Our Home, Our World Responsible Business Report 2020/21 1 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

1 Introduction At Kingfisher, we are committed to doing 2 About Kingfisher 3 From our Chief Executive Officer everything we can to make a positive 4 Responding to the Covid-19 pandemic 6 Celebrating 30 years of impact for society so that all our homes – Responsible Business 7 Our Responsible Business strategy including our communities, our forests and 8 Four key priorities 9 Colleagues our planet – can flourish. 10 Our People and Culture plan 11 Launching our Inclusion and Diversity strategy Our Responsible Business Report provides highlights of our 17 Planet 18 Becoming Forest Positive progress from across our retail banners and key data for 21 Engaging suppliers in the leather 1 February 2020–31 January 2021. It summarises performance supply chain 22 Committed to ambitious climate against some of our targets, highlights key actions during change targets the year and explains our response to the challenging 26 Towards peat-free gardening 27 Customers circumstances created by the Covid-19 pandemic. 28 Our Sustainable Home Products 29 Our Sustainable Home Products principles We also publish a detailed performance data appendix with 30 Our sustainable products 35 Removing harmful chemicals further information on our performance and progress against 36 Reducing impacts from plastic targets. Our appendix includes details of how our reporting 37 Designing more sustainable packaging aligns with external frameworks such as the United Nations 38 Communities 39 Our network of local foundations Global Compact, the United Nations Sustainable Development 41 Partnering to increase our impact Goals and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 42 Getting our colleagues involved 44 If Walls Could Talk (SASB). See performance data appendix 2020/21. 45 Our Responsible Business Fundamentals 62 Assurance statement 2 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

About Kingfisher

Kingfisher plc is an international †* Our markets and our stores home improvement company with 80,000 (at 31 January 2021) over 1,380 stores in eight countries colleagues across Europe. We employ 80,000 people. At Kingfisher, our purpose ‡* is to make better homes accessible 1,386 for everyone. stores

We have ten distinct retail banners which address diverse customer needs. They are 2,990 powered by Kingfisher which provides key suppliers from benefits such as group sourcing, own exclusive over 80 countries brands, technology and partnerships.

UK & Ireland France UK & Ireland France 46% 35% 68% 18% £5,743m £4,309m £681m £181m UK & 1 Ireland Poland 1,023 83

Total sales* Retail profit

France2 Romania £12,343m £1,003m 214 35

Portugal 3 Other international Other international Spain Turkey* 19% 14% 28 140 £2,291m £141m

1 B&Q UK & Ireland 301, Screwfix UK & Ireland 722. † Total, not full-time equivalent. 2 Castorama 93, Brico Dépôt 121. ‡ The sale of our business in Russia was completed * Turkey joint venture not consolidated. on 30 September 2020. 3 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

From our Chief Executive Officer

2020/21 was an unprecedented Business priorities, applying our experience, the the Rainforest Alliance we will be investing in progress. We expect to exceed our target to year, one in which almost every strength of our teams, and our scale to achieve a projects to protect, restore and enable the reach one million people by 2025, and have now positive impact. responsible management of tropical forests increased our ambition to two million. aspect of our personal and in some of the countries at most risk of professional lives was disrupted. deforestation. During 2021/22, we expect to make further Becoming a more inclusive company progress on our Responsible Business priorities I would like to express my thanks to all and I look forward to updating you on the results colleagues for their extraordinary achievements Our ambition is to create an inclusive and Making greener, healthier homes of our efforts next year. during this time. They have kept our businesses diverse environment across Kingfisher. We affordable running efficiently, approaching the many truly believe that being diverse and having Thierry Garnier challenges with grit, determination, sensitivity differences, enriches our company and makes When customers shop in one of our stores, Chief Executive Officer and commitment. As a result of their efforts, us better. We know how important this is to we want them to have certainty that they are we made substantial strategic, operational and colleagues and to our stakeholders. getting great products at competitive prices financial progress, and we’re coming out of which have been responsibly sourced and have the Covid crisis a stronger business. It is both We have more to do to become truly a low or positive environmental impact. So I’m humbling and inspiring to be part of this team. representative of the communities in which we pleased to report that 42% of our sales this operate, and to help us get there, our Board year came from products that help create a approved our ‘Inclusion and Diversity’ strategy more sustainable home – from LED lighting and Responsible Business – a strategic in 2020. Each of our retail banners has now chemical-free gardening products, to water- priority developed an inclusivity action plan, setting out efficient taps and energy-efficient power tools. the steps we’ll take. It is sobering to consider that despite the enormity of the Covid crisis, it is just one among many Fixing unfit housing in our communities social, economic and environmental challenges. Helping tackle climate change Our recent research report, ‘If Walls Could Talk’, Issues such as climate change, inequality, mental The urgency of the environmental crisis shows that millions of people across Europe are health and housing standards – to name a few – all continues to intensify. We have already cut living in unfit housing, and this has been made require urgent action. We are committed to playing operational carbon emissions by 27% since worse by the pandemic. To fulfil our purpose to our part, and at the heart of our strategic plan, 2016/17. As a result, we’ve reviewed our science- make better homes accessible for everyone, we Powered by Kingfisher, there is a commitment based carbon reduction target, and have need to help change this. to lead the industry in Responsible Business committed to make the investments needed practices. This is prioritised at the highest levels to align it with the 1.5°C scenario set out in the We are committed to make better homes of our business, with our Board-level Responsible Paris Climate Agreement. accessible for everyone. Since 2016/17, we have Business Committee and our Group Executive supported 791,000 people whose housing needs Committee (GE) overseeing our efforts. We’ve been committed to responsible sourcing are greatest, to help them have a home that of wood and paper for 30 years. Now, we are they can feel proud of. Our charity partnerships Despite the upheaval of last year, we have going further, aiming to be ‘Forest Positive’ and the launch of our network of charitable by 2025. Through our new partnership with made strong progress across our Responsible foundations will help us further accelerate our Thierry Garnier, Chief Executive Officer, Kingfisher plc 4 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Responding to the Covid-19 pandemic

During the pandemic, we have We also engaged with suppliers to encourage been focused on serving our the adoption of Covid-secure working practices by the factories in our supply chain. This customers’ essential needs included carrying out online checks in some as effectively as possible, locations to make sure their workers’ health was while protecting the safety being protected. of our customers, colleagues and suppliers, and supporting communities and governments. Supporting our communities Personal protective equipment (PPE) is critical for frontline healthcare workers but during the Operating safely for colleagues Covid-19 crisis supplies often did not meet the and customers unprecedented levels of demand. In 2020, we ringfenced our stock of PPE for several weeks, When the pandemic struck, we voluntarily worth over £2.5 million, reserving it for donation closed our stores in the UK and France for to frontline healthcare organisations across several weeks to protect colleagues and our markets. customers and limit the spread of the virus. This was despite our businesses in these We also supported local charities who work with markets holding ‘essential retailer’ status. communities affected by the pandemic through donations worth over £1 million. An additional As we reopened our stores and logistics £1.5 million was raised by our colleagues and centres, we implemented stringent customers. safety measures including: use of PPE for colleagues, limiting customer numbers, increased hygiene and measures to enable Supporting colleague wellbeing social distancing. During the pandemic we have also taken action We engaged with governments throughout to help colleagues look after their wellbeing and the pandemic, including sharing best practice mental health, whether they were working from examples of our health and safety measures home or from one of our stores or distribution in our stores. Our approach was recognised by centres. This has included: providing a range of the UK Government, with B&Q used as a case resources and information with partners such study on the Coronavirus Business Support as the Retail Trust in the UK and Alterhego in blog www.gov.uk. France; delivering mental health training; and our Wellness Wednesdays which encouraged colleagues to dedicate time to their wellbeing. 5 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

We introduced guidance for colleagues working We have also repaid furlough payments from home to help them look after their health (£25 million) and business rates relief in the UK and wellbeing as well as ensuring they had the and Republic of Ireland (foregoing £105 million), right equipment to be able to work effectively. the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) (£600 million) and the Pret We also introduced new and more frequent garanti par l’Etat in France (€600 million). communication, to keep everyone engaged and informed. This included regular Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Group Executive vlogs, weekly “Throughout this challenging leader messages and e-newsletters, meetings time, we have remained of the Kingfisher Colleague Forum (seepage 16 ) and our annual engagement survey which committed to making focused on our response to the pandemic and the right decisions for whether colleagues felt well supported. colleagues, customers and communities, focusing Operating responsibly on keeping people safe, We adjusted our approach to remuneration where necessary during the pandemic to donating personal protective support colleagues and safeguard the business. equipment and supporting

We reduced senior management pay for the those most in need.” Group Executive for three months, and for Thierry Garnier, the CEO and CFO for four months, during Chief Executive Officer of Kingfisher plc the early stages of the pandemic to reflect the challenging business environment. In addition, there was no bonus paid for 2019/20 performance for the CEO and CFO. Fees for non-executive directors were also reduced for six months.

