KONE AS A COMPANY

At KONE, our mission is to improve the flow of urban life. As a global leader in the lift and escalator industry, KONE provides lifts, escalators and automatic building doors, as well as solutions for maintenance and modernisation, which add value to the life cycle of any building.

Through more effective People Flow®, we make people’s journeys safe, convenient and reliable, in taller, smarter buildings. Together with our partners and customers around the world, we help cities to become better places to live in. In 2019, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 10 billion, and at the end of the year approximately 60,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. in Finland.

KONE has been operating in Great Britain for more than 40 years. With its head office in Chertsey, Surrey, KONE serves customers from regional offices across the country with its team of nearly 1,800 employees.

KONE Plc is a member of Lift and Escalator Industry Association (LEIA) and Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA).

Our vision is to deliver the best People Flow® experience

This means we understand that different types of buildings serve different purposes, which has an impact on the flow of people and on the surrounding environment. It also means we provide Ease, Effectiveness and Experiences to our users and customers, over the full life cycle of buildings.

KONE’s efforts to meet its strategic targets are supported by development programmes that are designed to help us turn our strategy into reality.

Global tax strategy

UK-specific and co-operation with HMRC

In the UK, we engage with HMRC through our Customer Relationship Manager to discuss our tax affairs. We are committed to maintaining an open, transparent and collaborative approach in our dealings with HMRC. In relation to UK tax, the risks inherent in the calculation and payment of taxes are mitigated by the operation of documented policies, controls and processes. On an annual basis, the UK Group carries out a review ensuring that the necessary policies, controls and processes have been adhered to, ensuring that submissions of all UK tax returns are done on a timely basis, the correct amount of tax is paid at the right time, and that staff are appropriately trained and qualified to undertake their functions and that key personnel are retained.

Our strong internal review system supports the Senior Accounting Officer in certifying to HMRC that we have taken reasonable steps to ensure that the company establishes and maintains appropriate tax accounting arrangements. We take care to ensure that our tax affairs are reported accurately. If we were to identify an error in a submitted tax return, we would seek to voluntarily disclose it, quantifying the effect of the error and paying any additional taxes that may become due. We have consistently been categorised by HMRC as a low-risk business and we are committed to ensuring that we continue to maintain this status.

We are committed to making KONE a great place to work, where we aim to inspire, engage and develop our employees to deliver great results. Our gender pay gap report provides details on how we are addressing that gap along with our pay gap figures.