As a business, we want to leave a positive legacy for people and our planet. We aim to do this by embracing a diverse and inclusive workforce, who build brands with purpose and develop products with lower impact, and by supporting our communities and protecting the people working within our supply chain.
2032 marks the centenary of our business and our 100-1-0 positive business strategy sets out three major goals to be delivered, by:
+ Helping 100 million consumers live positive, active, sustainable lifestyles
+ Improving the lives of 1 million people in our communities
+ Becoming a net zero business
Our new Positive Business report covering our 2021 impact, published today, shares how we’re working towards these ambitious goals and, despite a challenging year, we’re proud of how our brands are taking action. Here are some of their highlights.
Pioneering brands for good
As the changemakers in our business, our brands have a critical role to play in helping 100 million consumers to live positive, active and sustainable lifestyles.
Speedo has teamed up with the Black Swimming Association to help make swimming more ethnically diverse. Mitre has donated products to more than 300 charitable organisations to encourage sports participation in local communities.
Through their partnership with Irish Rugby, Canterbury of New Zealand is encouraging over 1,600 young girls to take part and learn how to play rugby. And ellesse and Patta have united to break down barriers help young players from underrepresented communities to enjoy tennis.
Making life better
One of our positive business goals is to improve the lives of one million people in the communities in which we operate.
We do this by focusing on building an inclusive culture that enables our employees to be engaged, equipped and energised. To support this, in 2021 we launched four new employee diversity and inclusion networks: a wellbeing network; a network for Black colleagues and their allies; a network for women and their allies and a network for LGBTQ+ colleagues and their allies.
We strive to build a fair, ethical and transparent supply chain. The Pentland Brands Modern Slavery report details how we work towards this through policies, training, due diligence processes and global memberships
We also partner with global charities that align with our positive business values to help communities based near our offices and within our supply chain and sourcing markets. In 2021 we supported 100,000 people and donated 100,000 products across 11 global regions.
Driving a sustainable future
We recognise that we have a part to play in protecting our planet. To leave a lighter footprint, we’re actively working on ways to reduce our impact and become net zero.
Our brands continue to champion sustainability. Berghaus repaired over 4,500 products for free, Endura used recycled yarns in all their MTB jerseys and over a third of their road jerseys, and Kickers launched a 100% vegan boot with Lucy & Yak.
Additionally, Speedo launched a kickboard and pull buoy made from a biobased material mix that includes algae and SeaVees sneaker collection made from almost entirely recycled materials supported actions to regenerate 17,000 square feet of kelp.
We’re taking steps to minimise our office footprint. We procure 100% renewable energy in our owned offices, we have electric vehicle charging points, and we have LED lighting at various UK locations.
Collectively, our brands have also helped plant six million trees in 2021. Trees sequester carbon, protect drinking water, and help prevent climate change related events like flooding and we’ve committed to planting 50 million trees by 2032.
Chirag Patel, CEO, shared that being a responsible business has always been at our core: “We pride ourselves on pioneering purpose-driven brands and are committed to delivering sustainability initiatives and charitable actions. We plan to build on the positive momentum created in 2021 and will continue to learn and improve in 2022, so we can really deliver on our commitment to take action for people and our planet.”
The 2021 Pentland Brands Positive Business report can be found here.