Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
02
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Shaping the future of sustainable shopping
One plan, five good business principles
One company...
What’s in this report
We think it’s important to be open about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it and what
we’re achieving. Our responsible business practices – summed up as ‘the basis of good
business’ – are part of everything we do. In this summary you can find out more about
our commitments and some of our achievements. You can find out lots more by visiting
our CR website
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr/
Two businesses....
Five good business
principles...
Shopping for
tomorrow
Building a great
place to work
Being a good
neighbour
Keeping clean
and green
Sourcing
with care
03
04
06
08
10
12
14
16
18
Welcome message from
our Chief Executive
What we mean by the
basis of good business
Shopping for
tomorrow
Building a great
place to work
Being a good
neighbour
Keeping clean
and green
Sourcing
with care
Our performance
and objectives
Feedback and
contacts
03
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Chief Executive’s introduction
Why being a good business matters to us
This summary report on Home Retail Group’s social
and environmental performance is my first as chief
executive and I am pleased to tell you that we have
made progress in each of our areas of focus.
John Walden
Chief Executive
We are very aware that the impact that our business
has is far reaching. We employ 47,000 people directly
but influence the lives of many more in our supply
chains and in local communities, as well as the
millions of customers we serve every year.
While acting responsibly is of course the right thing to
do, at Home Retail Group we believe it makes good
business sense too – the issues that corporate
responsibility encompasses are important to all of our
stakeholders. We call our approach to corporate
responsibility ‘the basis of good business’.
In this summary report you will find many great
examples of the activity that we have been involved
in over the last 12 months. I am particularly proud of
how we have continued to develop new ways that we
can support the communities in which we operate.
We have developed a partnership strategy to focus
our activity with Alzheimer’s Society over the next
two years. This includes giving our colleagues the
opportunity to become ‘Dementia Friends’ and
setting ourselves a stretching target of creating
30,000 friends by March 2015. In the first 12 months
of our partnership our colleagues and customers have
raised an amazing £1.4m to help support people living
with dementia in their homes and communities.
The development of digital skills across all age groups
and demographics is a key objective for this country.
Argos has become a member of Go ON UK a charity
that has brought together a unique alliance of leading
businesses and charities to work collaboratively in this
area. Our involvement with Go ON UK will guide us in
helping our customers and colleagues become
digitally skilled and enjoy the benefits that the digital
world has to offer. At Homebase the new Garden
Academy scheme has been launched. This is an
apprenticeship scheme set up for Britain’s next
generation of gardeners, with award-winning garden
designer Adam Frost. The academy will help the
students to kick-start a career in gardening and inspire
the gardening talent of the future.
And of course, the basis of good business continues to
help us to be more efficient by reducing waste and
cutting carbon emissions. Setting tough targets
encourages innovation and improvement in these
areas. We are delighted to have reduced our CO2
emissions by 20% since 2006 in absolute terms and
to have reduced our overall waste by 40% since 2006
to 49.8k tonnes, continuing to divert 92% of our
waste from landfill.
We are pleased with the tangible results of our efforts
this year and, as we continue to make progress with
our strategic plans and grow our business, we will
continue to be committed to making a positive social
contribution and minimising our environmental
impact.
John Walden
Chief Executive
May 2014
04
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
What we mean by the basis of good business
We use five good business principles to communicate
our strategic objectives.
We have 12 higher-level areas
of focus, each with an objective
to inspire and direct our
programme of activities.
We call our approach to corporate
responsibility ‘the basis of good business’
because we believe that putting our
responsible approach at the centre of the
way we work makes good business sense.
Our five good business principles make
corporate responsibility a daily business
reality rather than an abstract concept.
Supporting the five principles we have 12 highlevel areas of focus, each with an objective to
direct our programme of activities.
Our basis of good business strategy is driven
by a high-level steering group, which meets
every three months under the chairmanship
of our Company Secretary. The steering
group also includes our Chief Executive,
Group Commercial and Supply Chain
Director, Group HR Director, Director of
Corporate Affairs and the marketing directors
of both retail businesses.
Our Company Secretary leads the basis of
good business agenda at Operating Board
and plc Board in his capacity as steering
group chairman.
Two management groups – one focused on
environmental and sourcing matters, the
other on community and colleagues –
provide valuable input to the steering group
and have a number of specialist groups
reporting to them.
The basis of good business is coordinated by
a small team of corporate responsibility
specialists led by our Head of Corporate
Responsibility. In stores, distribution centres
and offices, our community ambassadors
and waste and energy champions also play
a key role in promoting and implementing
our strategy.