During the year, we continued to pay the salaries of colleagues who were shielding and unable to work. We also paid a bonus to our frontline store colleagues across all our banners to recognise their hard work during the pandemic. 6 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Celebrating 30 years of Responsible Business

1993 2009 2010 2017 2020 2021 B&Q was a founding Brico Dépôt France Partnered with the Launched charitable 1.5˚C science-based partner of the Forest started to support homeless and housing foundations in the UK, target approved by ® & 2011 Stewardship Council Fondation Abbé Pierre, B&Q awarded the charity Shelter to help Romania and France. the Science Based ® (FSC ) to help us the French housing NGO. “Best Green people who experienced Target initiative. source responsibly Companies” by homelessness feel safe managed wood. Sunday Times. and secure.

1991 1998 2011 2012 2018 2019 Published our first First UK retailer to label Founding partner to the Net Positive strategy First net zero energy Set 2˚C science-based responsible timber and cut VOCs in paint. Ellen MacArthur Foundation, launched, committing Screwfix outlet opened targets approved by the policy at B&Q and were pioneering circular to a restorative in Peterborough, total of Science Based Target economy approaches. impact by 2050. 10 net zero stores in the initiative. a founding member of © MINIMAL Group in 2020. the WWF 1995+ Group. VOC CONTENT 0% to 0.29% VOCs. (Volatile Organic Compounds) contribute to atmospheric pollution.

© Copyright 1997 B&Q plc All rights reserved 7 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Our Responsible Business strategy

We have been working on Our priorities have been informed by research Responsible Business governance More detail about our approach to governance Responsible Business issues for with our customers, our materiality assessment and our Responsible Business policies is (see page 61) and external frameworks such as Underpinning our strategy, we have strong included on page 57. nearly three decades, helping to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They Responsible Business governance processes, pioneer new approaches, from reflect our most significant impacts and the informed by stakeholder engagement and our the responsible sourcing of wood areas where we have the opportunity to make a materiality process. The UN Sustainable Development and paper, to innovative charitable significant positive difference. Goals partnerships and creating more Our Responsible Business Committee (RBC) sustainable products for our We have set ambitious targets for each priority which met for the first time in 2020, leads and We support the UN Sustainable Development and established key performance indicators oversees delivery of our Responsible Business Goals that provide a framework for customers. (KPIs) to help drive progress. strategy. The RBC is a Committee of the Board governments, business and civil society to work and is chaired by non-executive director Sophie together to end poverty, fight inequality and We are committed on playing our part in the big Our targets and measurement approach have Gasperment. Its members are our CEO, a stop climate change by 2030. challenges facing us today, such as Covid-19, been developed with sustainability organisation second non-executive director, our Chief Offer climate change and inequality. We want to play Bioregional, who are experts in the development & Sourcing Officer, our Chief People Officer We have reviewed our progress and strategy our part in helping tackle these challenges of sustainable communities and in measuring and a banner CEO. The Committee’s role is against the UN Sustainable Development – enabling our customers and communities and monitoring sustainability performance. integral to setting the ambition, facilitating and Goals and have identified the priority goals for to have better, more sustainable homes and monitoring Kingfisher’s Responsible Business our business. For more information see our helping to protect our forests and our planet for Details on scope and calculations are included in strategy. The Committee met twice during the performance data appendix. the future. our data collection methodology. year to review progress on our key priorities and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks and plans to meet three times in 2021. Reporting standards and disclosure Four key priorities Our Responsible Business Fundamentals We have a three-year Responsible Business plan We align with a number of external disclosure Our Responsible Business strategy focuses on for the Group and have worked with our Group initiatives including CDP, the Workforce the four priorities where we can best use our Our priorities are underpinned by our functions and banners to integrate Responsible Disclosure Initiative (WDI), the Global Reporting experience, scale and influence to bring about commitment to our Responsible Business Business actions into their three-year plans. We Initiative (GRI), and Task Force on Climate- positive change in our business, communities, Fundamentals – the many issues and impacts have a central Responsible Business team, led Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD). supply chain and beyond: we need to measure and manage to ensure by our Group Director of Corporate Affairs with we continue to operate responsibly across subject experts in our Group functions and a From this year, we are further aligning our — Colleagues: becoming a more inclusive our business. We have clear policies in each Responsible Business lead in each banner. reporting with the Sustainability Accounting company. of these areas, from health and safety to Standards Board (SASB) standards for Multiline — Planet: helping to tackle climate change and responsible sourcing, cyber security and data To encourage focus on our Responsible and Speciality Retailers and Distributors. We create more forests than we use. protection, and ethical conduct, to ensure we Business priorities, in FY 20/21, for the first now publish a SASB Index with our Responsible — Customers: helping to make greener, take a consistent best practice approach across time, we linked a portion of our colleague bonus Business Report showing where relevant data healthier homes affordable. our banners. programme to our performance against our and disclosures can be found. We publish a GRI — Communities: fighting to fix bad housing. key Responsible Business priorities, and will index on our website. continue to do so in FY 21/22. 8 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Four key priorities

Colleagues Planet Customers Communities We will be a more inclusive We will be Forest Positive and help We will help make greener, healthier We will fight to fix bad housing company tackle climate change homes affordable Our commitment Our commitment Our commitment Our commitment We will fight to fix bad housing – donating our We will become a more inclusive company and We will help tackle climate change by reducing We will help millions of customers have a products, expertise and time to help more than break down barriers to employment, making carbon emissions from our business, products greener, healthier home – one that is resource- one million people whose housing needs are sure every one of our colleagues feels at and supply chains; and by creating more forests efficient, uses planet-friendly materials and is greatest in the communities we serve. home with us, shares in our success and builds than we use. We will become Forest Positive by free from harmful chemicals. skills for life. 2025 by investing in reforestation from 2021. Our targets Our target — Help more than one million people whose Our targets Our targets — 50% of sales to be from our Sustainable housing needs are greatest by 2025. — Develop an inclusivity action plan for each of — Source 100% sustainable wood and paper for Home Products by the end of 2020/21. — Provide over 20,000 colleague volunteering our businesses in 2020/21. our products and catalogues by 2020/21. hours to support housing and home — Improve gender balance in management — Achieve our approved science-based carbon improvement projects in 2020/21. in 2020/21. reduction target by 2025. — Provide five million hours of skills for life — Become Forest Positive by 2025. learning by 2025.

Responsible Business Fundamentals* Employee Responsible Waste & Ethical Cyber security Tax governance & Public policy Pensions safety sourcing recycling conduct & data protection risk management

Governance including stakeholder engagement and materiality

*  This Report summarises progress against targets for our four key priorities. Further detail and other targets are covered in our data appendix. 9 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance Colleagues We will be a more inclusive company

We will become a more inclusive company and one that better Our targets reflects the customers and —D evelop an inclusivity action communities we serve. Our plan for each of our banners and colleagues will feel empowered to Group functions in 2020/21. be themselves, will feel at home — Improve gender balance in with us, building skills, progressing management in 2020/21. their careers and sharing in — Provide five million hours of skills our success. for life learning by 2025. We recognise that we have more to do to become truly representative of the communities in which we operate and to Our progress meet the expectations of our colleagues Developed a Group-wide Inclusion and and customers. Our ambition is to create an Diversity strategy and action plan, with inclusive and diverse environment across each banner building its own inclusion and Kingfisher. We believe this adds business diversity plan. value and helps create positive outcomes for colleagues, customers and communities. Gender balance improved at Board level from 38% to 44% with a slight Inclusion is not just about valuing diversity – it improvement in all managers from 35% encompasses all the things we do to create a to 36%. We have set new targets for 2025, culture and workplace where everyone feels see page 11. valued and respected, can be themselves and reach their potential. Colleagues completed 3.27 million hours of training during 2020/21. From 2021, we Following the launch of our Powered by will increase focus on youth employability Kingfisher strategy, we have developed a new and social mobility. People and Culture plan (see page 10) including a Group-wide Inclusion and Diversity strategy and action plan. 10 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Our People and Culture plan

Our focus on inclusion is part of our People and Culture plan, developed with input from hundreds of our colleagues. The plan has four key priorities:

1. Creating a balanced operating model. We are maximising the benefits of our distinct retail banners with the scale, strength and expertise of the Kingfisher Group. This includes establishing clear roles and accountabilities for the banners and Kingfisher central functions.

2. Developing capabilities to fuel growth. We are focused on investing in the core capabilities that will be required to realise our growth aspirations, with a particular focus on our commercial and technology functions.

3. Creating an agile, inclusive culture led by trust. We have focused on a ‘done is better than perfect’ approach at Kingfisher so that we can respond dynamically to the increasing pace of change. Covid-19 required us to react quickly to changing events and simplify our ways of working.

