Our

Impact Report

We are a business on a mission to create a more sustainable fashion landscape. For over 25 years, we have maintained the value of second-hand goods and we firmly believe that a circular economy is possible on a large scale. As we continue to progress, we recognize the need to be even more transparent and ambitious to meet the expectations of our stakeholders. We commit to understanding and improving the impact we have on people and the planet by training our global teams, collecting reliable data, and implementing thoughtful checks and balances.

By working together towards clearly defined goals, we believe we can make a meaningful impact and ensure that our business operates in a way that aligns with our values and respects the fundamental rights of all individuals.

Materiality:

We started this journey by understanding our organizational context and stakeholder expectations, identifying our actual and potential impacts, and prioritizing the most meaningful impact areas to report on. We then set clear targets for these impact areas and commit to reporting on our progress with reliable data. By continuing to measure and improve our impact, we know that we can be true leaders in the circular economy.

Leaders in the circular economy

Bank & Vogue Group started over three decades ago, providing a service to the Salvation Army to help sell their surplus donations. Since then, Bank & Vogue has grown to become a global leader and unique player in the used goods market. We’ve achieved this by combining our in-depth knowledge and experience in wholesale, retail, design and manufacturing and our creative ideas and solutions to help deal with the overwhelming amount of “stuff” that we all consume.

Our team at Bank & Vogue is committed to playing a meaningful role in building a closed-loop economy and to date has saved 1.1 billion pounds of product from landfill through either our B2B wholesale business; supplying feed stock at scale for fibre to fibre recycling; components manufacturing & upcycling with global brands such as Converse; and our vintage retail across 18 locations in UK and Nordics

We promote knowledge dissemination through active participation in industry panels and networking events, engaging with key players in both our specific sector and the broader fashion industry. We aim to create a dynamic ecosystem that encourages the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and best practices, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and responsible fashion industry in four ways:

1. Internal Training and Development:

Sustainable Fashion Training: We invest in continuous training and development programs for our staff on our LND platform, empowering them with knowledge and skills related to sustainable fashion practices, ethical sourcing, and responsible production.
Cross-Arm Knowledge Exchange: We facilitate knowledge exchange among the different arms of The Bank & Vogue Group, ensuring that insights and best practices from one division are seamlessly integrated into others. This cross-pollination of ideas enhances our overall sustainability impact.
Our team closely collaborates with experts and stakeholders to ensure that our strategies align with our sustainability goals and the broader objectives of promoting responsible consumption and resource efficiency.

2. Collaborative Partnerships:

External Collaboration: We actively engage in partnerships with external organizations, academic institutions, and experts in sustainable fashion and textile technology. Through these collaborations, we exchange knowledge and stay at the forefront of industry advancements.
Our approach extends to direct conversations with fashion brands, where we’ll advocate for the adoption of more sustainable design and manufacturing practices. Additionally, we will harness the power of our social media platforms by using graphics and posts to educate our followers about the significance of sustainable fashion and the principles of a circular economy.
Partners and networks that Bank & Vogue group are included within are SMART, WRAP, Ellen Macarthur Foundation, UN Fashion conscious Network, Accelerating Circularity.

3. Community Education:

Industry Projects with Brighton MET:This project focuses on equipping participants with a tool kit to Custom Build, adapt and alter garments into bespoke one of sellable pieces.With the ethos and philosophies of Beyond Retro and Dr. Noki combined participants gained knowledge and hands-on experience with Custom Building, sustainability, reinvention, customisation, and surface construction to create unique pieces that were manufactured to retail standard, visually merchandised and sold in the Brighton Beyond Retro store in early January 2022.

4. Transparency and Knowledge Sharing:

Reports and Publications: We publish reports and publications detailing our sustainability journey, research findings, and best practices. These documents are made available to the public, contributing to a broader understanding of sustainable fashion and technology.
Furthermore, we actively engage in ongoing research and development activities aimed at harnessing the potential of post-consumer materials to create alternative materials which contributes to the development of innovative and sustainable solutions in the fashion industry.

Decarbonize the business with targets based on science

Partnering with experts to measure our carbon emissions

We know that we can’t manage what we can’t measure and the first step to decarbonizing the business is understanding our current carbon emissions. That’s why we’ve partnered with Emitwise to help us take data-led climate action across our operations. Just like financial accounting, carbon accounting that aligns with clear standards helps to support better business decisions and to clearly share information with stakeholders. Emitwise’s technology and carbon accountants help us align with ISO 14064 and The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard, two important standards in carbon accounting.

With help from Emitwise, we can turn our financial information and business activities into clear and actionable carbon emissions data. This important tool enables us to understand our baseline, set ambitious and credible targets, and prioritize carbon reduction initiatives using data and science.

Our baseline emissions

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol sets the corporate standard for creating an inventory of a business’ sources of carbon emissions and categorizing these emissions into three scopes. Scope 1 includes emissions from direct activities, Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from purchased electricity, and Scope 3 covers indirect emissions from a company’s value chain.