Shopping for
tomorrow
Building a great
place to work
Adapting to future trends to
help us shape our business for
a different tomorrow
Making this a business
we’re all proud to work for
§§ Use our unique business
characteristics to make
a positive impact
§§ Skills and development:
Find, attract and retain the best talent.
Support colleagues to reach their full
potential, whether they work five or
thirty five hours a week, in whatever
capacity
omebase: Creating homes
H
that are loved
Help everyone live in a home that they
love, through the products and services
we provide and the charities that we
work with
Argos: Building connected
communities
Helping all families thrive; which builds
connected communities through the
products and services we provide and
the charities that we work with
§§ Reward and recognition:
Create a great place to work, with
colleagues as advocates
§§ Wellbeing and support:
Actively promote and measure
colleagues’ emotional and physical
health and wellbeing
05
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
What we mean by the basis of good business
continued
Being a good
neighbour
Keeping clean
and green
Sourcing
with care
Supporting the communities
in which we live and work
Reducing the impact our
business has on the
environment
Sourcing the best products
while minimising our social
and environmental impact
§§ Strategic charity partnerships:
Create charity partnerships that deliver
internal and external value
§§ Waste:
Minimise waste in our own operations
and put the waste we do produce to
positive use wherever possible
§§ Suppliers:
We aim to secure long-term
relationships and to work with suppliers
to embed the process and principles of
responsible sourcing
§§ Enabling our colleagues:
Inspire and support our people in their
charity and community activities,
through an employee portfolio
of offerings
§§ Inspiring young people and
supporting vulnerable groups:
Creating opportunities so that everyone
can work and shop with us, and be
treated fairly when they do
§§ Operational carbon:
Driving down the carbon emissions of
our operations in relative and absolute
terms, with an ambition to reduce CO2
emissions by 40% per square foot
by 2020
§§ Enable customer sustainability:
Partner with customers to enable
sustainability to become part of their
daily lives through relevant products
and services
§§ Products and raw materials:
A traceable and well-managed supply
chain which allows us to source our
products with care for the environment
and for human rights
06
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Shopping for tomorrow
Adapting to future trends to help us shape our business
for a different tomorrow
£1.2m
raised in the Argos
Barnardo’s Toy Exchange
We operate two key businesses: Argos
and Homebase. As the strategies of each
business have developed we have created
new ways of helping our customers,
communities and the environment
through sustainable business activities.
Here are a few great examples.
Argos is becoming a digital retail leader. Leadership
also means taking a leading role in society more
broadly and Argos is proud to be able to support the
UK’s most disadvantaged children and to help those
who are digitally unskilled learn to benefit from what
the online world has to offer.
Go ON UK consortium
In October 2013 Argos announced that John Walden,
Chief Executive of Home Retail Group, had joined the
board of Go ON UK. The cross-sector charity aims to
help the 11 million adults who lack basic online skills
to utilise the internet.
By joining the Go ON UK board, Argos commits to the
charity’s Digital Skills Charter which means Argos will
help to improve the digital skills of its colleagues and
appoint Digital Champions within its business. The
charter also means that Argos has committed to
making more of its services available online and will
help more customers access these services to start
transacting online.
The Argos Barnardo’s Toy Exchange
Argos again joined forces with the children’s charity
Barnardo’s for the second year of the Argos
Toy Exchange. This initiative encourages parents and
children to donate pre-loved toys to raise money for
some of the UK’s most disadvantaged children and
young people.
Donation stations are in operation in over 730 Argos
stores for the six weeks of the campaign, with donated
toys being resold in Barnardo’s stores or recycled and
with all the proceeds donated to Barnardo’s.
Over £1.2m has been raised over the last two years of
the campaign and we are delighted that the Toy
Exchange will be running again for the third successive
year in October 2014, helping to raise money for
Barnardo’s, preventing unwanted toys going to landfill
and encouraging customers to buy their Christmas
presents from Argos.
Want to know more? Go to:
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr
On his appointment to the board, John Walden said
Argos was responding to how its customers want to
shop: “Argos serves around 124 million customers a
year through its stores, website and apps, so we
understand how and when people are interacting
with the digital world. We recognise that not all
customers can access online, or are comfortable with
technology. They know that their ability to find
information, engage with friends and family and buy
goods and services depends on accessing the internet,
but there are barriers for a number of reasons. Our
ambition is to help people overcome those barriers,
and we are pleased to continue that journey by being
part of the Go ON UK board.”
Future High Streets Forum
Argos has joined the Future High Streets Forum,
which brings together businesses, academics and
local leaders to look at the challenges facing our town
centres. This includes looking at ways to exploit
digital channels in a way that attracts people to the
high street.
