaki Cash & Carry more efficiently.

The Company also recognises the importance of sustainability on the future of the Company. We are reinforcing our wider relationship with our stakeholders and the wider community through our engagement on environmental issues, signalled by our appointment of a full time ESG and Sustainability Strategist.

These factors also drive a continuing focus on the maintenance of durable relationships with stakeholders, built on Tazaki Foods Limited’s reputation with customers and suppliers.

Identification of, and engagement with, stakeholder groups

The Company recognises the importance of maintaining strong relationships with its stakeholders in order to create sustainable long-term value, and the Board encourages active dialogue and transparency with all its stakeholder groups.

The Company has identified four main stakeholder groups which are relevant to the proper discharge of the duties of the Directors of relevant group companies under section 172 (1) to promote the success of their company. These are:

  • Our customers and suppliers
  • Our employees
  • Maintenance of high standards of business conduct
  • The local communities and environment within which we operate

Given the business of the Company, the Board believes that these four categories are key to the company along with the central mission that the Company does not only supply food and drink for commercial gain, but also promotes cultural and social bonds that are equally relevant to the proper discharge of the duties of the Directors of the Company under section 172 (1).

  1. Customer and Supplier relationships

    The Company supports customers and suppliers throughout the supply chain, and we leverage our long experience in the market combined with continued innovation in products and sourcing to drive growth and shared returns for both the Company, our customers and our suppliers. The Company builds long-term relationships in all aspects of its business, allowing it to focus on customer service while ensuring that food safety and compliance are always at the forefront of our business model. We act in a fair and honourable way to all of our customers and suppliers, always ensuring that we operate on a level playing field. We always have willing customers and suppliers to help us develop new products and markets. This is what makes the company trusted in the food industry and ensures our continued growth and successand is shown through the high ratings achieved in our annual customer survey and the regular feedback meetings held with all key suppliers and customers, both online and in person.

    Our business relationship with both customers and suppliers is based on effective communication both externally and internally and the strong team structure within the Company. Depending on the requirements at any one time, our close team cooperation allows our Company to provide the expertise from within our different departments, in a proactive manner, directly to our business customers and suppliers in a regular, timely and effective manner. This is carried out by specialist sales teams who are focussed specifically to deal with the different types of customers we work with across different sectors (e.g., restaurants, grocery, manufacturing).

  2. Employees

    The Company is committed to a philosophy that content and well-trained employees are important assets of the business. Therefore, the company seeks to provide an environment which encourages the continuous development of employees through comprehensive training programmes where appropriate. Training in relation to IT and human resources are provided to all levels of staff, and investment in employee development continues to be a priority. This year as well as the necessary training required for first aid, fire safety and for example fork lift truck operations we have invested further in training in health and safety for our Health & Safety Officer as well as specialised training in products from our manufacturers and other outside partners. We have supported each department where appropriate in gaining outside expertise and training and examples would include training in systems for the IT department, on recyclability policy and packaging for the purchasing department and so on.

    The Company has an equal opportunities policy and is committed to ensuring that all employees are treated fairly and with complete equality, regardless of gender, marital status, sexual orientation or disability. We are proud of the fact that our structure allows staff to raise concerns and discuss ideas almost as soon as they occur and contributes to the family feel that is rooted in our Company. We recognise the value of spontaneity and the creativeness of our employees in bringing benefits to the Company and its business and encourage a teamwork-based approach that ensures that all sections of the Company are working together towards the same goals. Company events such as the summer BBQ give employees an opportunity to interact and discuss issues with senior management. This year we were able to hold both the Company BBQ and the Christmas party for the first time in a number of years and both events contributed to a strong and unified Company culture as evidenced by the many positive comments we received from staff.

    We continue to look at ways in making sure that our Company provides a supportive environment within which our staff can flourish. As in previous years this includes:

    • Continuing to allow staff to work from home where possible using the technological solutions that the Company has provided.
    • Effective and easily accessible communication channels to the HR manager, line managers COO and CEO , whether working from home or in the office.
    • An effective and anonymous whistleblowing system for any issues within the Company.

    Our informal structure means that staff are not limited to just their line manager and often consult with the HR Manager, COO or CEO. This not only allows for any potential problems to be resolved quickly but also helps to foster a sense of loyalty to the Company: it emphasises that everyone, from the CEO down are all working as a te

  3. Business Conduct

    The Company’s goal is to meet or exceed all food safety and legal requirements for products and the supply chain and in order to achieve this we are committed to maintaining our BRC (British Retail Consortium) standard for storage and distribution to ensure that we are always measured against the highest requirements and standards of the market. This year we not only maintained our AA grade rating but for the first time ever we were able to pass our audit without a single non-conformance, which is a very rare achievement within the BRC framework. From 2024 we will move to unannounced audits which will represent a challenge but one that we look forward to turning into an opportunity to consistently maintain the highest standards.

    The safety of staff is regarded as paramount and incident rates are monitored closely. Training programmes are implemented for all new employees and refresher courses are held as appropriate. The Company has contracts in place for all equipment and assets to ensure that employees are always using equipment, vehicles and machinery maintained to the highest standard of safety and the same applies to the building environment in which they work. The Company also works closely with its customers to ensure that deliveries are conducted in a safe and secure way for both parties.

    We are committed to operating in a fair and honest way with all of our customers and suppliers and we are proud that many of them have been our important stakeholders for more than twenty years. We believe this to be the biggest endorsement of this policy. The appointment in 2023 of an ESG and Sustainability Strategist has led us to look at ways that we can objectively measure some of these factors. This will be something that we will be able to report on further in future years.

  4. Local communities and environment

    The Company is proud of its long history in the UK in which it has always been at the forefront of promoting friendship and exchange between the Japanese and UK communities. We are equally proud to have been promoting Japanese food and drink culture long before it became recognised by UNESCO as a unique world asset. Our Yutaka brand has introduced Japanese food to the mass UK consumer through the main UK supermarkets and we have always been the strongest force behind the flourishing Japanese restaurant market in the UK. We believe that the promotion of Japanese food and drink not only helps our business but has a valuable social and cultural role to play and we want our employees to be proud of this contribution. We are also proud of our involvement in Japanese cultural and charitable events.

    In terms of our contribution to the environment we have created a new role in 2023 for an ‘ESG and Sustainability Strategist’ whose role is to create a roadmap for how we can improve our sustainability and to ensure that we consider environmental concerns in every major decision in the company. Examples include in our fleet, our electricity consumption and our employee’s use of of resources.