4. Developing diverse leaders who inspire performance and pride. Our leaders are adopting new ways of working, becoming more visible and available to their teams while maintaining a constant focus on supporting and inspiring colleagues. 11 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Launching our Inclusion and Diversity strategy

Our Group-wide Inclusion and These provided a forum for colleagues to areas of representation to reflect where we are of good practices on all aspects of inclusion Diversity strategy and action plan share their experiences, including the impact of today and the varying societal and legislative and diversity across our banners and provide stereotypes and bias in the workplace. Our CEO, environments in which we operate. opportunities to share information and is focused on four themes (see Chief People Officer and Group Executive were lessons learned. graphic). It was developed by our actively involved in this process. Our new targets to improve gender balance in People and Culture taskforce, a 2025 are: During 2021/22, we’ll focus on further listening cross-section of representatives Drawing on our Group strategy, each banner — Increase women in senior leadership to 35%. sessions to understand colleagues’ lived from around the business and has built its own inclusion and diversity plan — Increase women in management roles to 40%. experiences at work, increased internal and included input from colleagues via specific to its market and demographic. At customer communications on diversity, B&Q this process has involved a culture review See page 13 for our performance on gender embedding inclusion in recruitment practices ‘listening sessions’. carried out by a consultancy, Green Park, which balance during 2020/21. including use of balanced shortlists, removing included interviews and focus groups involving bias in people processes, and training for colleagues from across the business. We have tied the results to leadership incentives. managers and leaders. We will also establish an Inclusion Advisory We have targets across the Kingfisher group on Board sponsored by a member of our Group gender balance and localised targets on other Executive. This will encourage the adoption

Senior A Culture of Customer Learning for Life Leadership Inclusion Proposition Our impact on society is Our senior leadership Our culture supports We commit to accessible amplified through investing team role models everyone to thrive and inclusive products, and in skills and work Inclusion and Diversity and succeed multichannel experiences experience Representation and authentic Deep understanding of diverse groups Inclusive, accessible design Targeted initiatives focused on addressing sponsors of culture change. to enhance the ‘lived experience’. as a brand differentiator. disadvantaged youth unemployment.

Creating a platform to power and support locally targeted Banner Plans

In practice/for example: In practice/for example: In practice/for example: In practice/for example: Several Group Executive members are Our Kingfisher Colleague Forum will be B&Q has introduced sunflower lanyards in its Castorama and Brico Dépôt France are sponsoring our LGBTQ+, Race and Culture, discussing plans and progress on our stores (see page 12). partnering with ‘Nos Quartiers ont du Talent’ and Gender affinity networks (see page 12). Inclusion and Diversity strategy (see page 16). to support disadvantaged young people (see page 14). 12 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Celebrating inclusivity Three of our senior leaders are ambassadors for the Retail Week Be Inspired programme, which As part of our commitment to inclusivity and promotes gender balance at all levels across the providing a welcoming environment, we’re UK retail sector. We have joined MISSION Include supporting colleagues to form LGBTQ+, Race – a cross-company international mentoring and Culture, and Gender affinity groups. programme with over 190 organisations These networks provide a support forum for involved – which focuses on broader inclusion, colleagues to share experiences and ideas with beyond gender. each other and our leadership, and organise events and activities to promote understanding of diversity. We are also launching networks at banner level, including six affinity groups at B&Q Promoting inclusivity at Brico Dépôt Diversity partners in the UK during 2021/22. In addition, our Women in Tech France network has been running since 2015. We were Our banners work with organisations shortlisted for the LGBTQI Network of the year Brico Dépôt is taking action to increase promoting best practice for diversity and DIVA award in 2020. workplace diversity and create an inclusive inclusion. B&Q, for example, is a member of working environment. This includes tools and the Business Disability Forum and is a Level 2 We celebrate diversity through communications training for stores managers, HR teams and Disability Confident Employer. Its CEO joined campaigns and events. In 2020/21, this included regional directors, focusing on preventing bias Valuable 500 in 2020, a business initiative, broadening our Black History month programme or discrimination in the recruitment process. aiming to advance disability inclusion. As part with speakers from diverse backgrounds to A digital version will be launched in 2021, of this commitment, B&Q has introduced stimulate conversation and discussion. All so the training can be completed by more sunflower lanyards in its stores. These enable colleagues in the UK were invited to attend a colleagues. anyone with an invisible disability to discreetly talk by John Amaechi, the psychologist, on how let store staff know that they may need to be an anti-racist organisation. Charlie Martin, It has agreed diversity targets with colleague extra help when shopping. B&Q colleagues the first transgender racing driver, shared her trade unions to increase representation of have received training on the lanyards and experiences at a session during LGBTQ History women in management and sales roles over supporting customers. B&Q is also part of Month in early 2021. the next two years. Unstereotype Alliance, an initiative led by UN Women to fight gender-based stereotypes It supports people with disabilities to become in advertising and is a Stonewall Diversity Partnering on diversity Brico Dépôt colleagues and customers, works Champion. B&Q has also recently worked with specialist disability organisations, and with Stonewall and Gendered Intelligence to Our CEO and Chairman are members of the 30% ran an awareness campaign during European refresh its Transgender Equality policy. Club which aims to increase representation of Disability Week. women on boards and executive committees. We Screwfix is working with Stonewall, the leading have signed BRC’s new Better Jobs Diversity and charity for lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality, and Inclusion Charter, making six pledges that will help partnering with MIND to promote mental health. improve diversity and inclusion in the retail sector. 13 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Castorama Poland has been a signatory to How are we doing on diversity and the Responsible Business Forum’s Diversity inclusion? Gender balance Charter since 2013, committing to equal rights % of female colleagues based on and respect for all colleagues. During 2020/21, Our data shows that our workforce is largely headcount it has been working with the Forum to develop gender balanced overall but that women best practice standards for protecting the are under-represented at senior levels of 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people in the workplace. executive leadership. It will also be participating in the national Total workforce 42% 42% 43% Diversity In Check benchmark, enabling it We have one board member from an ethnic All management 36% 35% 36% to compare its progress on diversity and minority. We do not currently collect data on inclusion with other companies. Castorama ethnic diversity in our workforce. This is due to Senior 23% 24% 23% Poland already offers equal benefits to regulatory restrictions in some of our markets. management * partners in same-sex relationships as well as In 2021/22, we will be improving our data on Group Executive 18% 17% 17% running diversity training for colleagues and ethnic diversity in the UK to enable us to set a having a non-discrimination policy that covers target and report progress from 2022/23. Board of 55% 38% 44% recruitment, promotion, development and Directors training processes. We will include questions on the inclusiveness of our culture in our annual colleague Senior management includes Group survey, shared with the Board, so we can Executive members, banner board monitor colleagues’ feedback on how they directors and heads of department. experience our progress and enable us to Executive directors are members of derive a baseline from which we can set an our Group Executive. improvement target. Our latest gender pay report (2020) shows a median pay gap of 2.0% (2019: 1.1%) and mean pay gap of 10.1% (2018/19: 10.6%) for all UK Group and retail banner employees. It shows a bonus pay gap Gender balance: of 50.0% median (2019: 14.6%) and women in management 46.5% mean (2019: 39.9%). These gaps reflect the higher pay for our senior management, many of whom are male. 36% Read the report on our website. In 2022, we plan to publish our ethnicity pay gap in the UK.