07
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Shopping for tomorrow
continued
Gold
Medal
for the Homebase Garden
at the RHS Chelsea Flower
Show
At Homebase, we know how important homes are
to our customers and we want to ensure that we can
help everyone live in a home they love. Homebase is
proud to have helped those without homes in Brighton
and to demonstrate at the Chelsea Flower Show – in
association with Alzheimer’s Society – the important
role that our gardens play in creating shared memories.
Brighton Housing Trust
In December 2013, the Brighton Housing Trust
opened a number of homes made out of shipping
containers to support the local community with
short-term affordable accommodation.
Homebase, which has used shipping containers in its
adverts, supported the project by providing starter
packs for the 36 residents, including beds, wardrobes,
chest of drawers and other household equipment.
The Homebase garden was also purposely multigenerational – helping a younger generation
understand more about the natural world while being
accessible and enjoyable for older generations.
Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s
Society commented: “We are very proud of our
association with Homebase at the centenary of the
RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Gardens have a great value
for people with dementia. They are spaces to breath
in fresh air, smell flowers and enjoy socialising with
family and friends. Gardens can really help reduce
the feelings of isolation that so many people with
dementia experience.” We created another garden
with Adam Frost and Alzheimer’s Society in May 2014.
Homebase Garden Academy
Although this isn’t a long-term solution for
homelessness, we believe that everyone deserves to live
in a home they love, and so we’re providing starter packs
to each tenant which enables them to do just that.
By providing furniture, tenants will have a readymade home waiting for them to move into, that will
provide a comfortable and stable environment in their
day to day lives.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
For the third consecutive year, in 2013 Homebase
exhibited a show garden at the prestigious Chelsea
Flower Show.
Want to know more? Go to:
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr
Judges at the centenary Chelsea Flower Show
awarded the Homebase garden – ‘Sowing the seeds
of change’, in association with Alzheimer’s Society –
a prestigious gold medal. Designed by Adam Frost,
it was a modern family garden, providing an
environment where families can enjoy not only a
connection with nature, but also an outdoor space
where they can spend time with family and friends.
On the back of the 2013 RHS Chelsea Flower Show,
Homebase was delighted to launch the Homebase
Garden Academy, an apprenticeship scheme set up
for Britain’s next generation of gardeners, with
award-winning garden designer Adam Frost. The
academy will help the students kick-start a career in
gardening and inspire the gardening talent of the future.
Offering a broad experience of gardening and
horticulture, the 11 students currently in the Garden
Academy join Adam Frost each month to learn about
garden planning and design, developing product
knowledge and gaining skills in planting and
landscaping – plus the chance to gain a Royal
Horticultural Society Level One Award. At other
times, students will be working full-time at their local
Homebase store to gain experience of garden retailing,
where they will learn detailed plant knowledge to help
customers make the best choices for their garden.
08
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Building a great place to work
Making this a business we’re all proud to work for
600
Argos colleagues have
completed our internal
apprenticeship programme
6,300
colleagues are taking part
in our Save As You Earn
scheme
Skills and development
We’ve worked hard throughout the year to make
Home Retail Group a great place to work, by
developing training and development programmes
that give colleagues the skills and knowledge to
deliver great customer service and advance
their careers.
We are focused on developing the digital skills of
colleagues in Argos, adding a digital module to our
in-store STEPS training programme to help colleagues
who are furthest away from technology to be
comfortable with the basics of the internet.
At our distribution centres, over 100 colleagues have
gained basic literacy and numeracy skills through our
lifelong learning programme.
In Homebase, we have trained over 600 colleagues in
the Institute of Customer Service and City & Guilds
accredited training programmes from horticulture to
room planning to painting and decorating – equipping
them with the skills to help our customers create a
home they love.
We have launched OPENdoor, a cloud-based learning
management system, to support personal development.
The system is accessible to the learner at home and
on the move, giving a more flexible learning offer.
Eleven colleagues have been enrolled into the
Homebase Garden Academy, developing their
knowledge of horticulture and putting their knowledge
into practice by working with award-winning garden
designer, Adam Frost, who created our ‘Time to Reflect’
Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May 2014.
600 Argos colleagues have been successful in
completing our internal apprenticeship programme
with two colleagues achieving special recognition as
Scottish Young Apprentice of the Year and Argos
Apprentice of the Year.
We have announced the launch of our ‘Leading with
Purpose’ development programme for senior
managers. The programme will support the
recruitment, retention and development of highpotential talent in the organisation. The first module
on the topic of Authentic Leadership launched in April,
was well received by all involved. We expect 32 senior
colleagues to be involved in the programme each year.
Diversity and inclusion
Diversity is an essential driver of long-term,
sustainable success.
