Whistleblower Policy
Reviewed November 2026
Scope
This policy applies to all employees of Yoyo Design Ltd in the UK.
Policy Statement
Yoyo has a policy of fair dealing, honesty and integrity, which extends to all members of the Company and is firmly committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethics, honesty, openness and accountability. It recognises that all its employees have an important role to play in achieving this goal. From time to time, all of us may have concerns about events that happen at work. Usually, these concerns are easily resolved. However, it can be difficult to know what to do if you believe they concern breaches of law, serious misconduct by another person, health and safety or financial malpractice.
Principles
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (commonly known as the Whistleblowing Act) came into effect on 1st July 1999. The act sets out a framework to promote the responsible and protected disclosure of concerns on the following matters:
That a criminal offence has been committed, is being committed or is likely to be committed
That a person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with a legal obligation which they are subject to
That a miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur
That the health and safety of an individual has been, is being or likely to be endangered
That the environment has been, is being or likely to be damaged
That information tending to show any matter falling within the matters above has been, is being or likely to be concealed.
The Differences between Whistleblowing and making a Complaint
When someone blows the whistle, they are raising a concern about a danger or illegality that affects others (customers, members of the public or fellow employees). The person blowing the whistle is usually not directly; personally affected by the danger or illegality they are simply trying to alert others.
This is very different from a complaint. When someone complains, they are saying that they
personally have been poorly treated. For instance, they may feel their Manager has treated them unfairly.
The Whistleblowing Policy should not be used to pursue a personal complaint. Yoyo has a Grievance procedure, and this should be used where the complaint relates to a personal situation.
Individual Protection
The Board of Directors are committed to this policy. If you raise a genuine concern, you will not be at risk of damaging your position as a result. Provided you are acting in good faith, it does not matter whether or not your concern proves to be well founded. However, the Board does not extend this assurance to someone who acts maliciously or raises a matter they know to be untrue.
Confidentiality
The Board will not tolerate the victimisation of anyone raising a genuine concern and anyone
responsible for such conduct will be subject to disciplinary action. You may decide that you want to raise a concern in confidence and if you ask for your identity to be protected it will not be disclosed without your consent. If a situation arises where it is not possible to deal with the concern without revealing your identity (because your evidence is needed for court)
there will be a discussion as to whether and how we can proceed.
Anonymous Information
This policy does not cover a situation where information is received anonymously. However, in these circumstances discretion will be used in the investigation of such information.
Raising a Genuine Concern
Step 1
If you have a concern about a malpractice in the first instance you should raise it with your Line Manager, a more senior Manager or with Human Resources. This may be done verbally or in writing, you should state the facts of the matter clearly and you can outline how you would like it investigated. If you have a direct or personal interest in the matter, you should inform the person you have reported your concern to together with details of how you can be contacted. You should also state that you are raising your genuine concern in accordance with the Whistleblowing policy.
Step 2
If you feel unable to raise the issue with someone in your immediate Line Management or you feel that your Line Management did not provide a satisfactory resolution, please contact the following:
Emily Ball, Operations Manager, [email protected]
Step 3
If you are unsure about whether to follow this Whistleblowing Policy, or you want further
independent advice you may contact the Public Concern at Work. This is a charity completely independent of Yoyo, which specialises in providing free and confidential legal advice on how to raise a genuine concern about a serious malpractice at work. Public Concern at Work will also help to advise you on whether a circumstance can be properly reported to an additional body e.g. the Police.
Public Concern at Work Telephone: +44(0)2074046609 Web: www.pcaw.org.uk
Investigation Process
Once you have raised your concern the Company will look into and assess what initial action should be taken. You may be asked how you think the matter might best be resolved. If the Company feels that your concern falls more properly within another Company Policy E.g. Harassment Policy you will be informed with an explanation as to why.
The Company will institute the appropriate enquires and or investigation and will:
Tell you who is handling the investigation and how you can contact them
Advise you whether your further assistance may be requested and if you request the Company will write a summary of your concern with an outline of how the Company propose to handle it.
While the purpose of this policy is to enable the Company to investigate possible malpractice and take appropriate action, if you request feedback, we will respond to you in writing and give you as much feedback as we possibly can. However, we may not be able to tell you the precise action we are taking where this would infringe a duty of confidentiality owed by the Company to someone else.
If you are unhappy with the Company’s response the option remains open to you to go to the other levels and bodies detailed in this policy. While Yoyo cannot guarantee that it will respond to all matters in the way you might wish, the matter will be handled fairly and properly in accordance with this policy.