* Senior management covers Board, directors and heads of department 14 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Learning and development At B&Q we have created a comprehensive suite Screwfix, already an employer provider of of online learning, ‘Grow in B&Q’, which includes apprenticeships, is now developing its own Retail Supporting young people in France Our commitment to learning and development sessions on useful business behaviours and Level 3 and 4 apprenticeship programmes with helps to build skills for life for all colleagues. We skills, and has expanded to help colleagues who 381 enrolled so far. To date, over 85% of their At Castorama and Brico Dépôt France offer a range of opportunities for colleagues to have found themselves working remotely and apprentices have been successfully promoted we partner with universities and business learn new skills and keep improving and growing virtually. This includes webinars and resources since completing the programme. schools to recruit apprentices for store- – building skills for life. Powered by our Learning on working in a virtual world, stress busting, based undergraduate and master’s and Development teams across the Group, we ways to deal with angry children and coping Over 850 colleagues are completing degree placements. During the year, have extended our virtual learning opportunities as a parent working from home. Essential apprenticeships at B&Q covering 28 subjects Brico Dépôt France doubled the number during 2020/21 to enable training to continue management skills for first line managers are from retail management to digital marketing. It of apprentices it employed from 274 to during the pandemic. Colleagues completed over brought to life in a programme delivered to has also transferred £300,000 in Apprenticeship 549, recognising the disproportionate 3.27 million hours of training during 2020/21. around 300 people. Levy Funds to The Solent Apprenticeship Hub, impact the pandemic was having on young Transfer to Transform scheme, to support 12 people. This included developing some In the UK, we launched our MYLO (My Learning Our product training offer includes physical trade apprentices at local small and medium bespoke training sessions for apprentices Online) learning management system, giving and digital learning experiences to enable businesses in the Solent area. in partnership with a national training colleagues access to a wealth of online learning store colleagues to learn about our ranges centre. Castorama France has 534 resources available 24/7, allowing them to learn and gain insights into customer needs and key In Romania, Brico Dépôt has begun a new apprentices. at a time and place that suits them. In addition, home improvement projects. In 2020/21, we partnership with a vocational school, enabling our focus on mental health and wellbeing has delivered virtual sessions to support the launch students on vocational courses relevant to Our French banners are also partnering seen over 10,000 colleagues complete an online of the new kitchen range in France and Poland. the retail sector to complete internships at with Nos Quartiers ont des Talents (NQT), mental health awareness course as well as Across the Group, over 14,500 colleagues have our stores. an association that supports young having access to other resources to promote accessed our digital product training modules. graduates living in disadvantaged urban wellbeing during the Covid crisis. “Being on the apprenticeship areas to find employment. Some of our senior colleagues are working with the At Screwfix, our Learning for Life programme Support for youth employment programme has helped me young people as mentors, helping them to is helping colleagues build skills that support gain confidence and providing networking them in their day-to-day lives. It includes From 2021, we will focus on initiatives that gain confidence as a woman opportunities as well as careers advice. training modules focusing on good financial support youth employability and social mobility. in the home improvement management, maths and English skills, We aim to report on our progress in this area digital awareness and career development. from next year. world. I have developed In partnership with Google Digital Garage, from a sales advisor to a Screwfix has also held a series of business and Existing programmes include our apprenticeship career skills webinars. schemes that help colleagues to gain section manager in 3 years.” new qualifications and can support youth Melanie Gill, 21 years old, Section Manager in In Castorama Poland, our team has developed employment and promote social mobility. We Vandoeuvre, Castorama France a new programme for aspiring section leaders offered over 2,300 apprenticeships across which has seen over 300 colleagues benefit Kingfisher in 2020/21. from 1-2-1 coaching sessions. 15 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Supporting wellbeing We have a similar EAP programme in France, Romania and Iberia and, since early 2021, are A focus on wellbeing and engagement helps working with Welln’ Work, an EAP provider us create the conditions for colleagues to in Turkey. be successful at Kingfisher. This has never been more important than in the past year Other wellbeing programmes vary by location as we have learnt to navigate life during a and include: promoting healthy lifestyle global pandemic. choices; EAP services such as counselling, financial and legal advice or specialist support; We aim to support colleagues to look after occupational health services; and discounted their mental, physical, social and financial rates on healthcare and medical benefits for health. In early 2021, we launched surveys colleagues and their families. across our global teams to understand how the periods of remote working have affected them. We plan to build on the results of the surveys over the coming year, taking learnings from Prioritising mental health during the pandemic the experiences we have all had, to identify how we can further support our colleagues’ During the pandemic we have taken action to There is no question that the impacts of wellbeing moving forward. help colleagues look after their wellbeing and the pandemic on mental health have been mental health whether they were working significant. We understand the vital role We have trained and continue to train our from home or from one of our stores or our line managers play in supporting their leaders on our approach to wellness and how distribution centres. teams’ wellbeing and the challenges this to support this in their teams. We have three last year may have brought. To support levels of leadership training and each includes This has included: providing a range of them, we rolled out training to all UK line an element of wellness, exploring topics resources and information with partners managers to help them to identify colleagues including purpose and values, growth mindsets, such as the Retail Trust in the UK and experiencing mental health issues and assist improving physical health, and adopting Alterhego in France; delivering mental health them to access the right support. micro-habits – taking small steps towards a training; and Wellness Wednesdays which wellness goal. encouraged colleagues to dedicate time to Our Covid-19 safety measures are outlined their wellbeing. Our banners and HR teams on page 46. All colleagues in the UK can use our ran a variety of webinars and live events online portal with training and advice on for colleagues on topics such as how to many aspects of wellness provided by the cope with home-schooling and improving Retail Trust, our UK Employee Assistance emotional resilience. Programme (EAP) provider. This includes access to counselling support when needed. 16 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Talking with our colleagues We continue to have high engagement across the Group, with our overall engagement score Our colleague forums help us to engage, increasing from 79 to 81 (vs the retail average inform and communicate with colleagues of 66, as defined by our external engagement around the Group, and give colleagues the survey partner). opportunity to share their ideas and influence decision-making. In 2020/21, dialogue with our colleague forum representatives and union Sharing in our collective future members from the different banners has been crucial in developing our banners’ response With our new strategic plan, we want to give all to Covid-19. our colleagues the opportunity to be part of our collective future. We launched an all-colleague Our Kingfisher Colleague Forum (KCF), for share plan: the ‘1+1 Sharing in Our Future’ plan elected colleague representatives from each which gives every one of our 80,000 colleagues market and global functions, met four times the opportunity to become shareholders in during the year and is hosted by the Group the company. CEO and a non-executive director. The first meeting was dedicated to the Covid-19 We are delighted that over 9,300 (c.12%) of our response. Other meetings focused on a colleagues signed up from stores, head offices, range of subjects including communication, sourcing offices and call centres, with every employee reward, employee benefits and market represented. Around 75% of those organisational change. Ideas and issues participating work in our stores. The new plan raised at Forum meetings are reviewed by will mean every share bought by a colleague leadership in our markets, and with our Board will be matched by Kingfisher on a one-for- of Directors. one basis after a six-month contribution and 12-month holding period. The current plan will We also have colleague forums in our banners be in place until July 2022. and, more recently, for Group functions.

About our workforce How engaged are our colleagues? We created 4,800 new jobs in our stores in the 79% of colleagues responded to our 2020 UK, France and Poland in 2020/21, bringing colleague engagement survey which included our total workforce to 80,000 colleagues. Our questions on our response to Covid-19 and the employee turnover rate was 25% (2019/20: 32%). support provided to colleagues. This includes voluntary and involuntary leavers. 17 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance Planet We will be Forest Positive and help tackle climate change

Forests are vital for the health of our planet, our communities and our Our targets homes. Yet today deforestation and — 100% responsibly sourced wood forest degradation are continuing at and paper for our products and alarming rates. catalogues by 2020/21. —A chieve our approved science- We are one of the largest buyers of wood products in Europe, with wood and paper based carbon reduction present in around a quarter of all the products target by 2025. we sell, from kitchen cabinets and sheds to paint — Become Forest Positive by 2025 brush handles and sandpaper. through reforestation projects from 2021. For almost 30 years, we’ve been committed to sourcing wood and paper responsibly, starting with the first responsible timber policy published at B&Q in 1991 and becoming a founding Our progress member of the Forest Stewardship Council 81% of wood and paper in our products (FSC) in 1993. Now, we are stepping up our is responsibly sourced and 100% of efforts to go even further, aiming to become catalogue paper. Forest Positive by 2025. We’re partnering with the Rainforest Climate change is one of the biggest challenges Alliance as a founding member of of our time and we are committed to supporting its Forest Allies initiative to support global efforts to reach net zero emissions reforestation projects from 2021. by 2050. We have already made significant reductions in emissions from our operations We have reduced absolute scope 1 and and have committed to strengthen our science- 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 27%, based carbon reduction target covering our meeting our original science-based business, products and supply chains. carbon reduction target ahead of schedule. 18 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Becoming Forest Positive

Wood and paper are the largest natural resources used across Kingfisher. We’ve been working on responsible wood and paper sourcing since the early 1990s but now we’re going further, aiming to ©Marek Stefunko become Forest Positive.

Our approach to creating more forest than we use has three elements:

1. 100% responsibly sourced wood and paper across our business. This covers any product containing wood and paper; as well as our catalogues, packaging and construction. This is our main focus area as wood and paper are found in around a quarter of our products. We’re currently at 81% for wood and paper in products. For paper in our catalogues, we’re at 100% responsibly sourced. 2. No deforestation through the other materials we use. We use smaller amounts of other materials that can contribute to deforestation. We are currently focusing on deforestation risks relating to leather supply chains, which is used in some products such as gardening gloves and workwear boots. 100% responsibly No deforestation Protecting and 3. Protecting and restoring forests. We’re sourced wood and through the other restoring tropical partnering with Rainforest Alliance as a paper across our materials we use forests founding member of its Forest Allies initiative. In FY 21/22 we will start investing in projects business to protect, restore and enable the responsible management of tropical forests in key regions at most risk of deforestation. Forest Positive 19 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Committed to the sustainable sourcing Partnering with the Rainforest Alliance “When customers shop in one of our stores, we want them to of wood and paper have certainty that not only is the wood they buy responsibly Forest communities and indigenous people We’ve spent decades working to improve the play a vital role in protecting forests around sourced, but they’re buying it from someone committed to sourcing of wood and paper for our products, the world. If we are to restore forests, halt protecting and helping to restore the planet’s forests. This ensuring it comes from well-managed forests deforestation and forest degradation, we need partnership will help us to achieve that.” that continue to grow and thrive. to work in partnership with local people to Thierry Garnier, create long-lasting change. Our Wood and Paper policy covers both Chief Executive Officer of Kingfisher plc our products and operations. It commits Forest Allies is a new and innovative approach us to buy wood and paper that is sourced by Rainforest Alliance which aims to do just that. “Forest Allies emphasizes the importance of forest from well-managed forests that have been It aims to support forest communities to build communities as guardians of the forest. We are pleased to certified to credible certification standards or strong local economies, while also protecting welcome Kingfisher as a founding member of Forest Allies, recycled sources. the natural resources they depend upon. and look forward to working together to forge new solutions We require suppliers to provide proof of Chain We’re a founding member of the Forest to ensure that people and nature thrive in harmony.” of Custody certification, demonstrating that Allies initiative. Over the next three years, Daniel Katz, the wood and paper is sourced from certified we’ll be investing in projects that protect, Founder and Board Chair, Rainforest Alliance well-managed forests. We train colleagues restore and enable responsible management and suppliers on our approach, and monitor of tropical forests in key regions at most compliance via spot checks and product testing. risk of deforestation, partnering with local Our approach is overseen by our Forest Positive communities to build strong, local forest-based working group and steering group. economies. We work with others on sustainable timber We will measure our progress, assessing sourcing, including as members of FSC® and whether: PEFC, board members of PEFC International — the natural and cultural value of the forest is and UK, and Chair of the British Retail protected or restored; Consortium’s Timber Working Group. — local communities are supported at scale as ecosystem stewards; Calculating the environmental benefits of — responsible forest management is enhanced certification can be complex. In 2021/22, we and monitored; will participate in a pilot with Gold Standard, — communities are supported in adapting to ISEAL and FSC to develop a methodology for and mitigating climate change; and calculating the carbon reductions associated — livelihoods from forest product value chains with use of FSC certified wood. We will are strengthened. report progress in our next Responsible ©Rainforest Alliance, Mohsin Kazmi Business Report. 20 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