Guided by the carbon accounting team at Emitwise, we calculated our emissions using a combination of activity data and financial accounting information combined with emission factors for our baseline year of 2022.

For the calendar year 2022, our total emissions were 2,861 tCO₂e*, covering all three scopes of emissions and the entire Bank and Vogue Group of Companies.

Scope 1 – Direct operations represents 10 tCO₂e*
Scope 2 – Purchased electricity represents 193 tCO₂e*
Scope 3 – Value chain emissions represents 2,658 tCO₂e*

* tCO2e stands for metric tonnes (t) of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (e). “Carbon dioxide equivalent” is a standard unit for measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regardless of whether they’re from carbon dioxide or another gas, such as methane.

To transparently communicate our emissions, we will work with the SME Climate Hub and use the SME Climate Disclosure Framework developed by CDP a not-for-profit charity that runs the global climate disclosure system.

Setting targets based on science, not hype

We are serious about climate change and set our carbon reduction targets based on science, not hype. In line with with guidance from experts, we’re working to reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions to a level that helps keep global warming below 1.5C. We will follow guidance from the Science Based Targets Initiative, a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to develop a rigorous approach to decarbonizing our business.

We commit to reducing our absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions using 2022 as our baseline year. These reductions will be absolute reductions in our business, even if we grow, and we will not use offsets or carbon credits to achieve this target. We also commit to measuring and reducing our Scope 3 emissions and in 2024 we will set further targets to reduce our Scope 3 emissions.

Reduction targets:

Reduce absolute Scope 1 emissions by 50% by 2030.
Reduce absolute Scope 2 emissions by 50% by 2030.
Measure and reduce Scope 3 emissions and set targets in 2024.

We will have our complete targets approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative by 2024 and will continue to report on our progress transparently. We believe that focusing our energy and efforts on actual emission reductions instead of relying primarily on carbon credits and offsets will have the greatest impact and we will follow the guidance from scientific experts.

Decent Work in our Value Chain

At the Bank and Vogue Group, we have always believed in respect for our people and protecting human rights. We know that our people are our greatest asset, and we live our values every day in how we work together as a team and with our suppliers and customers. In 2023, we formalized these core values into two policies – our Code of Conduct and Human Rights Policy. These new policies help clarify how we work and help us clearly communicate these standards to suppliers and partners.

Code of Conduct

We have grown an international business based on the belief that ethical business practices make good business sense. Our new Code of Conduct makes these expectations clear to our Team Members and Leaders. It includes a clear expectation that our Team Members and Leaders act with integrity, respect human rights, and work in a safe environment under safe conditions. We have also created an internal reporting mechanism where Team Members can report concerns or seek guidance without fear of retaliation. All our employees and leaders will sign off on our new Code of Conduct in 2023.

Human Rights Policy

We believe in treating people with respect and creating decent work opportunities and our new Human Rights Policy spells this out. We believe that all people have fundamental human rights that must be respected. We respect human rights in our direct operations and supply chains, and we will work collectively to influence improved working conditions and respect for Human Rights in our supply chains and industry.

Our Policy makes it clear that we will not tolerate discrimination and we will promote equal opportunity for our Team members and recognize their right to associate and bargain collectively. We also commit to ensuring we provide a safe and healthy environment in our operations. And we will work with our stakeholders to understand their concerns and any impact our business has on local communities. We will do all this transparently and accountably because we believe doing the right thing is good for business.

Forced Labor, Child Labour, and Modern Slavery

We recognize the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in global supply chains and are committed to taking appropriate measures to address these risks. We believe that all individuals have the right to work free from coercion, exploitation, or abuse, and we work to promote and uphold these rights. We take a zero-tolerance approach to child labour and modern slavery in our operations and supply chains and empower our team to report any concerns.

Supply Chain

There are human rights risks in some of the markets where our suppliers are located. We screen all suppliers for indications of human rights concerns and assess the risks of the markets and regions where they are located. When our Team Members are present in a supplier’s facilities, suppliers sign a code of conduct and agree to protect human rights. We will work with our suppliers to improve conditions in their operations. If a concern is identified, we work with suppliers to address the issue and we reserve the right to terminate relationships with any supplier who violates our Human Rights Policy and refuses to address concerns.

Training

As we roll-out our Code of Conduct and Human Rights Policy, we will provide training to all Team Members and Leaders. Training on these policies is part of our onboarding for all new employees and our Leadership is responsible for ensuring that all Team Members understand and respect our policies.

Stakeholder Engagement and Collective Action

We know that we have limited influence when we act alone, and we take collective action with other players in our industry to improve human rights and working conditions in entire value chain and industry. We will communicate our human rights commitments and commitment to ethical business practices to our stakeholders including our retail and wholesale suppliers. We will also listen to our partners and stakeholders to continue to develop innovative solutions to address environmental and social concerns and to ensure that we understand and can address new concerns as they arise.

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