As part of its drive to offer added value membership benefits and a strong competitive advantage, independent merchant buying group h&b has launched what it describes as “the merchanting industry’s first ESG (Environmental, Sustainability and Corporate Governance) programme to help to put sustainability at the core of every h&b member’s business”.
As well as legislative changes, h&b argues that the business case for a strong ESG strategy is now overwhelming – creating leaner, smarter businesses with less waste and more internal and external stakeholder engagement. The buying group’s ESG programme aims to help all h&b members from larger multi-branch regional operations to smaller merechant businesses “to design, create and operate a ESG strategy that suits their business model and creates value for staff, customers, and the business itself”.
Its statement adds: “The aim of the h&b ESG programme is to take member companies beyond mere compliance and towards a common aim of sustainable growth and value creation. In a business climate where stakeholders are showing increasing concern for environmental, social and governance factors, now is the perfect time for h&b Group members to consider and implement their ESG strategy.
“As well as satisfying stakeholders, the implementation of a strong ESG strategy provides value creation opportunity, in turn generating growth. The h&b programme has been developed to help members through this transformational journey, regardless of their size.”
The first stage of the h&b programme will be a focus on test cases in a cross-section of the group’s members so that the findings can be implemented on a fully scalable programme across all of the group’s 100+ members nationwide. This will provide a template for every h&b member who will be “supported in an implementation process with tools, data and expert support staff”.
Overall, the programme is designed to “offer h&b members a valuable business advantage, allowing even smaller independent merchants to compete sustainably with larger competitors”.
