The Board is committed to the promotion of strong ethical, environmental and corporate social responsibility principles. This is a fundamental element of “The Marshalls Way.” We do the right things, for the right reasons, in the right way. By being transparent in our dealings, whether they be financial, social or environmental, we seek to inspire trust with all our stakeholders.
We recognise the need to have sustainable products and services and to consider the long-term impact of every decision the Group makes. We are focused on playing our part in addressing the risk of climate change and the protection of the environment and we are engaging with our stakeholders to ensure they also put sustainability first. Our ESG agenda is supported by a comprehensive framework aligned with the United Nations Global Compact and underpinned by detailed policies.
Our ESG focus drives capital projects that improve operational efficiency and optimise resource and raw material usage. The investment of our new stone processing sawmills are a good example of this and our procurement process is focused on sourcing ethical and sustainable materials.
Environmental Stewardship
- The Group’s Environmental Policies are approved by the Board and reviewed at least annually
- Marshalls voluntarily reports publicly on its progress to initiatives such as FTSE4Good and CDP
- Marshalls operates to an established environmental management system (“EMS”) to ensure that all its operations meet or exceed the requirements of legislation and applicable best practice as an integral part of our business strategy
- Marshalls assesses the environmental aspects, impacts, risks and opportunities of its activities in setting appropriate environmental objectives and targets
- Marshalls is committed to:
- achieving the highest standards of environmental performance;
- protecting the environment and preventing pollution from our operation; and
- identifying, understanding and minimising our significant environmental impacts
- The Group is committed to monitoring, measuring and reporting of our environmental performance
Science-based targets
We’re committed to minimising our impact on the environment, and key to this is our plan to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net-zero. To ensure that this is meaningful and our progress against this target stands up against scrutiny, we have set near-term and long-term targets which have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and we’ve committed to reach net-zero across our value chain by 2050.
Near-term targets*
- Our near-term scope 1 and 2 reduction target has been set at 50.5% reduction by 2030
- Our near-term scope 3 reduction target has been set at 37.5% reduction by 2033
Long-term targets*
- Our long-term scope 1 and 2 reduction target has been set at 90% reduction by 2040
- Our long-term scope 3 reduction target has been set at 90% reduction by 2050
*The targets use 2018 as the base year.
As part of our climate change strategy and commitment to science-based targets, our priorities include supporting the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) in line with the UK Government’s expectation that listed companies should disclose in line with the TCFD recommendations by 2022.
Human rights
- We support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Ethical Trading Initiative’s Base Code
- We’ve conducted modern slavery country risk mapping for 100% of our higher risk supply chains
- We’re a Living Wage employer
- We have an award-winning employee wellbeing strategy and Mental Health First Aider programme
- We offer modern slavery awareness training for our employees
Social responsibility
- The Marshalls Code of Conduct sets out the standards that we expect from our employees and all our stakeholders
- Doing business responsibly provides the foundations for sustainable growth
- We’re committed to meeting the highest health and safety standards – so that everyone can “go home safely”
- We’re committed to supporting the community and charitable causes
- We’re growing our apprenticeship programme, with a focus on early careers
- We’re committed to maintaining our Fair Tax Mark accreditation
Corporate governance and leadership
Marshalls’ governance framework supports the principles of integrity, strong ethical values and professionalism.
The Board recognises that we are accountable to shareholders for good corporate governance and seeks to demonstrate our commitment to high standards of governance that are recognised and understood by all.
Effective governance relies on strong leadership and a healthy corporate culture, supported by robust systems and processes and a good understanding of risk and risk appetite. Our policies and processes have been applied and developed during the year in a way that remains consistent with our values and strategy. This approach emphasises employee engagement, operational excellence, and well-structured reward and incentive systems. By measuring progress effectively, we ensure that Marshalls remains resilient, responsible, and well-positioned to seize new opportunities.