Inspiring the next generation of innovators, celebrating a long history in the town, and leading the way as one of the World’s most ethical companies, 3M is a proud Bracknell-based business.
A long history in Bracknell
As a global materials-science-based company in the Southern Business Area, 3M has a long association with Bracknell town and has been a member of Bracknell BID since its infancy.
Aaron Curtis, Environment, Health and Safety Manager and 3M’s BID representative said: “3M has been based at Cain Road for almost 20 years and before this we were located at 3M House in central Bracknell, a local landmark that was eventually demolished to make way for housing.
“Bracknell has a strong business ecosystem and the BID team is playing a key role in improving facilities and services for the benefit of all organisations based here, as well as enhancing cross-company networking and collaboration. We were delighted to host our own BID event at 3M Centre in late January.”
Although more than 600 people are based at its Bracknell site, like many employers, 3M has seen a change in the way employees prefer to work as a result of the pandemic. Through the global ‘Work Your Way’ programme, employees can choose to work mainly on-site, remotely or a hybrid of the two.
Aaron says, “This empowers our people by giving them more freedom to organise their working hours around their personal lives; and many have chosen to split their time, hybrid-style, between their home and the Bracknell office.”
As well as Bracknell, 3M has 13 other locations across the UK and four business groups covering Consumer; Health Care; Safety and Industrial; and Transportation and Electronics, and a few examples of their technologies include: 3M™ Glass Bubbles, Window Films, 3M™ CLAW™ Drywall Picture Hangers and 3M™ Filtrete™ Room Air Purifier devices and filters.
The company has a familiar saying – ‘you are rarely more than three metres away from a 3M product’ – although it may often be a component of something else.’
Inspiring the next generation
As a strategic partner of the British Science Association, 3M shares its vision of a future where science is more relevant, representative, and connected to society, and it is delighted to be working with schools close to 3M’s UK sites during British Science Week 2023 and all year round to deliver science encouragement programmes that will demonstrate how science can shape a better world for us all.
As a global materials-science-based company, 3M encourages diverse thinking and collaboration to invent the products of the future. Its customers are as diverse as its product portfolios and range from healthcare professionals to those working in car bodyshops, design and construction, electronics, renewable energy, government and a broad spectrum of manufacturing industries.
The company’s 15 per cent culture enables 3M researchers to spend 15 per cent of their time on advancing projects that they feel sufficiently passionate about, without the need for management approval or prioritisation. This freedom to innovate inspires creativity and risk-taking and has led to some of their most ingenious inventions, including Multilayered Optical Film, Cubitron™ Abrasive Grains and the 3M Paint Preparation System.
Committed to ‘doing business the right way’
3M is a purpose-driven company that prides itself on an unwavering commitment to ethics and compliance, or ‘doing business the right way’. As a result, it has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute for nine years in a row.
Aaron added, “3M is a business that understands that now, more than ever, we need to use our expertise in combining people, ideas and science to support the resilience of the planet and set meaningful and measurable goals that demonstrate our Environmental, Social and Governance commitments and progress. These include innovating to decarbonise industry, accelerating climate solutions and improving our environmental footprint. Every new 3M product brought to market is required to have a Sustainability Value Commitment and one of our environmental goals is to reduce dependence on virgin, fossil-based plastic by 125 million pounds by 2025.”
3M is also committed to a diverse and equitable working environment and knows that employing people with different backgrounds, ages, genders, personalities and ways of thinking supports collaboration and innovation and fundamentally achieves better results. To support this, it has many active Employee Resource Networks including 3M Pride for LGBTQ+ employees, NEON (New Employees Opportunity Network), Women’s Leadership Forum and a newly formed Diverse Abilities network. It’s also recently rolled out a REAL (Reflect, Empathise, Act and Learn) Allyship programme to all employees, which encourages them to create a workplace culture that is powered by inclusion and where everyone is made to feel welcome and valued.
Find out more…
You can find out more about 3M by visiting 3M.co.uk or downloading its 2022 Impact Report