Corporate Responsibility - Sustainability

Business activity is crucial to the standard of living in our communities. However, we know that the production of economic goods also involves the production of economic bads: business activity has contributed to global warming and environmental degradation for example. It is important that companies act in an environmentally responsible manner, and minimise the effect of their actions for the welfare of future generations. We are committed to the notion of sustainable development i.e. meeting the needs of the present without compromising future generations, and believe that responsible business practice means minimising the negative impacts of such practice on the wider environment. For us, this means that:

Packaging is kept to the minimum required to fulfil its purpose; as far as possible it is made from recyclable material or biodegradable constituents; we meet our obligations under a 1998 act to pay the costs of recycling of packaging via a levy;

Refrigeration equipment in our stores uses the less harmful HFC gases as opposed to HCFC gases which have been proven to reduce the ozone layer; in addition, we purchase the most efficient refrigerators which have minimum electricity consumption;

Transport, which is integral to our business, is undertaken efficiently, with the minimum number of journeys to ensure that customers are able to access the products they desire in our stores; in addition, we support research which aims to reduce the emissions from diesel fuel and, where vehicles use petrol, they are filled with unleaded rather than four star; most of our stores cannot be supplied by rail, but we are committed to increasing these rail supplies where possible;

Sustainable sourcing means that we purchase products, and encourage our suppliers when they purchase ingredients for our products, in a way that minimises the depletion of those products or damages the environment as little as possible; this applies to such raw materials as wood, minerals and cotton.

We encourage our suppliers to share in our aims by setting performance standards and monitoring their performance against these standards. Caring for the Environment Responsible Sourcing.

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