Sustainability

In FY24, we conducted our first environmental materiality assessment, inviting all colleagues from our stores, distribution centre, and head office to participate in a voluntary survey. We were delighted to achieve a 42% response rate, highlighting the significance of this issue to many colleagues – especially in stores, where the response rate was higher than average.

Among other questions, colleagues were asked to rate the importance of various predefined sustainability topics, alongside the Group’s performance in these same topics. This data has been used to create a double materiality assessment (right). 

Colleagues identified recycling, waste management, wildlife conservation, and energy use as the most important topics. They noted that the business performed well in all these areas, except for wildlife conservation, where performance was perceived negatively. This feedback aligns with our current Environmental Leadership strategy, which has heavily emphasised waste reduction and energy efficiency, but not wildlife conservation. Strategy is continuously refined, so this feedback will be addressed in the year ahead. 

Notably, customer engagement on sustainability was identified as an area of only moderate importance and performance. We recognise this as an industry-wide challenge, especially among tile retailers and wholesalers, where Topps Group is leading in sustainability efforts. Over the coming year, we will address this issue by investing in enhanced marketing for sustainable products and providing improved training for our staff. Overall, colleagues exhibited a moderate preference for circularity-related topics over carbon-related topics. This underscores the importance of a comprehensive approach to sustainability. Climate change may be the most pressing issue, but it is crucial to also address stakeholders’ other environmental concerns. We are confident that Environmental Leadership at Topps delivers on this.