TalkTalk

Is TalkTalk ethical and sustainable? 

TalkTalk, a mobile phone network owned by Penta Capital LLP/Toscafund Asset Management LLP, is one of The Good Shopping Guide’s well-rated ethical brands. The brand receives a good score in our Ethical Mobile Phones Networks Rating Table and therefore passes our Ethical Benchmark as a good ethical brand.

We encourage other companies in the Mobile Networks sector to follow TalkTalk’s example and adopt more ethical policies and practices and seek Ethical Accreditation.

In which areas does TalkTalk perform well? 

TalkTalk performs well across all categories of our research, receiving good scores for the Environment, Animals, and People. TalkTalk was not found to invest in nuclear industries nor to be involved in defence and armaments. TalkTalk also scores well for Public Record Criticisms, with few remonstrations recorded.

TalkTalk does publish a brief Environmental Report, which shows its progress. TalkTalk also publishes an Environmental Policy which details its signing of the Science-Based Targets initiative. It also mentions its goal of becoming Net Zero, though this target is a little vague. To improve its Good Shopping Guide score, TalkTalk could publish a more detailed explanation of its roadmap toward achieving Net-Zero.

Criticisms of TalkTalk’s ethics and sustainability

2021 saw a £18.5k donation from Toscafund Asset Management to the Conservative Party.

It has been said that UK phone, TV, and broadband companies don’t do enough to support mourning relatives in closing the accounts of deceased loved ones. Among the corporations receiving fire for being “unsympathetic” to grieving family members and sending bills and debt collection agencies to deceased clients are Vodafone, TalkTalk, and BT. Customers have called their experiences “appalling,” and they are pleading with service providers to be more sympathetic. TalkTalk claims to have specialised teams and procedures to manage such requests since they are aware of the challenges involved in managing the affairs of recently deceased or very sick loved ones.

To find out more about TalkTalk’s ethics and sustainability, see its CSR section on its website.