Want to know more? Go to:
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr
We will continue to support and encourage increased
diversity across all parts of our business and at every
level of the organisation. We have partnered with
Business in the Community (BITC) to support the
development of our strategy and supporting activity
and we participated in the BITC gender and race
benchmarking study in October 2013. The resourcing
team received training in unconscious bias and
various senior colleagues participated in diversity
awareness sessions. Both of these will be further
rolled out across the business next year.
09
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Building a great place to work
continued
Reward and recognition
Our colleagues play a vital role in our success and we
want them to understand and contribute to what
we’re trying to achieve. We keep them informed
about our performance, strategy and other priorities
through team briefings, conferences, roadshows, our
intranet sites and internal publications.
We encourage our colleagues to tell us what they
think through colleague forums and colleague
listening groups in all our stores. And in Argos we have
recently created a new forum which will not only help
us to develop existing communication tools such as
Yammer but also to understand what colleagues of
the future will want from us as an employer.
Wellbeing and support
To help us better understand the health of our
colleagues we have recently announced the launch of
the Britain’s Healthiest Company Survey across a
Homebase has once again secured a place in The Sunday sample of our colleague population, with a view to
wider distribution next year. This will enable us to
Times’ ‘Best 25 Big Companies To Work For’ list.
understand how we can better support colleagues in
§§ All colleagues are provided with a great range
this area.
of voluntary benefits through our popular
‘MyBenefits’ website, and other benefits such as a Dementia support
childcare voucher scheme. Over 17,000 colleagues Supported by our Group charity partner, Alzheimer’s
Society, colleagues have been able to gain invaluable
have registered with the MyBenefits scheme to
advice from Dementia Support workers at a surgery
get access to great savings and offers, from
event held at our Head Office in Milton Keynes. This
supermarket shopping to holidays.
initiative will be rolled out across all our distribution
§§ All colleagues are given the opportunity to join our
sites and offices in 2014.
award-winning Save As You Earn schemes, which
give them the opportunity to save tax-free for
Health and safety
three or five years and then buy Home Retail
Health and safety is a very important issue for us
Group shares at a discounted price. Over 6,000
and is monitored closely. Once again our Argos and
colleagues are currently in active schemes and
Homebase stores have been recognised by The Royal
over 40 million shares are currently under option.
Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) with
the Commercial and Business Services Sector award.
§§ Colleagues also have access to an employee
And Home Retail distribution has been awarded
assistance plan which provides them with
a gold medal for safety management across all our
assistance and advice on everything from legal
distribution and transport operations.
matters to emotional support via a free phone
line which is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days
a year.
Want to know more? Go to:
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr
10
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Being a good neighbour
Supporting the communities in which we live and work
£1.4m
raised for Alzheimer’s
Society
30,000
Dementia Friends to be
created – improving
understanding of dementia
Strategic charity partnerships
In March 2013 we launched our national charity
partnership with Alzheimer’s Society and its sister
charities, Alzheimer Scotland and the Alzheimer
Society of Ireland, following a successful vote in which
every one of our colleagues had the opportunity to
select our new charity partner.
By working together, over the next two years we aim
to help people with dementia to live well in their own
homes and be part of community life for as long as
possible. In the first year of our partnership, our
colleagues and customers raised over £1.4m which
will be used to support:
§§ Dementia Cafés
§§ Singing for the Brain sessions
§§ Dementia Support workers
As part of our commitment to help Alzheimer’s
Society achieve their strategic plan and help create
a world without dementia, we are also raising
awareness of the services they offer by supporting
Dementia Awareness Week in May – distributing
leaflets across all our stores and helping to reach
millions of customers.
Want to know more? Go to:
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr
Alzheimer’s Society aims to create one million
Dementia Friends by 2015. Through our partnership,
over 1,500 Dementia Champions and 30,000
Dementia Friends will be created across Home Retail
Group – increasing colleagues’ understanding of
dementia both in-store and outside of work.
Support for other charities
In addition to our national charity partnership, we
support other charities with:
§§ Community Prize Draw: Using a simple application
process via our corporate website we donate gift
cards worth £250, £150 or £100 (redeemable in
Argos and Homebase) to six randomly-selected
charities and community groups every month.
§§ At a local level, teams support charities of their
choice. Colleagues at our call centres supported
the national Comic Relief and Children in Need
campaigns, taking more than 14,000 calls from
the public and helping to raise over £400k in
donations.
11
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Being a good neighbour
continued
12%
of colleagues donate to
charities through payroll
giving
£500k
of volunteering hours
donated
2
new Business Class
partnerships launched
2
Argos store managers
seconded to work in local
communities in
Peterborough and
Tottenham
Enabling our colleagues
We ensure our colleagues have the opportunity to
support their own local and personal causes as well
as our corporate charity partners.
