Diversity

We value diversity and through our equal opportunities policy we are dedicated to creating an environment that is free from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Everyone at Ocado is treated equally regardless of age, colour, disability, race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, political views or religious belief. Applications for employment by people with disability are always fully considered, bearing in mind the respective aptitudes and abilities of the applicant concerned and our ability to make reasonable adjustments to the role and the work environment. In the event of existing employees becoming disabled all reasonable effort is made to ensure that their employment within the Group continues. Training, career development and promotion of a disabled person is, as far as possible, identical to that of an able bodied person.

Gender diversity is encouraged but is not always easy to implement. Women are under-represented in engineering and computer science university courses, and the gap is widening. Men constitute 83% of engineering graduates and 81% of computer science graduates (HESA data 2006-2012), and to add to the problem the total number of UK computer science graduates has decreased during this period. Our answer to this is to reach out to them early – our Code for Life initiative provides a fun and effective tool for primary school children to gain the ability to write code (further details on Corporate Responsibility). We hope that developing this skill in girls when they are still very young will encourage more young women to continue with high school and university courses in computer science.

The charts on the right show a breakdown of the number of people who were on the Board, Senior Managers and employees of the Group at the end of the period.

ENGAGING OUR PEOPLE

Every one of our employees plays a part in the Ocado story; from running our automated warehouses, to buying our product range, managing our accounts, answering customer calls, and picking and delivering shopping to our customers' doors. In return we work hard to engage our employees in our vision.

This extends beyond keeping colleagues informed of the Company's performance and issues that affect them day to day. Through communications channels such as face to face briefings, rolling plasma screens in communal spaces, our intranet (The Grapevine) and our in-house magazine (Juice), we deliver a variety of messages on a diverse range of stories in a tone of voice that's relevant to our people.

We also encourage formal two-way communication through our annual employee survey and our employee representative body, the Ocado Council, both of which help us identify areas where we can improve as an employer and encourage participation and consultation in the decisions we make.

Ocado maintains a voluntary union recognition agreement with USDAW, which is integrated with our Ocado Council, to voice the views of our hourly paid employees.

The Ocado Council works constructively on behalf of all our employees. It has regular interaction with Ocado's senior leadership team, and is divided into business areas to give every single employee representation through an elected committee. A small number are then elected to a National Council, which deals with matters relevant across the Group. It is chaired by a Non-Executive Director, giving employees at all levels of the Group direct access to the Board.

ACAS trained Council representatives are consulted on matters that affect all employees, such as new ways of working, benefits at work, new equipment, and training and development.

We have a diverse range of employee engagement activities - from charitable events to sporting activities, and some of which unashamedly have no purpose other than to have fun.

All Employees 1

Senior Managers 2

Directors

1. Number of employees as at period end (including employees in Poland).
2. Senior Managers means the Management Committee excluding Executive Directors.