85% responsibly sourced wood 100% of catalogue paper in all retail banners met Our responsibly sourced wood and paper by category 2020/21 and paper our responsible purchasing criteria in 2020/21 number SKUs (products) purchased (2019/20: 100%). In 2020/21, we expanded our data collection 491 Verifiable to include our banners in Poland, Romania and Improvements to our data collection process recycled material 15,872 Spain and Screwfix. Our data shows that around have highlighted a number of challenges 2% FSC-certified 81% of the wood and paper used in products relating to the availability of compliant wood 64% sourced (per number SKUs purchased) during and paper in some markets, as well as a need the year met our responsible purchasing for more training and communication with local criteria. This equates to 85% of the value of buying teams. We will continue working with our our goods for resale (GFR) wood products banners to address these challenges in 2021/22. purchased in the financial year. We are working towards all packaging made Last year, our data covered three banners: B&Q, from paper and board to be certified as 8,602 PEFC-certified Castorama France and Brico Dépôt France. sustainably sourced by 2025, as part of our (includes endorsed In 2020/21, these three banners reached 91% sustainable packaging strategy. See page 37. schemes) 34% responsibly sourced wood and paper compared with 94% the previous year. We disclosed our performance through CDP Forest and received a rating of B in relation to timber. We were not able to participate in 2019 due to issues with our data collection process. We aim to increase our score over time as we develop our Forest Positive commitment. We scored D in relation to cattle products and expect to see an improvement in this score as “We are working we progress our work on leather sourcing. See towards all paper and page 60 for more details on CDP. board packaging to be See our performance data appendix for more certified as sustainably detailed data. sourced by 2025.” You can read more about our process for collecting wood and paper data in our data 85% collection methodology. of wood and paper in our products is from proven, well-managed 100% forests or recycled sources* of catalogue paper meets our responsible sourcing criteria * 85% of the value of our goods for resale (GFR) wood products purchased in the financial year meets our responsible purchasing criteria. 21 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Engaging suppliers in the leather supply chain

Leather production can contribute Traceability is a challenge in the leather industry to deforestation when land is and has meant we have not previously been able deforested to make way for cattle to reliably track the hides we purchase back to source. grazing. Parts of the leather industry are also known for poor In 2020/21, we joined the Leather Working practices such as the unsafe use of Group (LWG), which promotes environmental chemicals in the tanning process. improvements in the leather supply chain. This has enabled us to identify the tanneries in our Although we use relatively small volumes supply chain for own exclusive brand (OEB) of leather for products such as gloves and products. footwear (less than 0.2% of sales) we want to ensure it is sourced responsibly. During 2021/22, we will be using one of the LWG tools to help us map our leather supply chain in more detail to identify where hides are sourced from and any potential deforestation risks.

13 of the tanneries that supply leather for our products have been audited by the LWG and 12 of those have achieved a Gold or Silver rating.

We are continuing to develop a leather roadmap focusing on: — Sourcing leather from certified tanneries that meet best practice standards for human rights and worker welfare. — Requiring tanneries to undergo regular independent audits. — Compliance with our Restricted Substances List (RSL) for footwear and accessories which includes requirements on the safe use of 13 chemicals. of the tanneries that supply leather Our Group team is advising our banners on how to apply our standards to locally sourced leather. for our products have been audited by the LWG and 12 of those have We are also exploring alternatives to leather for achieved a Gold or Silver rating some product lines including footwear. Site Cotton & Leather Rigger Gloves 22 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Committed to ambitious climate change targets

Climate change is one of the – a campaign led by the Science Based Targets Our carbon emissions (scope 1 and 2 market-based) initiative (SBTi) in partnership with the UN Global biggest challenges of our time. We thousand tonnes CO2e from property and transport Compact and the We Mean Business coalition. want to support global efforts to New target 2025/26 176.0

reach net zero emissions by 2050 We disclose our performance on climate change 2020/21 205.8 and participate in various external benchmarks. at the latest. 2019/20 228.1 This includes the CDP Climate Change disclosure Our original carbon targets were approved by initiative for which we received a score of A- in 2020. 2018/19 232.8 the Science Based Targets initiative in 2019 2017/18 251.6

and we met our operational target ahead We support the Task Force on Climate-related 2016/17 283.7 of schedule. We have reduced our absolute Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and summarise our scope 1 and 2 (market-based) greenhouse gas approach in our performance data appendix and Our property energy consumption emissions by 27% compared with the baseline Annual Report. Over the next two years, we will be year of FY 16/17 and against our target of 22% conducting climate risk and opportunity scenario GWh by 2025. This is a large movement from the analysis, which will help us further align with its 2020/21 895 previous year (FY 19/20: 18%), driven in part by recommendations. 2019/20 952 the temporary closure of stores due to Covid as well as strong underlying improvements. We are a member of the British Retail Consortium’s 2018/19 1,038 Climate Action Roadmap, a ground-breaking 2017/18 1,031 We have therefore reviewed our plans and decarbonisation plan that will guide the industry on 2016/17 1,054 agreed new appropriate capital investment to the steps necessary to accelerate progress to a Net now commit to a more ambitious reduction Zero UK, ahead of the Government’s 2050 target. target. This has been approved by the Science Carbon footprint by retail banner (scope 1 and 2 market-based) Based Targets initiative confirming that it aligns 2020/21 tonnes CO2e with a 1.5°C trajectory. Our target is to: — reduce our absolute greenhouse gas B&Q UK 35.7% emissions from our direct operations by 38% Brico Dépôt France 6.6% by 2025 compared with a 2016/17 baseline Brico Dépôt Iberia 0.2% (scope 1 and 2); and Bri co Dépôt Romania 2.6% — achieve a 40% reduction (per million pounds Castorama France 6.6% (£) turnover) from purchased goods and Castorama Poland 37.8% services and use of sold products, by 2025 Screwfix10.5% from a 2017/18 baseline (scope 3).

We understand that this puts Kingfisher We’ve already cut our amongst a handful of retailers worldwide to direct CO2e emissions by have approved 1.5°C science-based targets. We have also joined the Business Ambition for 1.5°C 27% from 2016/17 23 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Efficient, low carbon buildings Together, these measures have helped us to Joining the Race to Zero reduce our property energy intensity by 17% We’re cutting energy use in our stores and since our 2016/17 baseline, and by 6% year on We’re a founder member of the UN’s distribution centres and have a three-year year. Property carbon intensity has reduced by Race to Zero Breakthroughs – Retail, a energy reduction plan for each of our banners. 35% over the same period. We saw a larger than partnership aiming to inspire the world’s Our energy blueprint ensures that energy expected decrease in emissions during 2020/21 largest retailers to take action on climate efficiency is prioritised in the design and fit-out in part due to the impact of store closures change and commit to a 1.5°C science- of new stores. We have now installed LED lighting during national lockdowns. based carbon reduction target. in 91% of our stores (2019/20: 85%), including all stores in France and Poland, and are introducing Our property energy intensity As part of our commitment, we have met building management systems to better manage kWh/m2 floor space with the board of our key international energy demand in the UK, Poland and France. trade association, EDRA/GHIN (the 2020/21 116 European DIY Retail Association home and We also retrofit improvements where we can 2019/20 124 the Global Home Improvement Network see opportunities to reduce energy use. This 2018/19 135 representing 214 companies), to discuss includes redesigning the heating systems in two climate change. We are supporting them large UK distribution centres to provide warmth 2017/18 134 to conduct research as a step towards to colleagues on the packing benches more 2016/17 140 adopting a climate roadmap and engaging efficiently. their member companies. On-site renewables are helping us to make Race to Zero is an initiative of the United further reductions in our footprint. We’ve Nations Framework Convention on installed solar PV panels on 24 stores, offices Climate Change (UNFCCC), supported and distribution centres, have biomass boilers by the World Business Council for supplying two distribution centres and one Sustainable Development (WBCSD). head office building, and air source heat pump systems at 130 locations. This investment in renewables is generating 7.5 million kWh per year and delivering over £1.3 million pa in financial benefit including energy cost reductions each year.