Payroll Giving:
12% of our colleagues participate in the Companyfunded payroll giving scheme, so every penny they
donate goes to their favourite good causes. Total
donations over the last year were over £350k,
benefiting many charities and community groups.
And this year our Payroll Giving scheme was
recognised at the annual Pay and Benefits Awards and
by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals.
Inspiring young people and supporting
vulnerable groups
Business Class:
In addition to our Milton Keynes Head Office
Top-up funding:
Colleagues raised £190k through fundraising activities partnership with The Radcliffe School, we launched
two new BITC Business Class partnerships in 2013 –
for charities of their choice – this was topped up with
Heywood distribution centre with Siddal Moor Sports
a donation of £40k from the Group.
College in Manchester; and Acton Gate customer
Volunteering:
contact centre with Stafford Sports College. The
Our volunteering policy aims to build colleague
three-year programme aims to develop long-term
engagement and pride and support personal
strategic partnerships between business and schools.
development. Colleagues have been using their
Work placements:
two Company-funded volunteering days to make
In February we announced partnerships with four
a real difference in their local communities and this
leading charities to deliver a work placement
year have donated £500k of volunteering hours
programme that aims to reach those furthest away
through a combination of individual and teamfrom work, helping them to get a foot on the ladder
building activities.
towards employment. Following a successful pilot in
23 Argos and Homebase stores in March, we aim to
roll the programme out further in 2014.
Business Connectors:
In 2013 we pledged our support to Business in the
Community’s (BITC) flagship Business Connectors
programme and seconded two of our Argos store
managers to work in their local communities of
Tottenham and Peterborough for a 12-month period
– helping to bring business and the voluntary sector
together to support and benefit the local community.
Want to know more? Go to:
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr
12
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Keeping clean and green
Reducing the impact our business has on the environment
20%
absolute reduction in our
carbon emissions, and a
33% reduction relative to
space since 2006
92%
of waste is recycled
Waste
We have made great progress in cutting waste from
our stores, offices and distribution centres and have
focused on continually driving down the amount of
waste year-on-year.
We aim to both minimise the waste in our own
operations and put the waste we do produce to
positive use wherever possible. Since 2006 we have
reduced our total annual waste by 40% – from 84.2k
tonnes to 49.8k tonnes, however our overall waste
tonnage increased slightly, by 2%, last year. As sales
volumes increase, the volume of waste generated is
unlikely to decrease, but we will continue to focus on
our objective to minimise waste and put our waste
produced to positive use wherever possible. We have
maintained our performance of diverting 92% of our
operational waste from landfill. We have also reduced
the amount of landfill waste by 92% over the same
period, from 50.4k tonnes to just 4.1k tonnes.
This year we have reviewed over 1,800 products in
10 category reviews and – as a result – have prevented
395 tonnes of packaging waste ending up in landfill
sites. We have also re-engineered our Chad Valley toy
boxes to be more child-friendly and made the
packaging frustration-free by removing screw fixings
and wire ties.
Operational Carbon
We recognise that our actions have an impact on
climate change. That’s why we set ourselves
challenging targets for energy consumption and
vehicle fuel efficiency. Our priority is to reduce CO2e
at source through energy-efficiency programmes,
investment in new technologies and ongoing staff
training and awareness. We’ve committed to reduce
our carbon footprint (per square foot) by 40% by
2020 compared to 2006 levels, by cutting energy
consumption in our buildings and improving
commercial transport efficiency. We are proud to
have been re-accredited to the Carbon Trust Standard
for our continued progress in reducing our operational
carbon emissions.
We have made great progress since 2006 with a 33%
reduction in our carbon footprint relative to space and
a 20% absolute reduction. Our carbon footprint has
reduced in all three areas, giving an overall reduction
of 5% versus last year.
We continue to work with suppliers to eliminate
waste in our supply chain by reviewing processes and
product packaging. We are also working with WRAP
to explore alternative resource-efficient approaches
to extend product life, conserve resources, prevent
waste and, where appropriate, enable products to be
re-used.
Packaging
We continue to look for the most efficient,
economical and responsible product packaging by
working collaboratively with stakeholders and
suppliers. Some packaging is essential to protect the
product until it reaches the customer, but we have
been working hard to reduce it wherever possible.
Want to know more? Go to:
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr
Our total energy consumed in buildings reduced by
2.5% year-on-year as we continue with the
implementation of energy-efficiency measures
across the Group. We now have automatic meter
readers in 100% of our UK stores, enabling us to
analyse the electricity and gas that we use on a daily
or even hourly basis – and ultimately use it more
efficiently.
