Our environment

We recognise that our operations will impact on the environment, and we have a duty to ensure that both now and in the future we seek to minimise this impact.

Sustainability of our products

Furniture and flooring products use materials including timber, leather and textiles. We recognise the importance of traceability within our supply chain and we’re committed to work towards more sustainable sourcing and reducing our environmental footprint.

Engagement with suppliers

We have a number of long-standing relationships with our suppliers and during FY22 we held our first annual supplier conference. We invited all furniture suppliers to further embed our strategic alignment in areas such as quality assurance and supply chain processes.

In addition, we updated our supplier handbook to include our long-term environmental strategy.

Managing our fleet and estates to minimise our environmental impact

To ensure that our fleet vehicles are efficient, safe and meet the required emissions standards, all our trucks are on a five-year replacement cycle. To help minimise our CO2 emissions, we utilise route optimisation software to reduce the miles that our trucks and vans travel. Using our fleet management system we are able to monitor our driver’s behaviour on the road to ensure that our high standards of safe and responsible driving are met. Each driver is assessed against a number of targets and both drivers and management are incentivised to improve.

Improving our energy efficiency

With electricity being one of the main contributors to the Group’s CO2 emissions, we are committed to further reducing our energy consumption, and thereby achieve a reduction in carbon emissions.

Throughout FY22 we obtained a clearer understanding of our energy usage across the Group. We use automatic meter readings to monitor and investigate usage of electricity, and smart loggers to monitor the usage of gas. We have embarked on a programme of replacing all gas fired appliances with a view to achieving this by the end of 2023, and the replacement of obsolete appliances with energy efficient air-source heat pumps. We will continue to work with the Carbon Trust and other advisors to reduce the amount of energy we use.

We have worked with our facilities management partners to understand our impact on the environment, specifically water and waste management. We have continued to maintain a high percentage of diversion from landfill and continue to re-evaluate and look for ways to improve our waste management.