Environmental, Social, Governance

Sustainability is and always has been part of our DNA.

BiCortex awarded EcoVadis Silver Medal

We’re very pleased to have been awarded a Silver Medal by EcoVadis, an independent provider of business sustainability ratings. We were assessed on the basis of our policies and processes in the areas of ethics, labour and the environment and were placed in the top 25 per cent of all companies worldwide. We have identified areas for further improvement and are meeting with partners to establish a roadmap of actions. 

Sustainability

Sustainability is, and always has been, part of our DNA. Since its inception, BiCortex Languages has been a close-to-zero-paper company. All internal and external communications are conducted on a digital basis, as is almost all of our administration and accounting. For face-to-face lessons, neither the attendance reports nor the student feedback are collected on paper, but rather through a proprietary app developed by BiCortex called BiCortex Manager. As a result, we only print documents on an extremely rare basis. We encourage the use of digital rather than printed teaching materials and collate data so that we can measure our progress in this area.

Business travel has always been limited and where possible we seek to do this by lower emissions alternatives such as train and also seek to offset carbon.

Since 2020 virtual lessons have increased, further reducing travel, however, for face-to-face lessons BiCortex encourages teachers to use non-polluting transportation means, such as bikes and electric cars.

Sustainability
Sustainability
CSR
CSR

Corporate responsibility

We ensure that all local laws are complied with and staff is trained to approach stakeholders and customers in a respectful and culturally sensitive manner. We always ask for feedback and act upon this.

We have formal policies on a number of key areas including Diversity, anti-bribery, health and safety, privacy and whistleblowing and all employees have been trained internally and externally about best practices, our processes and our policies.

Through paradiGM community  we support a number of NGOs (Choose Love, Refugees International), we have supported the ERC Foundation and we also canvass our employees about which organisations they would like the company to support via donations in their respective communities.

BiCortex supports Syria and Turkey relief efforts

BiCortex is pleased to have been able to support relief efforts in Turkey and Syria. 

Our staff and the company together raised a total of 702 GBP for the DEC campaign.

This donates where best needed across charities in both Syria and Turkey.
 
Funds are used in a number of ways:
 
  • £30 could provide blankets for six people to keep them warm
  • £50 could provide emergency food for two families for 10 days
  • £100 could provide emergency shelter for four families

Social Responsibility - Ukraine Crisis

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia affects all of us. In the interests of world peace, whether or not one has friends and family in Ukraine, the brutal invasion by a neighbouring country resulting in millions of innocent lives being affected, has to be condemned in the strongest way possible.

As a company with a global community and belief in democratic values, BiCortex Languages stands in solidarity with Ukraine. As such, we are offering free services to Ukrainian refugees. We have no doubt that our commitment to helping the refugees of Ukraine will support and help many people.

BiCortex In solidarity with Ukraine
BiCortex In solidarity with Ukraine
BiCortex Languages CEO with Ukrainian refugees
BiCortex Languages CEO with Ukrainian refugees

BiCortex CEO's Trip to the Ukrainian border

Humility and compassion led our CEO to embark on a journey of over 2800km from Spain to the Ukrainian border in Poland. He felt he needed to be on the ground and offer his support to the Ukrainian refugees firsthand. He dropped off humanitarian aid and donations and was also able to bring back a total of 11 Ukrainian refugees. Our CEO’s support for Ukraine acts as an inspiration to us here in our work.

Relocate the Profit: 1 Euro per invoice donations

BiCortex Languages is now a member of Relocate the Profit, an initiative where different companies in the relocation industry come together to help raise funds for charity.

The donations collected are for Livingstone Tanzania Trust, an organisation that works with the communities in Tanzania to help young people reach their full educational potential. They aim to help break the barriers that prevent young people from getting quality education such as hunger, unhygienic toilets, lack of water, teaching staff or learning materials, to mention a few.

As such, in the same spirit of helping to build a better world and change the lives of others, BiCortex will be donating one Euro per invoice sent to every customer. We hope that our commitment to Relocate the Profit will greatly support and change many young lives.

Relocate the Profit
Relocate the Profit

BiCortex supports netball charity event important to staff

 
At BiCortex, we support charity events that our employees partake in or would like the company to sponsor through donations for the sustainable development of communities. As such, we recently sponsored a local netball charity event in Portugal recommended by our B2C & Translations manager. 
 
The total amount of money raised was during the event was 1233€ and it was shared between two nominated charities –  Ordem do Trevo and MCV. Both charities play a vital role in assisting local families and Ukrainian refugees to put food on the table, help with essential purchases for babies and children and also keep homes warm in the winter.
 

Move 2 Fight Hunger Challenge

BiCortex participated in the Move 2 Fight Hunger Challenge that was presented by Weichert Workforce Mobility and Nelson Westerberg. This was a contribution and a move towards assisting those facing inadequate food  security
 
BiCortex worked together with over 760 participants towards this common goal. Throughout the month of June 2022, the participants were encouraged to partake in any activity that they enjoyed, such as dancing, running, singing, gardening, to mention a few. Each activity was then converted into a meal for those in need. The participants used atlasGO, the social media app to log and keep track of their activities. 
 
In total, 92 045 meals were provided to communities with food insecurity. A huge well done to every participant, and we are looking forward to participating again in the coming year!