13
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Keeping clean and green
continued
Greenhouse Gas Footprint
k tonnes
350
300
304
305
263
250
259
245
200
150
100
50
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Transport
Since our baseline in 2006 we have reduced our
absolute carbon emissions by 32%. Through ongoing
initiatives to improve efficiency and reduce the
environmental impact of the commercial fleet,
we have achieved a further 5% reduction in
commercial fleet carbon emissions year-on-year
from 70k to 67k tonnes.
We have increased our fuel efficiency by 2% through
a portfolio of initiatives such as fitting air deflectors
and tabs to our existing fleet to deflect air above and
around the vehicle; reducing drag and improving fuel
economy. Speed limiters, load optimising and driver
training to improve fuel efficiency have also
contributed to the improved performance.
Building Energy Use
kwh/sq ft
38
We recognise the role that we can play in reducing
water demand and cutting running costs for
consumers through increasing awareness of waterefficient products. Argos and Homebase are
signatories to the voluntary initiative to label
bathroom fittings with their water usage by means
of applying The Water Label. The Water Label
provides comparative information on levels of water
use between similar products, aimed at informing
consumer purchase decisions in favour of more
water-efficient products.
Enabling customer sustainability
Scope 1 CO2e
Scope 2 CO2e
40
Since 2009 we have reduced our consumption by
36%, saving over 290k m3 of water. Last year we
continued to make progress by reducing our
consumption by 6% year-on-year.
39
34
35
35
32
24
16
8
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Water
We measure water consumption at most of our sites
and we have made significant progress in reducing our
consumption by fitting waterless urinals and
identifying leaks in stores and depots. We have
appointed specialist water consultancy, Waterscan, to
manage and work to reduce our Group water usage by
identifying and repairing water leaks as well as
pro-actively assessing business cases for water
reduction initiatives.
We want to make recycling as easy as possible by
offering customers in-store recycling facilities
including drop-off bins for batteries and light-bulbs.
We also encourage customers to recycle their Argos
catalogues. We take back waste products and
packaging during home deliveries; cardboard, plastic
and polystyrene packaging material are removed
from customers’ homes and managed in our
distribution centres along with other waste.
Customers can also opt to use our ‘take-back’ service
for white goods, such as kitchen appliances, which are
then recycled or put to good use.
We are members of the Partnership for Energy
Control, established by Forum for the Future and
Behaviour Change, which aims to step-change
consumer engagement on the energy agenda. The
goal is for energy saving to penetrate every home by
empowering customers to accelerate demand for
energy saving products and services leading to
market transformation.
14
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Sourcing with care
Sourcing the best products while minimising our
social and environmental impact
Suppliers
Both Argos and Homebase
are members of the
WWF-GFTN (World
Wildlife Fund – Global
Forest Trade Network)
A responsible business can’t work in isolation from the
communities from which it sources or manufactures
products. We have an obligation to encourage high
ethical standards and build successful partnerships
with our suppliers to drive improvements in
productivity and benefit people working in our
supply chains. Consequently, we regularly audit
factories that manufacture our direct-sourced or
imported products and we work with them to
improve ethical standards.
We have continued with our standard practice to
audit our supplier factories against our ethical
standards. Once again this year, 100% of Argos and
Homebase direct-import and direct-source factories
(those where we buy the products directly from
overseas manufacturers) have a valid audit against an
accredited audit scheme such as SMETA (the official
audit methodology of Sedex). This year we carried out
957 audits across the supply chain.
We encourage our suppliers to use Sedex – a global
platform allowing manufacturers to share audit data
with more than one customer. We currently have
137 suppliers operating on the Sedex platform.
Sedex offers benefits for the suppliers, who need to
complete only one audit which they can share many
times. It also offers benefits for the retailers who can
be confident of a high-quality audit methodology and
who can benefit from Sedex’s advanced analysis tools.
Products and raw materials
Timber and paper sourcing
We stock timber and wood-based products sourced
from certified or otherwise known and legal sources,
or made from recycled material. For example,
Homebase’s entire garden furniture range is 100%
FSC. We progressively increased the percentage of
FSC timber used in both Argos and Homebase for
2013. Both Argos and Homebase are members of the
WWF-GFTN (World Wildlife Fund - Global Forest
&Trade Network). The WWF GFTN engages to
eliminate illegal logging and drive improvements in
forest management. These efforts complement
WWF’s forest programme work in other areas toward
ensuring the conservation of the world’s most
valuable and threatened forests.
