We are delighted to share our latest impact report which outlines the numerous ways in which our business is working to hit major environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets.
B Corp certified
We were among Scotland’s first businesses to achieve B Corp status in 2015, having successfully demonstrated an unwavering high standard of social and environmental performance. And in our latest B Corp assessment, we achieved a 93.7 rating – the median score is 50.9 – up by 15% from our first scoring in 2015. In the last 12 months we have taken a number of steps in key areas to strengthen its standing impact areas.
Our CEO Andy Stapley said: “Our ways of working have always been based on the principles of sustainability and we want to make a positive impact on both our local and wider environment, both now and in the future, by doing the right thing to protect the people and places around us.
“Proving we’re not just talking the talk when it comes to sustainability, we are B Corp accredited which means we’ve proactively joined a community of like-minded businesses using their force for good and this report only highlights the work we have been successfully achieving up to this point.”
The impact report shows that our food donations to food waste charity FareShare have supported over 500 charities and prevented the waste of 22.4 tonnes of CO2e, while our other contributions have included the hosting of local secondary pupils as part of a foundation apprenticeship programme and funding a scholarship and three-month work placement for a university food science student.
To reduce our carbon footprint, we have invested £75,000 into the installation of a sub-metre network across the Glenbervie site to closely track energy use and identify ways to operate more efficiently. Since 2014, the business has been using power from two on-site wind turbines installed and owned by Glenbervie Wind and the installation of a 1.2MW on-site biomass facility in 2008 made us the first food manufacturer to produce ingredients using this technology.
Andy continued: “Since our move to Glenbervie in the seventies, we’ve closely aligned our ambitions to hit social and environmental goals, as well as financial targets, and have committed to continuous improvement across five key pillars covering governance, customers, communities, workers and the environment.
“We have made great strides as a company towards our goals, yet we are still steadfast on our ESG journey, making it a priority to not only give back to the land and our external stakeholders, but also our own Macphie family.”
Supporting employees
A winter payment scheme was also introduced to provide staff with an additional £750 to help with cost-of-living challenges, and in partnership with the Scottish Refugee Council, two Syrian refugees were taken on as full-time employees.