Portmeirion Group is a purpose-driven business with heritage and family at our core. We have a responsibility to our employees, customers, communities and the people that bring our products into their homes, and we work hard to reflect this in everything we do.
Sustainability strategy and roadmap
We have a responsibility to our employees, customers, communities and the people that bring our products into their homes, and we work hard to reflect this in everything that we do.
Launched in 2023, our new Crafting a Better Future strategy outlines the Group’s commitment to reduce its impact on climate change and develop as a positive force for the environment, the people that work across our operations and our local communities.
We are clear that we must continue to play our part in tackling global pressures such as climate change and support our extended community families whilst continuing to meet the expectations of our investors, stakeholders and customers as they work to deliver their own commitments.
This document outlines our Crafting a Better Future sustainable business strategy and roadmap, with a clear and transparent set of commitments and goals. This creates the framework for our plans moving forward. It is aligned to our commercial strategy and will be embedded into operations and decision making over the coming months to ensure that sustainability sits at the core of our business model.
Underpinning this is a clear governance structure. We have set up a new Sustainable Business Board Committee, chaired by our Chief Executive, who with the Board is accountable for the sustainability commitments of the Group.
Our global purpose and sustainability strategy gives us a basis on which to move forward to address the environmental and social challenges we and others face. We will provide regular updates on our progress and will evolve our commitments as needed to deliver on our ambition to Craft a Better Future.
Key areas of focus
Commit 2040
Become a positive force for change, reducing our emissions and environmental impact by addressing what we can fix now, and supporting transformation within our industry:
- Achieve Net Zero by 2040 across our Scope 1 and 2 emissions, defining a pathway that focuses on maximising the proportion of our energy use from renewable sources
- All new company vehicles will be fully electric where possible
- Work with our supply chain manufacturing partners to ensure they support our Commit 2040 plan
- Develop the role of Global Energy Teams to drive energy reduction within our operations through innovation and ‘green thinking’ throughout our Group
- Achieve ‘0% to landfill’ across entire UK business, building on target already achieved in our Stoke-on-Trent ceramic manufacturing site
- Eliminate single use plastics throughout our operations
- Understand our global nature footprint and develop a Groupwide biodiversity plan
- Enhance our materiality assessment to understand more about our Scope 3 emissions
Nurturing the best
Develop as an inclusive, ambitious and inspirational global employer of choice, accessing the best talent and enabling all our people to thrive:
- Ensure equality, diversity, inclusion and opportunities for all colleagues across our global business, and equip all our managers with the development tools to promote this
- Further improve supply chain transparency and support our suppliers in applying Portmeirion Group people principles across our value chain including opportunities for training and Health, Safety and Environment practices
- Expand our NHS UK Wellbeing Charter accreditation throughout our UK businesses and increase our number of Mental Health First Aiders across the Group
- Retain our UK Investors in People Platinum accreditation by delivering excellent employee support programmes, and continuing to place colleague wellbeing and development at our core
- Understand the aspirations of our colleagues and work on talent fulfilment plans
Our community family
Build on our heritage by supporting our local communities to nurture talent, collaborating with others to create positive futures:
- Develop new community partnerships to address skills development and social mobility
- Introduce a Global ‘Giving Back’ programme, providing colleagues with paid leave to engage in local volunteering activities
- Support local families with employability skills development, including CV writing, interview techniques and provision of paid work experience opportunities
- Support community fundraising within our local areas
Governance
Our sustainability commitments are underpinned by a clear Governance structure. Initiatives deployed to ensure that we maintain sound Governance include:
Incorporate sustainability into responsibilities and accountabilities at all levels of the business
- Introduce new sustainability KPIs in personal development plans
Devolve accountability across the Group
- Develop business unit level environmental and social targets which align with the Group commitments
- Deliver engagement and training programme to ensure all of the Portmeirion Group community understand how our commitments relate to their own roles
Aligning our commitments with our risks
- Ensure all Crafting a Better Future commitments reflect and are reflected on our corporate risk register
Ensure our decision-making processes reflect our commitments
- Ensure all our policies, procedures and decision-making check points reflect our Crafting a Better Future commitments, including energy reduction
- Continuously review the external environment to ensure we fully understand how we can create the optimum value for the Group and wider society
Strategy road map
Our progress
During 2022, we continued with our external review of our current ESG baseline to inform future strategy for improvements.
↓-9.9%*
UK Ceramics – tonnes of CO2e per tonne of saleable product
↑+8.7%*
UK Home Fragrance – tonnes of CO2e per tonne of saleable product.1
↓-7%*
UK Operations (exc. Retail) – tonnes of CO2e
per tonne of saleable product
55%
of energy used at Wax Lyrical operation in 2022 was provided by wind turbine
* 2022 compared to 2021.
1 This increase is largely due to a shift in production mix to a lighter weighted product resulting in a higher intensity metric per tonne of saleable product.
There is
O% waste
going to landfill from the Stoke-on-Trent operation
61%
of the 1,047 tonnes of waste generated is recycled and usually repurposed into a secondary use with the rest being incinerated (waste to energy).
All UK operations are accredited at Investor in People Platinum status; a level only held by the top 4% of accredited organisations.