Once again, last year we printed all our publications,
including the Argos catalogue, on recycled paper or
paper from forests certified as well-managed by the
FSC or the PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of
Forest Certification). The Argos catalogue continues
to be certified by the PEFC scheme, verifying the
full chain of custody of our paper throughout our
supply chain.
Jewellery
Argos is a member of the Responsible Jewellery
Council (RJC) and has been certified against the RJC
Codes of Practice since 2011. The Council works with
the jewellery industry to promote the ethical sourcing
of gold and diamonds and we encourage our jewellery
suppliers to join too.
We support the aims of the ‘No Dirty Gold’ campaign,
as set out in their ‘Golden Rules’, recognising that the
achievement of these aims will require not just action
from retailers but a level of reform and traceability
throughout the jewellery industry.
Want to know more? Go to:
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr
15
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Sourcing with care
continued
100%
of Homebase garden
furniture is FSC certified
100%
of all own brand direct
source suppliers have a
current valid audit
Use of natural resources
We recognise that the uncontrolled sourcing of
animal products, plant species, minerals and growing
media (earth and compost) can have serious effects
on local eco-systems. We source from cultivated or
farmed rather than wild stocks wherever we can.
We are active members of industry bodies working on
peat reduction strategies including the GMI (Growing
Media Initiative) and the Growing Media Panel. We
are actively working with Defra (Department of
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and industry,
reviewing responsible sourcing of all growing media.
All bagged compost suppliers are required to be
members of the GMI and British Ornamental Plant
Producers or the Growing Media Association.
Animal welfare
Our animal welfare policy covers wider issues
including animal cruelty during production,
compliance with animal welfare standards and the
level of pain or distress caused by pest control
We continue to follow the guidance of Defra regarding products. We have worked with the BUAV (British
Union for the Abolition of Vivisection), to ensure that
the reduction of peat content and to not source
100% of Argos own-brand cosmetics comply with
products from Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
Humane Cosmetics Standard and that animal testing
has been entirely removed from our cosmetic
products and ingredients.
Chemicals
It is of the utmost importance that we ensure that
the products we sell comply with the applicable
legislation on chemical use. Home Retail Group has
a programme in place that ensures we comply with
the requirements of the REACH directive
(Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of
Chemical Substances).
We have continued to explore further opportunities
to reduce peat in our bagged growing media that
maintains the quality that is expected from our
customers. Last year our bagged growing media was
63% peat free compared with 56% in 2010 .
Want to know more? Go to:
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr
16
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Our performance and objectives
We have 12 higher-level areas of focus, each with an objective to inspire
and direct our programme of activities. Here are some of our highlights:
Good Business Principles
Shopping for
tomorrow
Good Business Principles
Building a great
place to work
We continue to meet globally
recognised standards in
environmental, social and
governance criteria
Area of Focus
Our Progress
Argos
§§ Argos is becoming a digital leader and this includes helping Britain to reach its ambition to become the
most digitally skilled nation in the World. By joining the UK Go ON consortium, Argos will work with other
businesses to achieve this ambition
Homebase
§§ Homebase partnered with the Group charity partner – Alzheimer’s Society – at the RHS Chelsea Flower
Show in May 2013, with the ‘Sowing the seeds of change’ show garden winning a prestigious gold medal.
The garden aimed to educate the younger generation about the natural world, and to show how a
sustainable place can also be a place where people can come together to create memories
§§ Homebase’s core purpose is to help everyone live in a home they love. This year they partnered with the
Brighton Housing Trust to convert shipping containers into homes for 36 homeless people
Area of Focus
Our Progress
Skills and
Development
§§ Home Retail Group has become a member of Business in the Community’s ( BITC) ‘Opportunity Now’
and ‘Race for Opportunity’ campaigns, to support our business in developing and achieving our
diversity objectives
§§ Diversity training sessions piloted successfully and will be rolled out during our 2015 financial year
§§ Unconscious bias training was provided to colleagues primarily responsible for recruitment
§§ 600 Argos colleagues have been successful in completing our internal apprenticeship programme, with
two colleagues achieving special recognition as Scottish Young Apprentice of the Year and Argos
Apprentice of the Year
§§ This year, in Homebase, we have trained over 600 colleagues in the Institute of Customer Service and City
& Guilds accredited training programmes, ranging from horticulture to room planning to painting and
decorating – equipping them with the skills to help our customers create a home they love