We also source 48% of our purchased electricity from renewable sources through contracts in the UK, Iberia, France, Poland and Romania.

Screwfix Mold store 24 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Lower impact transport We have reduced emissions associated with our lighting range by 60% by switching to We’re working to improve efficiency and adopt LED products and from our kitchen ranges by new technologies so we can reduce emissions introducing more induction hobs. from our transport and travel, even as our business grows. We have reduced emissions from energy-using products, such as appliances, by 1.7 million

Fully electric heavy goods vehicles are not yet tonnes of CO2e since 2017/18. This takes sufficiently developed to meet our operational account of a product’s estimated lifetime carbon needs; however, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is emissions from energy use. an alternative to diesel fuel which can reduce

CO2 emissions by around 20%. At B&Q, we now This improvement in energy efficiency has have 50 trucks in our store delivery fleet running reduced our scope 3 footprint by 18% compared on LNG from our Swindon distribution centre. with 2017/18 against our target of a 40% We plan to expand our UK LNG fleet, adding a reduction per £million turnover by 2025. further 50 vehicles. This was delayed due to the pandemic and will now happen in 2021/22. We’ll also be installing another LNG fuel facility at a second distribution centre.

At Screwfix, we’ve reduced road miles by almost 200,000 by increasing the number of products transported in each load and increasing the number of products stocked at some of our distribution centres. You can read more in our performance data appendix.

Reducing emissions from the use of our products Customer use of our products, such as light 60% bulbs and energy-using appliances, makes up reduced CO2e emissions 38% of our scope 3 emissions. By improving energy efficiency, we can reduce product- associated with our lighting range related emissions and help customers save on by switching to LED products and their energy bills. offering more induction hobs 25 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Tackling carbon in the supply chain “We’re working with Our scope 3 emissions 2020/21 thousand tonnes (%) Almost 50% of our carbon footprint comes our suppliers to reduce from the sourcing and manufacture of our carbon emissions of the products. We’re working with suppliers to 50% reduce this through the sustainable sourcing highest carbon-producing 7,974,514 of raw materials and by encouraging 38% Purchased goods products, including peat, 6,088,352 & services improvements in their manufacturing. This Use of sold includes a focus on the highest carbon- cement, ceramics and products producing products such as peat, cement, ceramics and plastics. plastics.”

Integrating more recycled material is one way we can cut carbon emissions and we are exploring ways to do this for the plastic we use, as well as for textile and for the board used in 9% 1,494,877 kitchen and flooring products. Downstream transportation Cement is a particularly carbon intensive 3% & distribution 518,058 product and we are engaging with suppliers Other (detail breakdown below) on how we can reduce the footprint of the bagged cement products we sell. We are 0.92% Upstream transportation and distribution focusing on reducing the clinker-to-cement 0.90% End of life treatment of sold products ratio (clinker is a binding component in cement, 0.41% Employee commuting produced through a chemical reaction 0.34% Capital goods which leads to significant carbon emissions) 0.23% Fuel-and-energy-related activities (not included in scope 1 or 2) and improving energy efficiency in the 0.14% Upstream leased assets manufacturing process. 0.13% Business travel 50% 0.09% Waste generated in operations Read about our work on plastics on page 36 of our carbon footprint comes from 0.04% Investments and peat-free compost on page 26. the manufacture of our products 0.03% Downstream leased assets We calculated our full scope 3 carbon footprint in 2016/17; the split between the categories is shown above. The scope 3 chart includes reporting on the majority of our own operations for 2020/21 (see our data appendix for details). We have also updated the emissions from customer use of sold products this year. The remaining categories use 2016/17 baseline year data. The baseline year for purchased goods and services is 2017/18; we are not yet able to report an update on emissions from our supply chain but are reviewing currently. 26 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Towards peat-free gardening

Peatlands are an important and using coir and other ingredients to replace peat. given the volume of plants we sell and will unique habitat and store twice It is competitively priced so that price is not a require innovation to identify high-quality barrier to customers in their purchase decision. alternative materials that are widely available; as much carbon as the world’s nevertheless it is something we are working to forests. However, huge areas of We expected to start phasing out our peat achieve. Our data in this area is incomplete but peatland have been destroyed, containing bagged growing media products we’re committed to leading the market in this. with the use of peat in horticulture during the year but progress was slowed by the a contributing factor. Moving to pandemic which significantly increased demand peat-free gardening is one of for compost while disrupting some key supply chains. This meant we continued to sell our Inspiring pollinator-friendly gardens the biggest contributions our previous ranges for longer. industry can make towards tackling Nature has been an inspiration to many during climate change. Completely peat-free compost now comprises the pandemic and B&Q teamed up with Butterfly over a quarter of all compost sold in the UK, Conservation to encourage customers to return For almost 30 years, we have been working Ireland, France and Poland (based on litres). the favour. to remove peat from our products in the UK. Non-peat ingredients accounted for 52% of This has involved working closely with our all bagged growing media ranges in 2020/21 As a lead sponsor of the Big Butterfly Count suppliers and growers to develop, test and (2019/20: 41%). 2020 in the UK, B&Q encouraged customers refine our own range of peat-free products. to get involved in citizen science by counting Completely removing peat can be challenging In 2021/22, we expect to see an improvement the butterflies that visited their garden. They since availability of replacement ingredients in the peat-free content of our own exclusive also included help and advice on butterfly and in sufficient volumes varies hugely across our brand (OEB) composts, with the exception of pollinator-friendly plants on diy.com, through social markets and there has been scepticism among ericaceous compost, as we introduce new peat- media, direct email communications and in stores. customers and parts of the industry about free combinations whilst selling through existing peat-free solutions, though this is changing. OEB peat-containing composts. Butterfly Conservation reported that over 111,800 Peat-free alternatives have historically also people took part in the Big Butterfly Count 2020. been less affordable for consumers. In 2023 B&Q, the banner selling by far the largest volume of growing media (77% of We are committed to ensuring the widespread total sales sold by all banners), will become availability of peat-free products that perform 100% peat-free across its bagged growing “In 2023 B&Q, the banner just as well as peat-based alternatives, so that media range. consumers can make responsible gardening selling by far the largest choices, no matter their budget. volume of growing media, Collaborating with our plant suppliers We launched our new GoodHome high-quality will become 100% peat-free 100% peat-free compost in B&Q and We’re also working with our plant suppliers to across its bagged growing Castorama France in early 2020. This is phase out the use of peat in our pot and pack formulated to provide an effective compost bedding and hardy plants. This is challenging media range.” 27 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance Customers We will help make greener, healthier homes affordable

We want to make sustainable living easy and affordable for our millions Our target of customers. — 50% of sales to be from our Sustainable Home Products by A greener, healthier home is one that is well the end of 2020/21. insulated, energy efficient and affordable to run. It uses fewer and more planet-friendly and long-lasting materials, is free from harmful Our progress chemicals and is fitted out with quality, long- lasting products made in ways that are better 42% of Group sales were from products for people and the planet. Outside the home that help create a more sustainable home in people’s gardens, this will include beautiful, in 2020/21. This is a 100% increase since naturally grown plants that provide food and 2011/12, when our target was set, and shelter for birds and wildlife. means a substantial proportion of our product range meets our Sustainable Our customer research shows that people Home Product standards. Some of our aspire to have a sustainable home, but they banners exceeded our target, including often find it complicated or expensive to B&Q who reached 55% of sales from achieve. We want to change this. Sustainable Home Products. We are now working to update our target for 2025. Using our industry best practice Sustainable Home Product guidelines, we’re embedding See the following page for more detail. sustainability into our ranges so that customers will be able to choose any product they want and be confident it is as sustainable as possible.

We’re also looking at how we can extend product life through repair services, removing harmful chemicals, reducing impacts from use of plastic and reducing the environmental footprint of our packaging. 28 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Our Sustainable Home Products

Finding a sustainable product 42% of sales from Sustainable Home shouldn’t be difficult or cost more. Products in 2020/21 Sustainable Home Products That’s why sustainability is one In 2020/21, 42% of our sales came from our of our five core design principles Sustainable Home Products, an increase on 37% Excite used in the development of our the previous year. This generated £5.13 billion for — Innovative products with the potential to have a big positive impact. own exclusive product brand the business, an increase of 66% over the last (OEB) ranges, alongside price, five years. Exceed quality, form and function. We were disappointed not to meet our

