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Sustainability

We create spaces that help communities thrive, so we recognise that any decisions we make can have a significant impact on the environment and peoples lives.

Severfield's approach to sustainability

As the UK’s market leader in structural steel, we recognise that operating in a sustainable manner is crucial to both the current and future success of the Group. To achieve this, we are committed to motivating and enabling our people and our supply chain to deliver high-quality, innovative buildings in a sustainable and efficient way.

We are SBTi Verified

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated our near-term, long-term, and overall Net-Zero targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:

  • Near-term, we commit to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 50.4% and to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions 50.4% by FY2033
  • Long-term, we commit to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 90% by FY2040 and to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 90% by FY2050
  • Overall, our net-zero target is to reach net-zero GHG emissions across the value chain by FY2050.

All targets are set from an FY2023 base year. The target boundary includes land-related emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks.

SB Ti Graphic

Our Sustainable Business Strategy

Our sustainability framework (4Ps) is underpinned by our four sustainability pillars: ‘Planet’, ‘People’, ‘Prosperity’ and ‘Principles of Governance’.

They are each informed by our colleagues, customers, suppliers, and stakeholders.

Our sustainable business strategy is aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and is driven by our values and strategic objectives to ensure that we operate responsibly and ethically.

Sustainability Framework

Planet

Environmental performance is crucial, and as such, we maintain our environmental management system accreditation to ISO 14001:2015 and all our factories and sites operate in accordance with our sustainability policy.

We continue to report all our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in accordance with UK regulations and the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard methodology as part of our annual reports.

We report on our progress as part of The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a platform to disclose environmental information. Our 2023 score of A Severfield’s place on the CDP’s ‘A List’ this year demonstrates our thorough understanding of risks and opportunities related to climate change, and that we have formulated and implemented strategies to mitigate the effects of our operations on the environment.

Besides carbon, we are also reviewing our approach to biodiversity in line with the expected requirements as part of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), implementing a waste reduction engagement campaign as part of our new set target and refining our approach to address the impact of our supply chain and other scope 3 emissions.

In short, we’re incredibly passionate about doing our part wherever we can, exceeding what is expected of us so we can lead in our industry in as many ways as possible.

People

At Severfield, we understand that our people are our biggest asset. We have over 1,800 employees across our business, and our future depends on our ability to attract, recruit, develop, and retain individuals with the right mix of expertise, technical skills, and personal qualities. We are stringently committed to the development of our workforce and the upliftment of our local communities.

Severfield proactively reviews skill and knowledge gaps for the future and has, as such, developed and implemented early careers programmes for apprentices and graduates to start to address these needs. Many of those activities directly contribute to us generating social value, which we measure using the TOMs Framework.

Severfield also has strong community connections through The Severfield Foundation, which supports charities across the United Kingdom & Northern Ireland. Our employees are given opportunities to support these charities through our localised social and charitable committees.

Prosperity

Striving for continuous improvement across our four sustainability pillars is essential to support the long-term success and sustainability of the Group. Delivering value ethically and transparently helps to build strong relationships with customers, suppliers, and shareholders, increasing our prospects of accessing new business opportunities.

Our interactions with stakeholders are governed by several key corporate policies and procedures including modern slavery, human rights, anti-bribery, competition law, and whistleblowing. Our policies require us to conduct our business openly and honestly, and, as a result, we aim to have a positive impact on the local communities in which we operate.

Principles of Governance

Good governance is key to ensuring the Group’s long-term sustainability. The board has overall responsibility for the Group’s sustainability strategy and for determining its risk appetite. The level of risk it is considered appropriate to accept in achieving the Group’s strategic objectives is reviewed and validated by the board.

The appropriateness of the mitigating actions is determined in accordance with the board-approved risk appetite for the relevant area. This process includes the identification and management of climate-related and other sustainability-related risks.

For details on our key KPIs in each area, please refer to our latest annual report on pages 74–75.

Our Governance – Sustainability Committee

It is our intention to deliver more sustainable solutions for our people, our customers and the wider community and environment in which we work and live. All of these things really matter to us – and we know, to our clients too – and the oversight of all things sustainable is through our Sustainability Committee.

The committee is comprised of the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Group Finance Director, Group Legal Director, Group SHE Director, Group HR Director, Group Head of Procurement and Group Head of ESG, all of whom, barring the Group Head of Procurement and the Group Head of ESG, sit on the plc executive board.

Our policies and responses

This Group’s purpose is to ensure we stick not only to the guidelines and regulations, but to the extremely high standards we set for ourselves. We regularly review and update our processes, taking into account any relevant changes or considerations relating to social, environmental, ethical and health and safety matters.

We continue to be accredited with the Gold Membership Standard of the Steel Construction Sustainability Charter and comply with the UK’s ESOS (Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme). We are also Gold members of the Supply Chain Sustainability School and maintain our BES 6001 accreditation with a rating of “Very good”.

Do you wish to speak with us?

You can keep up to date with all of our sustainability activities on our social media channels or on our news page, where we’ll share updates of projects, activities and ways we’re working on boosting the positive impact we have on the people and environment around us. If you have any questions, please get in touch.