Experts in communication, brand and reputation research

Policies

Environmental Statement

Echo Research is committed to minimising the impact of our operations on the environment and to continuously seek improvements. We are committed to constantly review and implement working procedures in order to conserve raw materials, reduce emissions and save energy. We will comply with all relevant environmental legislation.

Our principles and policies

We seek to:

1. Conserve energy and reduce our carbon footprint by

  • Working with our landlord to improve the energy efficiency of our building
  • Educating our staff on environmental impacts of their work activities and ways to minimise them
  • Instilling standard practices with regards to switching off equipment when not in use
  • Using motion sensor lighting in our office
  • Using Microsoft cloud storage as a more carbon efficient alternative to traditional data centres and physical servers
  • Operating a flexible work-from-home policy and remote working to reduce staff travel
  • Investing in technologies that provide alternatives to business travel
  • Running a carbon tracker across all our projects and non-fee work. Offsetting the equivalent carbon cost through tree planting each year.

2. Minimise waste by

  • Operating a paper-free office
  • Operating a strict recycling policy for paper, cans, plastic, food waste and electronic equipment
  • Using recyclable and re-useable materials and avoiding single-use plastics wherever possible.

3. Encourage our clients to support our environmental commitment by

  • Offering sustainable referral and loyalty schemes e.g. tree-planting for referrals
  • Providing board-level research insights on sustainability and reputation
  • Offering to track carbon cost of our project work and off-setting through tree-planting programmes – in addition to our own tracking programmes.

Echo will keep under review its policies and procedures to continuously improve our environmental commitment.

 

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Statement

We are committed to encouraging a supportive and inclusive culture among all staff. It is within our best interest to promote diversity and eliminate discrimination in the workplace. Our aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and for all staff to feel respected and able to give their best.

Our principles and policies

The policy’s purpose is to:

  • Provide equality, fairness and respect for all in our employment, whether temporary, part-time or full-time and those with whom we work in partnership
  • Not unlawfully discriminate because of the Equality Act 2010 protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation
  • Oppose and avoid all forms of unlawful discrimination. This includes in pay and benefits, terms and conditions of employment, dealing with grievances and discipline, dismissal, redundancy, leave for parents, requests for flexible working, and selection for employment, promotion, training or other developmental opportunities.

Echo is committed to:

  • Fulfilling all obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and its revisions
  • Training managers and all other staff about their rights and responsibilities
  • Equality of opportunity for all persons
  • Promoting a good and harmonious working environment in which all persons are treated with respect
  • Creating a working environment free of bullying, harassment, victimisation and unlawful discrimination
  • Promoting dignity and respect for all, and where individual differences and the contributions of all staff are recognised and valued
  • Taking lawful affirmative or positive action, where appropriate
  • Regarding all breaches of equality, diversity & inclusion policy as misconduct which could lead to disciplinary proceedings.

Echo will keep under review its policies and procedures to ensure that these remain appropriate and effective.

 

Quality Assurance Statement

As Expert Witnesses on image and reputation, our rigorous standards and objectivity are recognised as the highest in the industry.  As MRS Company Partners and founders of AMEC, the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communications, we are committed to the Barcelona Principles for effective, high quality measurement of public relations and communications.

Echo’s core quality principles:

  1. The highest standards of quality are embedded in our organisation’s culture and led from the top by our founder and CEO
  2. We have established procedures for core processes and quality control 
  3. We have an ongoing commitment to continuous improvement 
  4. Our quality standards ensure data quality and that final products fully meet our clients’ requirements and specifications.

All staff and analysts complete a training program with focus on quality and continuous improvement. Management is fully committed to our quality control processes.

We rigorously conduct research in accordance with the Market Research Society and ESOMAR Codes of Conduct and have quality control systems in place to ensure the consistent quality of all research, data entry and outputs, to detect and rectify any issues immediately.

We comply with the eight principles of the Data Protection Act which ensure that personal information is safe guarded however it is collected, recorded and used whether on paper, in a computer file or database or recorded on other material.

Key elements of Echo’s quality assurance process:

1. Project set up and briefing

  • Dedicated client contact team to ensure consistency in the client / Echo relationship.
  • Detailed scope of work agreed at the outset to ensure no ambiguity or unforeseen cost implications.
  • Project schedule outlining agreed delivery dates, milestones, deliverables, key actions and responsibilities.
  • Client sign-off on all research materials such as questionnaires, topic guides, coding frameworks and keywords.

2. Ongoing quality control

  • In-depth briefings of staff, analysts and fieldwork teams.
  • Rigorous checking of programming (survey, translations, coding framework, keywords) and ongoing quality control of sample, data entry and outputs by account team.
  • Regular quality control feedback to staff, analysts and fieldwork teams.
  • All outputs produced according to pre-agreed specifications and second-checked.

3. Final product and review

  • Reports subject to a two-stage editing process to check for actionable insight, relevance of content and accuracy of data, spelling, grammar and punctuation by senior editors.
  • Feedback from clients sought and welcomed at any stage of the project process through a clear lines of communication mechanism.
  • Client debrief and quality review meetings following final product delivery.
  • Annual client reviews conducted by Echo’s Group CEO to ensure full service satisfaction.

4.   Continuous improvement

  • Regular review of any quality issues at a management team level to identify, share and implement rectifiable actions for continuous improvement.

Echo will keep under review its policies and procedures to ensure that these remain appropriate and effective.

Website Privacy & Cookie Policy 

Website privacy policy 

We value your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you visit our website.

Third-party links

This website may include links to third-party websites and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy practices. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

Information we collect

We may collect the following types of information:

  • Personal Information: Such as your name, email address, and any other details you provide when contacting us or signing up for our services.
  • Usage Data: Information on how you interact with our website, including your IP address, browser type, and pages visited.

How we use your personal data

We use your personal data to:

  • Provide and manage our services
  • Communicate with you regarding your enquiries
  • Improve our website and services through analysis of user behaviour.

Data retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Data sharing

We do not share your personal data with third parties except:

  • When required by law
  • With service providers who assist us in operating our website and services.

Your rights

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate data
  • Request deletion of your data (subject to certain conditions)
  • Object to or restrict the processing of your data.

Data security

We implement appropriate security measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

Changes to this privacy policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We encourage you to review this policy regularly to stay informed about how we protect your data.

Contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at enquiries@echoresearch.com

Cookie policy 

We use cookies on this site. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device when you visit our website. They help us ensure the website is functioning properly, provide social media features and understand how you use our site, so we can enhance your experience.

  • Necessary Cookies: These cookies are necessary for the website to function properly.
  • Analytics / Statistics Cookies: Anonymised data on how you use the site is shared with Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, for the purpose of evaluating usage of our website.
  • Marketing Cookies: We may use Marketing Cookies to track your browsing habits to help us provide you with personalised and relevant services.
  • Social Media Cookies: Our website includes links to social media platforms such as X (Twitter), LinkedIn and YouTube. These platforms may set their own cookies when you interact with them on our site.

When you first open our website, you will see a message letting you know that the site uses cookies with options to manage your preferences. You can also manage and disable cookies through your web browser. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

August 2024