More sustainable More — Products that significantly improve the sustainability of our When we improve a product’s longstanding target of 50% of sales to be from customers’ homes. sustainability, we do not Sustainable Home Products by the end of compromise on any of the other 2020/21, but pleased at the progress we have Expect core design principles. made on integrating sustainability into our purchasing decisions since our target was first — Products with a sustainable feature or benefit. set almost a decade ago. — The minimum standard for our Sustainable Home Products. Our industry-leading Sustainable Home Product guidelines, developed with experts Today, more of our lighting is LED, more of Not yet a SHP Bioregional, help us improve the performance our paint is water based and more of our taps — These products should be improved so they meet our standard. of our ranges. Every product is examined to are water efficient. We have removed ortho assess whether it is sustainable, based on phthalates from new vinyl flooring products, the guidelines. To be considered sustainable, and discontinued metaldehyde slug pellets and Watch list a product must meet at least one criteria products containing glyphosate. A total of 11% — Features or products that cannot be sustainable. at ‘Expect’ level or higher and not meet any of sales enabled customers to create safer, sustainable Less — Should be phased out from our ranges. ‘Watch list’ criteria. healthier homes and connect with nature. We are now working to update our target for 2025. The guidelines are reviewed and updated every year to reflect changes in technology and improved understanding of environmental Sustainable Home Products impacts. We make our guidelines easy to use % of retail sales and publish them on our website. We hope Target 2020/21 50% that by sharing our approach and what we’ve learned so far, we can help encourage change 2020/21 42% across our industry. 2019/20 37%

2018/19 34%

2017/18 33%

2016/17 29% 29 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Our Sustainable Home Products principles

Taking a life cycle approach

We’ve been using our Sustainable Home Products guidelines for over a decade to improve the sustainability of our ranges. Now we want to further deepen our understanding of our product environmental impacts at each stage of the value chain; from extraction of raw materials to manufacturing and transport, use by customers and disposal at the product’s end of life. Connect to nature Health & wellbeing Live smarter Helping wildlife in our gardens and Making our homes safer and healthier; Reduce, reuse, recycle; smarter uses We’ve begun using a life cycle analysis tool, to beyond; interacting with the natural enjoying our homes whatever our of resources; better product quality; review key products and ranges. The tool will world; eating produce that we’ve grown age; being active; addressing toxins; tackling waste; pay-to-use propositions. enable us to calculate and compare our product ourselves. adapting to climate change. impacts at each stage, and track our progress at reducing these over time.

It will help our teams to identify priority products for improvement and better understand which changes we can make to have the most impact on product environmental performance. It will help us to meet our goal to reduce emissions from purchased goods and services and use of sold products, by 40% per £million turnover by 2025 (2017 baseline).

We will be trialling the tool in 2021/22 and aim to focus on our lighting, textiles, paint, metals and cement ranges and some product packaging. Save energy Save water Sustainable materials Keeping household energy bills down; Stopping water from being wasted; Responsible sourcing; choosing addressing carbon emissions; using using rainwater, preserving premium materials with a positive impact; tackling renewable energy. drinking water. materials that have a damaging impact. 30 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Our sustainable products

Connect to nature Health and wellbeing products products

Helping wildlife in gardens Improved air quality and beyond Make our homes safer and Eating produce that we’ve more accessible grown ourselves Support an active lifestyle Growing our own food has many benefits for physical and Adapting to climate change mental health and can help us to connect more with the natural world. Our modular kitchen garden product helps We introduced phthalate-free artificial Christmas trees in customers get started, even when they have very limited 2020. This is part of our work to remove chemicals known space. It is based on a raised bed system with accessories to be harmful to people or the environment, for which safer including plant supports, fine mesh netting to keep pests alternatives are available and which are most likely to be at bay, and covers to extend the season and aid with found in our priority supply chains. propagating seeds. Replacing petrol powered tools with cordless options We are also phasing out garden products with harmful can reduce our customers’ exposure to air pollution. For chemicals to help make gardens better places for nature. To example, our Erbauer lawnmower is cordless and has date we have removed products containing neonicotinoids, a brushless motor. This means less air pollution, better metaldehyde and glyphosate and we specify that the energy efficiency, extended running times and the battery flowering plants we sell must not have been grown using can be shared with other tools in the range. neonicotinoid pesticides. Helping customers create beautiful, natural gardens has been more important than ever in the last year, with people spending more time at home during the pandemic.

Verve Modular Kitchen Garden Raised Bed Kit 31 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Live smarter Energy saving products products

Made from reused or Insulation and recycled materials other energy Helping customers reduce, efficiency solutions reuse and recycle Efficient appliances Longer lasting Renewable energy and low Rental and pay per use models carbon solutions

Integrating recycled materials into our products can Our GoodHome range of electric heaters are energy help to reduce waste and increase demand for recycled efficient and use smart technology. This means they can materials and reduce carbon emissions. We have a be programmed to come on only when needed. They number of products that already contain recycled plastic also learn from customer behaviour over time, enabling including our range of Magnusson and Mac Allister them to predict when heating is and isn’t needed, further toolboxes made with over 50% post-consumer recycled improving efficiency. To complement our product range, plastic. We’ve also added more recycled plastic to garden we offer energy efficiency services in some retail furniture and outdoor storage boxes. When using recycled banners such as Castorama France’s free installation materials, we never compromise on price and quality service for loft insulation, and support government and expect them to perform just as well as non-recycled schemes subsidising home energy efficiency alternatives. improvements.

We aim to integrate circular principles into product Our focus on energy-efficient and energy-saving design using our Principles for Circular Product Design, products helps us reduce our scope 3 carbon emissions; developed with sustainability experts Bioregional. read more on page 25.

Ximax Electric White Panel Heater 32 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Water saving Sustainable products materials

Improving water efficiency Responsibly sourced Collecting and Low carbon and better for using rainwater the environment

We’re improving water efficiency across our ranges to help Cork is harvested from cork oak trees from forests customers save money, water and energy. Our kitchen and around the Mediterranean that support a wealth of wildlife. bathroom basin taps, for example, now include aerating Harvesting the cork is a traditional and skilled operation. regulators to make them more water efficient. Aeration It does not harm the tree, which will grow back its bark mixes water with air and regulates pressure, providing a layer over nine years. Each tree can be harvested many good customer experience even with low pressure. Most times, making cork a very renewable resource. But as more of our taps now have a maximum flow of 8 litres per minute wine bottles have screw caps, demand for cork has fallen, as standard compared with up to 12 in previous ranges. We putting the cork oak forests at risk. Finding more uses for are also working to improve water efficiency in our hand- cork can help to keep demand up and protect these forests. held shower range which now meet our Sustainable Home Naturally insulating, light and decay resistant, we use cork Product standards for water efficiency. in a range of products including flooring, insulation and memo boards.

For example, we include a cork pinboard panel in our Alara easy-to-install modular room divider system. This can be used to create a home working space, particularly useful for many customers during the pandemic, with the ability to pin documents to the wall.

GoodHome Alara Cork and White Modular Room Divider Panel 33 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Improving sustainability: a long-term Repair services to extend product life challenge Faulty products are not just bad for customers Achieving our sustainability goals isn’t always – they are a significant source of waste and a straightforward and, sometimes, despite good cost to the business. We aim to reduce product progress, there are sustainability challenges that returns by making it easier for customers to remain hard to tackle. have faulty or damaged products repaired. This can reduce our costs by up to 70% compared to Our paint range is one example. It now includes an exchange or refund and prevent thousands more water-based paint options which have low of products from ending up as waste. levels of VOC chemicals which can affect indoor air quality. Our white and coloured emulsion In all our retail banners we operate a call-out paint ranges, for example, are over 90% low service for kitchen appliances, for example. VOC. Water-based paint means there’s no We are also establishing repair services for need to use solvents to clean brushes – further some of our brands and increasing our stock of reducing customer exposure to VOCs. Together spare parts to make it easier for customers to these changes have helped more customers to service products. enjoy a healthier home.

However, reducing the VOC levels for some paint ranges is more challenging and we don’t Giving products a new lease of life at Screwfix yet have all the solutions. For example, we’ve tested several different approaches to create Product returns can be a significant source Screwfix is also working with its power a low VOC spray paint but each solution has of waste in the retail sector. At Screwfix, tool suppliers to offer a collect and repair drawbacks which would affect product quality. we’ve been partnering with iForce for service, which has reduced the number several years to reduce waste from returned of faulty product returns. Since 2018, over We’ll keep working on tackling this challenge and power tools. 44,000 products have been repaired. others like it (such as replacing harmful solvents with safer alternatives), partnering with our Through this partnership, returned tools are Screwfix, with B&Q, have recently launched suppliers to make progress over time. assessed and tested, repaired and cleaned a repair service for our own exclusive where necessary, and whenever possible, product brand Erbauer power tools and will refurbished for resale at a discounted rate. be extending their range of spare parts to Almost 50,000 returned power tools were help customers prolong product life. refurbished and resold in 2020, saving over £1.6 million. The 1% of tools that cannot be resold, are disassembled and recycled with no waste going to landfill. 34 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Telling our sustainability stories in store

We want to make sure that customers can easily identify products that will help them to create a greener, healthier home.

