Customers and suppliers

We have a responsibility to our customers to ensure we tackle the issues that are important to them and we expect our partners and suppliers to share the ethics and standards we work to.

The Hull and East Yorkshire region is the birthplace of our business and we are proud to play our part in our local community. Unemployment rates in Hull are high in comparison to England as a whole and this has strengthened our resolve to support the local economy wherever we can.

The government has highlighted 'digital exclusion' as a key risk facing the UK. People may be digitally excluded due to a lack of internet access or a lack of digital skills.

Digital inclusion can result in people feeling more connected with their families and communities. It can increase the job opportunities available to them, enable them to save money through shopping online and provide access to government services that are increasingly moving online.

We help tackle digital exclusion by:

We want our customers and their families to be safe when using the internet, so we encourage customers to sign up to our free parental controls service.

The service means families can decide whether or not to filter certain categories of content. If they wish to, they can choose from a number of profile suggestions that give the option to block adult websites and other content they consider inappropriate.

We are a supporter of Internet Matters, a not-for profit organisation that helps parents keep their children safe in the digital world. We are also members of the Internet Watch Foundation, an international organisation focused on making the internet a safer place.

We make sure vulnerable residential customers can get access to affordable phone services, and we’re committed to helping all our customers keep in touch more easily.

Customers who receive unwanted calls – such as silent, malicious or nuisance calls - can register for help reduce these.

If a customer is unable to leave their house due to disability or illness, a telephone becomes a vital lifeline. That’s why we offer a free priority repair service for customers who may be at risk in the unlikely event of a fault occurring on their line.

We expect our partners and suppliers to share our ethics and standards so that our customers can be confident goods and services they buy from us have been developed responsibly, lawfully, in decent working conditions, without exploiting the people who make or deliver them, and without damaging the environment.

We have a Supplier and Partner Code of Conduct that all of our suppliers and partners are required to follow. We have regular meetings with our key suppliers and work closely with them to ensure we understand how their businesses operate, their approach to sustainability and their own corporate responsibility.

For customers who have difficulty reading our standard printed material, we offer large print or Braille contracts, bills and manuals. We also offer a free directory enquiry service and a text phone service for customers who are deaf, hard of hearing, speech-impaired or blind.

We offer an online video service that allows customers who are deaf to communicate with our customer service team using British Sign Language (BSL) via a fully qualified interpreter.

We want to make sure that customers on a limited budget can afford a phone service. Our social access package light user scheme gives low-cost line rental and inclusive calls for customers who receive certain benefits.