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QBS Software awarded Gold accreditation from Investors in People

The software distributor also became one of the first channel firms to earn B Corp status five months ago

QBS CEO Dave Stevinson

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QBS CEO Dave Stevinson

QBS Software has told CRN it has been awarded Gold accreditation from Investors in People as part of its ESG efforts.

The software distributor is no stranger to global corporate social responsibility accreditations.

It became one of the IT channel's first companies to achieve B Corp status in September last year across its operations in the UK, Germany, France and the Nordics.

Investors in People is an older international scheme that was started in 1991, based on the "development and evaluation of sound leadership" in business.

The IIP assesses an organisation's performance via employee interviews and global management best practice benchmarks.

The four tiers of accreditation are Standard, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Talking to CRN, QBS Software CEO Dave Stevinson said the company sees an emphasis on staff as an important element of ESG.

"QBS is a relatively unique company having legally changed our articles of association to recognise five discreet stakeholders opposed to the singular shareholder primacy," he said.

"We take great care of our people because all of our people take great care of our partners and publishers, enabling software to be delivered by QBS.

"All of this is very simple. We listen very carefully to our co-workers, we intently study the best-in-class peers, and we seek external validation and verification from the leading HR analysts and certification bodies."

The distributor has made its ESG commitments a core part of its business.

Last year it was ranked 12th in CRN's Top Distributors 2022 report.

The company has also been acquisitive, having made nine acquisitions in recent years.

Stevinson acknowledges that there have been challenges with post-merger integrations, particularly around culture and people management.

However, despite 2023 already being hit with a flurry of mass layoffs in tech, Stevinson said QBS Software is looking to hire.

"Whilst it is heartbreaking to see the sheer volume of tech layoffs across North America and EMEA- we are continuing to add roles as we continue on our growth trajectory."

"In actual fact we will steadily increase roles in software engineering, legal, finance, treasury and a number of normal commercial roles across EMEA."