3 – Good Health and Wellbeing

Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all, at all ages.

We are dedicated to creating a working environment that promotes the good mental and physical health of our team. Where possible, we offer flexible working arrangements and have implemented a Mental Health & Wellbeing policy, which includes:

• A Wellbeing day, offering an opportunity to focus on activities that promote a healthier work-life balance and improve emotional, mental or physical wellbeing.

• A Life leave day, to deal with an emergency without any added stress.

• Access to an Employee Assistance Programme, a free and confidential service for employees and their immediate families that includes short-term counselling, legal advice and financial guidance.

• E-learning sessions on mental health and wellbeing.

We value suggestions from our team in all areas of the business and have an anonymous suggestion box to help facilitate this. As such, we are able to evolve as an employee-friendly organisation.

4 - Quality Education

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

As advocates for better music education, we at Chamberlain Music understand the importance of providing students with top-quality instruments and resources. Our commitment and expertise in this area has made us a leading UK music education supplier.

Our Services for Music Education

An important development, we are now a Department for Education approved supplier for the Musical Instruments, Equipment & Technology framework. This offers unparalleled investment to Music Hubs for new instruments and equipment. Our appointment comes down to many factors, one of which is our comprehensive range of instruments and tools for education. From the time-honoured craftsmanship of Yamaha and Kawai to the innovative education-focused designs of our in-house brands like Nuvo and Percussion Plus, we can cater for all diverse requirements.

Our unique position as a manufacturer, distributor, and supplier allows us to provide our customers with a genuinely thorough and stress-free service. From initial inquiry to seamless delivery or installation, and beyond. Read more about our Services to Music Education here.

Our education resources

Many of our in-house brands go above and beyond when it comes to education.

Octopus Ukuleles come with the opportunity to join the Octopus Ukulele Academy on YouTube. Hosted by popular ukulele virtuoso and educator Andy Eastwood, the series covers topics for beginners and beyond, teaching players skills Andy has spent his career perfecting. An impressive resource, it is completely free to access.

Percussion Plus has published an award-winning resource, “Andy Gleadhill’s Slap Djembe”. Written by renowned world percussion and education expert Andy Gleadhill in collaboration with Percussion Plus, this resource empowers educators by providing engaging lesson plans which aim to introduce both students and teachers to the djembe. In 2024, we won the Music and Drama Education Expo award for Outstanding Music Education Print Resource.  

Inclusivity & SEND

We have a keen focus on developing our provision for SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), providing opportunities for everyone to participate in a fulfilling music education. This includes products specifically designed for SEND such as the Arcana Strum, Digit Music CMPSR, and Cosmo as well as products with accessible features, such as the Percussion Plus Colour & Play series, our Slap Djembes, a selection of the Percussion Play outdoor musical furniture, and more.

Our service to international schools

For 35 years we have been a leading supplier to the education sector and have provided instruments and equipment to almost every educational institution in the UK, more than 20,000 schools.

In recent years we have gained many new customers from further afield including many British international schools in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Far East.

GAP year employment scheme

Over the years we have had great success employing recent graduates from local schools & colleges, offering them an opportunity to train with our team in marketing, design, and photography before going onto university, having some time abroad, or moving to the next stage of their career.

5 - Gender Equality

Ensure individuals are treated equally and fairly, ensuring equal opportunities and rights for everybody.

We are committed to fostering a workplace where everyone, regardless of gender, has equal opportunities to thrive, succeed and lead.

• We believe that pay should reflect the role, not the person, ensuring fairness and transparency.

• We champion equal access to senior management roles, creating pathways for diverse talent.

• We have a zero tolerance policy for harassment, creating an environment of respect, safety and inclusion where every voice is valued.

7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Our warehouse features energy-efficient LED lights with motion sensors, ensuring that only areas in use are illuminated. Lights automatically turn off when not needed, greatly improving our energy savings. The sensors' timing and sensitivity are regularly adjusted to adapt to seasonal changes in natural light. Combined with the efficiency and long lifespan of LEDs, this setup significantly reduces energy consumption and lowers emissions.