§§ Eleven colleagues have been enrolled into the Homebase Garden Academy, developing their knowledge
of horticulture and putting their knowledge into practice
Reward and
Recognition
§§ All colleagues are given the opportunity to join one of our Save As You Earn schemes, with 6,300
colleagues currently in active schemes. Over 40m Home Retail Group shares are currently under option
§§ 17,300 colleagues registered with our benefits scheme that gives them access to great savings and offers
from supermarket shopping to holidays
Wellbeing
and Support
§§
§§
§§
§§
As part of the renewal of catering contracts there has been a focus on healthier eating menus
A selection of core national health campaigns such as Dryathon and Movember promoted to colleagues
2,155 colleagues have taken BUPA private health cover
We participated in the Britain’s Healthiest Company Survey
We have achieved Platinum
status for three successive years
More than 10% of our
colleagues participate in
our payroll giving scheme
We use LBG’s measurement
model to assess the real value
and impact of our community
investment
We are members of both the CRC
Energy Efficiency Scheme and the
Carbon Disclosure Project
17
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Our performance and objectives
continued
Good Business Principles
Being a good
neighbour
Good Business Principles
Keeping clean
and green
Good Business Principles
Sourcing
with care
Area of Focus
Our Progress
Strategic
§§
charity partnerships
§§
§§
Alzheimer’s partnership was strategy developed and published externally using the Third Sector
conference to get input from industry experts
£1.4m fundraising in the first year of our two-year partnership with Alzheimer’s Society
Over 200 managers in our business have become Dementia Friends as we embark on rolling out this
programme across the rest of the business
§§ Second year of the successful Argos Barnardo’s Toy Exchange which has now raised over £1.2m since 2012
with over 500,000 pre-loved toys donated by customers and colleagues
§§ Colleagues at our customer contact centres supported the national Comic Relief and Children in Need
campaigns, taking more than 14,000 calls from the public and helping to raise over £400k in donations
Enabling
our colleagues
§§ £500k of volunteering time donated as colleagues made use of our two-day volunteering policy
§§ 12% of colleagues participate in Give As You Earn and we have retained the Platinum Award for Payroll
Giving that recognises businesses that have facilitated over 10% of their employees to regularly donate
via payroll giving
Inspiring
young people
& supporting
vulnerable
groups
§§ Partnerships with Remploy, Ready for work , Gingerbread and Prince’s Trust announced to provide work
trial opportunities in Argos and Homebase stores in 2014
§§ Two Argos and Homebase store managers seconded from September 2013 for one year as BITC ‘Business
Connectors’
§§ Three BITC ‘Business Class’ partnerships with secondary schools in Milton Keynes, Acton Gate and Heywood
Area of Focus
Our Progress
Waste
§§ 92% of our operational waste recycled
§§ We have reduced our landfill waste by 92% since 2006
§§ A further 6% reduction in water consumption year-on-year and a 36% reduction in water use since our
baseline in 2009
Operational
Carbon
§§ Retained Carbon Trust standard demonstrating a commitment to ongoing improvements in
carbon management
§§ 33% reduction in CO2e emissions per sq foot vs 2006 baseline
§§ 20% absolute reduction in CO2e emissions vs 2006 baseline
§§ We have continued to reduce our buildings energy consumption by 2.5% vs last year
§§ We have improved our disclosure and performance score on the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) rankings
Enabling
customer
sustainability
§§ Take-back and recycling available on all home-delivered white goods
§§ In-store customer recycling facilities including batteries, catalogues and water filter
Area of Focus
Our Progress
Suppliers
§§ 957 ethical audits carried out and 100% of all own-brand direct source suppliers have a current valid audit
§§ 137 suppliers operating on Sedex, a collaborative platform that facilitates the efficient sharing of ethical
supply chain data
§§ Working together with suppliers to backhaul products, we have saved 1.8m kms of distance travelled by
picking up goods from our suppliers on the return journey from stores
Products and
raw materials
§§ 63% of growing media in Homebase is peat free
§§ Home Retail Group remains a member of WWF GFTN
§§ We have reduced our paper usage by 13% year-on-year – that’s a 34% reduction since 2006 – and all
paper publications are printed on paper from certified sources or recycled paper
18
Home Retail Group
Corporate Responsibility Summary 2014
Want to know more
Let us know what you think…
we’d welcome your feedback
Feedback and contact
If you have any queries about corporate responsibility
or about the details of our full activity on our corporate website –
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr/ – we’d be delighted to hear
from you.
Home Retail Group plc
489-489 Avebury Boulevard
Central Milton Keynes
MK9 2NW
E corporate.responsibility@homeretailgroup.com
E charity.enquiries@homeretailgroup.com
T +44 (0) 1908 296 693
Amy Whidburn
Head of Corporate Responsibility
Megan Kitchen
Environmental and Ethical Affairs Manager
Ceri Wootton
Colleague and Community Affairs Manager
May 2014
For details of our full CR
programme, please go to:
www.homeretailgroup.com/cr