Sustainability at Selco

At Selco Builders Warehouse, we are firmly focused on continuing to develop a long-term and sustainable business model for our colleagues and customers.

It’s vital we demonstrate our ability to operate as a forward-thinking organisation as we look to play our part in what seems certain to be the next significant global challenge – tackling climate change.

Ambitious emissions targets are being set across the globe. The UK Government has committed to a path towards net zero by 2050 – and we all have a role to play.

Here at Selco, we’re focused on the effects our operations are having on the environment and we’ve already made important strides forward, from fitting LED lighting across our entire estate, to beginning an overhaul of our transport system.

There is, however, more we can do.

We have a responsibility, not only to the environment and the local communities in which we operate, but also to the wider Selco family, including manufacturers, suppliers and hauliers.

Our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) blueprint for what we can achieve over the next decade is focused on five clear areas:

• Customer and product
• People
• Resources
• Community
• Ethics

Our journey to being a more sustainable business will not be completed overnight - it’s likely to continue for our lifetimes and beyond. Here at Selco, we're committed to continuing our investment in the future by playing our part in protecting our people, the environment and the planet.

An essential part of our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy is the commitment to lowering our carbon footprint and monitoring our energy consumption.

Selco Forests

We've taken decisive action towards offsetting the carbon generated from our customer deliveries by creating three ‘Selco Forests’: two in Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders, and one near Llandrindod Wells in Wales.

The Selco Forest project has seen more than 300,000 trees planted which, during their lifecycle, will help to offset some of the carbon generated by customer deliveries.

Sustainability in our branches

The installation of LED lighting across our entire branch network, resulting in a saving of almost 69 tonnes of carbon in one branch alone, has provided positive outcomes, while a new gas management system has also reduced gas consumption by controlling heating through sensors.

Regular trials are also being carried out with alternative fuel vehicles in our transport fleet, including fully electric vehicles. We’ve introduced electric forklift trucks and dropside vans across several branches, and the vehicles at our Delivery Hubs in Birmingham and Edmonton now run on Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO).

Single fuel petrol and diesel cars have also been eliminated from our company car list, with colleagues now getting a choice between a petrol plug-in hybrid or an electric vehicle. We now have 30 charging points across our network for electric vehicles.

Our customers and 3,000-plus colleagues across our 73-strong branch network are undoubtedly the greatest assets of Selco Builders Warehouse.

We stay committed to creating a culture for each of our colleagues to thrive, develop and improve both inside and outside our business. We always support our team, who are committed to providing outstanding service to our customers.

As demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, our priority will always be to provide a safe and healthy environment for all our colleagues and customers.

All colleagues receive mandatory health and safety training and the total number of working days lost due to an injury has decreased by 20 per cent in the last three years. We have targets to reduce that further by 50 per cent by the end of the decade. We're also developing a new Wellness Strategy.

Development opportunities

We continue to work to create a fully diverse and inclusive workforce, narrowing the gender pay gap, creating job opportunities for females and ethnic minorities, ensuring mandatory interviews for female senior leadership team candidates and generally creating a welcome, engaging and inclusive atmosphere.

Training and development opportunities are currently provided at every level of the business. Our Rising Stars Management programme caters for all colleagues and offers accredited management training for any employee showcasing management potential.

In addition, our Selco Driving Academy provides the opportunity for colleagues to become fully accredited HGV drivers and begin building a new career.

A long-standing element of the Selco ethos is to give back to the communities in which we operate.

We're committed to making a positive contribution to the areas and customers we serve, through a deliverable and engaging three-pronged Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy comprising of charity, community engagement and support for the next generation.

Our official charity partner is the focal point for colleagues’ fundraising activity, ranging from bike rides, long-distance hikes, golf days and much more. Our current charity partner is Cancer Research UK.

Selco Community Heroes is our flagship community initiative. It offers charities and community groups the chance to benefit from both donated building materials and financial support, as well as backing for under-represented - and often under-funded - projects.

Hundreds of entries from organisations across the UK have been received for the Selco Community Heroes campaign each time it runs and plans are in place for the scheme to grow and develop further in future years.

Many of our branches also offer bespoke products and building material support to community organisations in their local vicinity.

We are also finalising plans to launch a schools and colleges scheme to further engage with the local community and help the next generation of tradespeople take their first steps in the industry.

As part of our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) pledge, we recognise the increasing importance of supplying renewable and sustainable building materials and products.

Product ranges designed to supply sustainable building solutions are becoming increasingly popular. Therefore, we've started an engagement programme with key suppliers to identify the sustainable products which already feature in our product ranges and identify new opportunities to enhance that. Specific marketing materials are created to engage both customers and colleagues with these products.

Selco is compliant with the Grafton Group’s Timber Sourcing Policy. This policy recognises a commitment to the sourcing of sustainable timber products, meeting international certification standards.

The Group’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics states that we will not purchase from suppliers that obtain products for us from countries that are subject to trade sanctions, or if the supplier or its sources are listed in connection with a trade sanctions programme. Grafton also requires all its suppliers to comply with its anti-slavery policy.

We continue to work to embed our responsible business objectives into our sourcing and supplier activities.

Expanding our recycling practices has also become a huge part of our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) pledge.

We’ve launched a recycling programme from our Lightside Distribution Centre (LDC) based in Oxfordshire.

All plastic and cardboard from our nationwide network of branches is now returned to the Lightside Distribution Centre (LDC) where we, in conjunction with our warehouse and distribution services partner Unipart, ensure all waste is recycled.

This means that whenever a branch receives a delivery, which is multiple times a week, the branch team can now send back all waste and cardboard to the LDC, where it is packaged up for recycling.

Our recycling programme has been working extremely well and we’re confident it will bring substantial benefits when it comes to reducing our company’s carbon footprint.

Further proposals are also being pulled together to enhance our in-branch recycling programme in the coming years.