Wellers Auctioneers Ltd.
Our Core Value Code
Wellers has set itself ethical, operational and business values which it intends to observe in carrying out its business. These represent the foundation stones upon which the directors propose to build the business over the years ahead and will come to characterise the Wellers brand. The values seek to inform and advise those that deal with the company and those that work within it. Whilst there is scope to widen the values and adapt them to meet the changing needs of the business there is no ‘opt out’ available. This is true for all staff from the most junior to members of the board.
Business Values
These are focused on delivering the corporate objective of the organisation which is:
“Wellers are Asset Management experts who add value to their customers by accurately valuing their assets and maximising the proceeds of disposal and managing this whole process smoothly”. Wellers will achieve its objective by adhering to its core business values.
- Professional – As valuers and auctioneers we will behave with integrity and conduct our work having regard to the highest standards of our professional bodies.
- Independent – We will not allow the service that we provide to our vendors to be compromised by self interest.
- Transparent – Our working practices will be visible and open to scrutiny.
- Commercial – Our recommendations to clients will be guided by sensible and practical judgments designed to maximise the return to the client.
- Friendly – A live auction should be engaging for the audience and the bidders and it is important that this enjoyment be enhanced by a friendly and courteous interface between staff and bidders.
- Exciting – The speed of the sales and the harmony generated by the auctioneers will engage the participants and dispel the notion that auctions have no place in the modern era.
- Innovative – We will seek to apply imaginative solutions to optimise the value of our vendors’ assets.
Ethical Values
Ethical values guide ideas of acceptable and desirable behaviour above and beyond compliance with laws and regulations. There will be some cross over between these values and the business values as Wellers has chosen to adopt professionalism and transparency as core business values.
People
- We believe our company should include a range of people from different backgrounds and different points of view. So when we hire someone to come to work at Wellers we choose the best candidate without regard for gender, age, race, national origin, religion, disability or sexual preference. We apply that same standard when choosing suppliers, partners and anyone else we do business with.
- People working with us can expect adequate pay for doing their job and special rewards for extraordinary work, and a participation in a bonus scheme linked to the profits of the company. They can also expect training, feedback, a safe and amenable place to work, freedom from bullying or favouritism and respect for their privacy and dignity and life outside work.
- We will do our best to communicate honestly and openly with everyone who has an interest in our company, including colleagues, suppliers, bidders, vendors and shareholders.
The Company
- We aim to avoid conflicts between the company’s interests and our own individual interests.
- In our personal capacities, we don’t compete with any activity or business of the company, directly or indirectly, or use the knowledge gained here to help anyone else compete with the company.
- We don’t make personal investments that might affect our business judgment. For instance, we don’t have personal interests in companies that compete with or do business with Wellers unless we have disclosed this interest to the Wellers’ board or management and they have approved it. (This doesn’t include owning small amounts of stock in publicly-traded auction companies or casual use of other auction houses or eBay.)
- We don’t do business on behalf of Wellers with a company from which we or a family member may benefit.
- We don’t work with suppliers or any third parties in ways that might affect our performance or our judgment about Wellers’ business.
- We treat company property as if it were our own, but we remember it’s not. We make sure it’s taken care of and that it is not used for personal purposes except in special, authorised circumstances.
- We’re very careful with company plans and information we get to know in the course of our work, and we don’t disclose that kind of material to people outside or inside the company unless it's necessary and we’re authorised to do so.
- When we receive a press enquiry about the company’s business, we refer it to the board. We do not ever respond ourselves unless asked to by management.
- We take scrupulous care to maintain books and records that fairly reflect our business transactions as they occur. We don’t conceal or confuse our records in any way. We don’t make false or misleading entries. We follow all our control and financial policies.
Suppliers, Associates and Other Partners
- We view our suppliers as partners and we expect them to make a fair return when they do business with us. We try to treat them equally, based on objective criteria such as price and quality and on intangible criteria such as their integrity and reliability. We will always pay them within terms or 30 days whichever is less.
- We don’t accept gifts or gratuities from current or would-be suppliers or other parties interested in doing business with us or having our favour for personal or commercial reasons. Likewise, we don’t give money or gifts to gain influence for ourselves or for Wellers. Gifts or entertainment of small value may be given or accepted in circumstances where they can be reciprocated and where they don’t compromise us or the company.
- We respect all patents, trademarks, copyrights, proprietary information or trade secrets, as well as the confidentiality of anyone with whom we do business.
Vendors and Bidders
- The most important thing we can do for our vendors and bidders is to offer services that are consistently superior.
- When vendors or bidders ask a question or make a request or a complaint, we start with the presumption that whatever they say is correct. Our response is always quick, generous, friendly, and it resolves the situation. We never blame problems on the customer or someone else and we always keep our sense of humour.
- When we advertise or solicit business, we are truthful in every detail.
- We will protect our clients money by separating it from our own and keeping it ring-fenced within a separate client account which will be so designated by our bankers.
- We expect bidders to pay us immediately for goods and will not allow certain bidders to enjoy preferential terms over others.
- We do not use information gained from our buyers to actively compete against them.
- We treat vendors’ property as if it were our own, but we remember it’s not. We make sure it’s taken care of and that it is not used for personal purposes except in special, authorised circumstances.
- Our staff will never take vendors property away from our auction premises unless they have purchased it.
- Bidders that deliberately take lots that do not belong to them and where the evidence is unequivocally clear that they have done so will be banned for a minimum period of six months.
- Wellers Auctioneers staff are allowed to purchase lots at auction (subject to strict limitations and monitoring) providing correct procedures are followed.
Governments and Laws
- We comply with the laws and regulations of any country in which we do business and we don’t seek or give influence in exchange for promises, gifts or any other inducements, no matter what the local business practice may be.
- We never use company information that hasn’t been made public for our own or others’ benefit.
- Our company is not partisan. We do make donations to a range of charities, but we do not make any donations that are considered large enough to be material to the individual or organisation involved. We don’t make any donations without first referring them to our board to ensure that they conform to these principles.
- We always try to compete fairly and honestly, observing all applicable anti-trust and competition laws.
Our Responsibility to Society
- Much of our business involves keeping faith with the public our bidders. This public trust partly defines our company and we will uphold it at all costs.
- We try to give both time and money to the communities of interest in which we do business through our charities and sponsorship donations and through encouraging and enabling colleagues to volunteer their time to causes they support.
- We oppose illegal or inhumane labour practices and expect our partners and suppliers to do the same.
- We support universal human rights, including equal employment, safe workplaces, and freedom of speech and of association, cultural, economic and social well-being.
- We try to make it integral to our business decisions to operate in a way that is sensitive to the environment and minimise the impact of all our waste products especially electrical on the environment.
- We expect our suppliers and associates to adhere to these legal and social responsibilities in order to do business with us.
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