All areas where our warehouse team spend the most time are in enclosed, insulated and heated spaces ensuring comfortable working conditions and more efficient energy usage.

We understand there is so much more we can do and look forward to making further improvements in the future.

8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Starting as a small local music shop in 1990, we have grown steadily over the past 35 years. We are now in a superb new premises, with offices and showroom directly opposite our existing 30,000ft warehouse - all just 500 yards from our first store. We are part of the Frederick Hyde group, and our brands include Musisca, MMX, Percussion Plus, Octopus Ukulele, Recorder Workshop and Tom & Will, we employ around 40 staff and have a warehouse which holds around £2.5m of musical instruments and accessories.

Supporting British Manufacturing

We love to support local suppliers where possible, promoting British manufactured goods and prioritising workshops over larger factories. We have lots of suppliers who make goods for us in the UK – our leather music cases are made in Liverpool, our whistles in Birmingham, Ocarinas near Kettering, microphones, trumpet mutes, music stands, instrument cases and lots more - all made in the UK.

We also have our own manufacturing facility in Leicestershire where our sister company Percussion Plus produces a wide range of percussion instruments, mallets, and beaters as well as our world famous musical Wak-a-tubes.

What are the benefits and importance of manufacturing in the UK?

• Hugely reduced carbon footprint, no containers or ships required

• Supporting our British manufacturers and the UK economy

• Preserving traditional crafts and people with a long history of making great products

• Often a higher product quality and better ethical standards

• Much quicker and easier when our suppliers are just 50 miles away as opposed to 5000!

Our Honestly Made range

Honestly Made products from Percussion Plus are manufactured in independent family workshops that are often too small to join Fair Trade groups or are located in countries that do not have such organisations. However, our suppliers and their subsidiaries all follow these Fair Trade principles:

• Agreeing a fair price

• Use of recycled materials

• Paying significant amounts upfront

• Being loyal and reasonable in all dealings

• Negotiating a fair price - never imposing one

• Prioritising smaller suppliers over large factories

• Manufacturing methods that do not damage the environment

Again, there is much more we can do and moving forward, aim to develop expand our sustainable and ethical business practices.

12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Here are some steps we’ve taken towards responsible consumption, alongside areas for growth:

Packaging

As a company that focuses so heavily on mail order – this is an area in which we can make a significant impact with our actions.

• We try, where possible, to re-use all recyclable and non-recyclable packaging from goods we receive to maximise its usage and reduce the amount of new packaging introduced into the market. We even encourage our staff to bring in old cardboard boxes from personal home deliveries to re-use.

• In instances where used cardboard/boxes are of an unacceptable quality to re-use, we bale our cardboard for collection and recycling.

• Our processes are ever changing, which include the internal recycling of waste cardboard for use as packaging.

• Where purchasing plastic packaging is unavoidable, we use plastic made from at least 30% recycled content (for example, we use ‘Envirostretch’ pallet wrap).

• If individual packaging is required, many Honestly Made products are packaged in fully recyclable and biodegradable Glassine bags.

Purchasing new packaging is of course unavoidable in this industry, but we are careful to only choose packaging companies with a strong sustainability ethos:

• Over half of our new packaging we purchase comes from Kite Packaging who are renowned for their green credentials. They are certified Carbon Neutral and also hold Environmental Management accreditation.

• Around a quarter of new packaging (carton sizes that cannot be supplied by Kite), comes from Smurfit Kappa, who have numerous ongoing sustainability goals.

• Our new packaging (carton sizes or equipment that cannot be supplied by Kite or Smurfit) comes from UK Packaging who are also taking steps to import their environmental impact.

Shipping

Shipping goods is our bread and butter and we use many different shipping companies and couriers. We understand the importance of partnering with companies who take their own sustainability goal responsibilities seriously.