At its new store in St Albans, B&Q tackled this challenge by creating a dedicated sustainability zone, featuring some of our greenest products. Customers can now easily learn about our Sustainable Home Products from smart home technology, to water-efficient taps, energy efficiency solutions and products made from recycled materials. 35 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Removing harmful chemicals

We want all customers to enjoy a help us track high-priority vendors and Phasing out phthalates, PFCs and process with other members, to make it easier safe and healthy home, free from their products. This will improve how we halogenated flame retardants for suppliers to respond to multiple information monitor compliance with our transparency requests. harmful chemicals. We are working requirements and chemicals policies as well as We have a large supply chain and product range, with suppliers to identify and tracking supplier training. so we use a risk-based approach to prioritise In Europe, we collaborate through the NGO phase out chemicals of concern chemicals for phase out. ChemSec’s business working group and have ahead of regulation. Improving co-founded GC3 Europe, launching in early 2021. chemicals management also helps Surveillance testing Our current focus is on removing phthalates, PFCs and halogenated flame retardants from to protect workers in our supply We use surveillance testing to confirm our OEBs by 2025. These are chemicals known Equipping our suppliers and colleagues chain and the environment. that products meet our requirements and to be harmful to people or the environment, for monitor progress on phasing out our priority which safer alternatives are available and which We train suppliers and provide advice and support By 2025/26, we aim to: substances. Testing helps us to identify are most likely to be found in our priority supply to help them to strengthen their chemicals — achieve transparency of harmful chemicals common challenges and informs supplier chains: textiles, plastics and chemical products management system, phase out priority in key supply chains; training. Our approach is to test a sample (such as glues, paints and cleaning products). chemicals during manufacturing, and engage — phase out the highest priority hazardous and of products in each category and use their own supply chain. Suppliers are identified for high-risk chemicals of concern; and the findings to calculate a representative During 2020/21, we removed phthalate training using a risk-based approach. — introduce five green substances. compliance rate for each product category. plasticisers from the power cords in our Erbauer power tool range. We are also in the process of During the year, training was restricted by the We have made progress on surveillance testing removing halogen flame retardants from this pandemic but we were able to run a training A more transparent supply chain for textiles, testing 80 of the highest-risk range and substituting with safer alternatives. session on our chemical management standards products in our textiles ranges. We found that We have worked with bathroom accessory for around 100 textile suppliers in China. Over 95% For high-risk product categories, we specify over 93% were free from phthalates, PFCs and vendors to remove PFCs from shower curtains passed the exam following the training. which chemicals should not be used or can only halogenated flame retardants and are working and with safety boot vendors to remove be used in quantities below a set threshold. We with suppliers to phase out these chemicals phthalates. Feedback from suppliers shows our approach is have detailed Restricted Substances Lists (RSL) from the remaining products. We are also aligned with other retailers and brands. One third and guidance for categories such as textiles, developing our surveillance testing for plastics, of suppliers already have advanced knowledge footwear and accessories. We communicate focusing on product lines such as power tools. Unlocking the potential of green in sustainable chemical management from other these to suppliers via tender processes and chemistry retailers and brands. regularly review and update them. As well as intentional use of chemicals by suppliers, products may contain ‘unintentional’ Our target is to introduce five green chemical We train colleagues on our approach, so they Increasing the transparency of chemicals chemicals, due to contamination during alternatives by 2025 – safer alternatives for can communicate our expectations to suppliers. use is a complex and ongoing process since the manufacturing process. Surveillance potentially harmful substances. In 2021/22, we will train colleagues in our retail even similar products may contain different testing enables us to check for unintentional banners to help them implement our chemicals chemicals according to the materials, suppliers, chemicals use. We have a process to find and We are active members of the US-based Green roadmap and track progress. sub-contractors or manufacturing sites fix the root cause of contaminations when Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3) and used. We will be piloting a new chemicals they occur. part of their GC3 Retailer Leadership Council. We are reducing chemicals use through our work management software system in 2021, to We have aligned our chemicals transparency on sustainable materials, see pages 21 and 36. 36 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Reducing impacts from plastic

We want to reduce the amount are working with suppliers to help develop of plastic used in our products the recycled plastic supply chain. Previously our efforts have focused on use of recycled and packaging and to ensure that polypropylene but we are now exploring any plastic we do use has a lower opportunities to integrate recycled Acrylonitrile environmental footprint. butadiene styrene (ABS) and polycarbonate plastics. We focus on: increasing our use of recycled plastics, phasing out harmful chemicals used in We have strict quality standards to ensure some types of plastics (see page 35); switching that recycled plastic does not contain harmful to alternative materials; and designing products chemicals. These specify the types of recycled and packaging to use plastic more efficiently. plastic that can be used and require suppliers to We’ve also trained our design teams in the UK achieve third-party certification or to carry out and France to design our plastic products to be regular product testing. more easily recyclable. We are members of the Green Recycled Plastic Read more on packaging, page 37. Supply Chain Joint Working Group (GRPG) in China which is working to develop shared standards on use of recycled plastic. Developing the recycled plastics supply chain

We aim to use at least 50 thousand tonnes of post-consumer recycled plastic per year by changing how we manufacture our products to make them more sustainable.

We have a number of products that already contain post-consumer recycled plastic including our GoodHome Neva composite deck board, Mac Allister toolboxes, Magnusson tool chests, Garcinia Stone and Pasillia kitchen cabinets and a four-seater garden coffee furniture set.

Sources of recycled plastic are not yet suitable for every product in our range because of legal, quality and supply challenges and we GoodHome Garcinia Matt Stone Kitchen 37 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Designing more sustainable packaging

Packaging protects our products Our targets are: We’re also developing alternatives to cable ties in store and in transit but can — At least 30% recycled content in plastic used for some product packaging which are A sustainable packaging packaging by 2022. often made from PVC or nylon and difficult transformation at Screwfix have a significant impact on the — Phase out non-recyclable plastic to recycle. environment. packaging such as PVC and expanded Screwfix has started a programme to polystyrene by 2022. transform its packaging, increasing use We have reviewed our packaging strategy for — Reduce plastic packaging by 25% (by Addressing impacts from transit of recycled and recyclable materials OEB products during 2020/21 and introduced weight) by 2025. packaging and reducing plastic. The first products new targets to help us increase our use of — All paper and board used in packaging to be to use the new packaging are its own recycled plastic, ensure wood and paper certified sustainably sourced by 2025. Transit packaging is used to protect products brand LAP range of electrical switches complies with our sustainable sourcing policy, being transported to stores and distribution and sockets, around 120 products. The design out single use plastic and reduce We are improving the data we collect on our centres. However, when products are over packaging has been totally redesigned packaging waste. packaging and materials use to enable us to packaged fewer can be transported in each to eliminate plastic and replace it with track progress and develop an action plan. load, increasing costs and carbon emissions. certified sustainably sourced cardboard. Equally, if not enough packaging is used, Further ranges will be switched to the We are also exploring whether changes to products may be damaged, increasing waste. new packaging in 2021/22. the way we source our packaging can help us achieve our targets and track compliance with We are holding ‘transit packaging surgeries’ Screwfix is working with its vendor our policies. We will be running a pilot during bringing together the different stakeholders base to implement the changes and will 2021, which will see us sourcing packaging involved to find solutions to these problems. require all vendor branded products to materials, printing and production for key Three sessions have been held so far with our comply with the new requirements by products directly, rather than via our vendors. logistics team, transit suppliers, packaging December 2024. RECYCLE designers and vendors to identify opportunities to improve transit packaging and reduce its Developing alternatives to blister packs environmental impacts.

Blister packs, a style of plastic packaging, are used for many of our products. They provide high levels of protection, enable customers to REDUCE see what they’re buying and allow space for product information and branding. However, this style of packaging is often difficult to recycle.

We’re working with our packaging design teams and vendors to develop more RESPONSIBLY sustainable alternatives to blister packaging SOURCED that use cardboard rather than plastic. 38 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance Communities We will fight to fix bad housing

We will fight to fix bad housing – donating our products, expertise, Our targets funding and time to help more —H elp more than one million than one million people whose people whose housing needs are housing needs are greatest in the greatest by 2025. communities we serve. — Provide over 20,000 colleague volunteering hours to support Everyone wants their home to be safe, warm housing and home improvement and welcoming. If those needs aren’t met it is projects in 2020/21. distressing. Yet millions of people across Europe still live in homes which are unfit – too small, too dark, too cold, too damp – or experience homelessness. This can have a devastating Our progress impact on confidence, health and future We supported over 1,100 projects and prospects. We want to help. donated £5.5 million with a further £2.7 million donated by colleagues and Through our charity partnerships, our customers. Since 2016/17 we have fundraising and volunteering and our new reached 791,000 people, well on our way network of in-country charitable foundations, towards our goal of one million by 2025. we support projects that improve housing and As a result, we have increased our target community spaces for those that need it most. and now aim to help at least two million people by 2025. In 2020, we saw Covid-19 exacerbate inequalities across our communities and have Planned colleague volunteering activities a profound impact on our relationship with our could not take place due to Covid-19 and homes. We have responded through direct people’s safety taking priority, so we were support for those on the frontline through not able to meet our volunteering target. our donations of PPE (see page 4), as well as significantly increasing our community See the following page for more detail. investment activities. 39 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Our network of local foundations

Our network of charitable people including those at risk of homelessness. foundations from our banners now The Foundation also supports a workshop space in a specialised children’s school and educational covers the UK, France, Poland and centre in Kłecko. Romania, supporting charities working to improve housing and The Screwfix Foundation has raised over community spaces. Two further £6.8 million since it was launched in 2013 which foundations will be launched in 2021 has been used to support 1,500 local charities and not-for-profits. During 2020/21, this included for Brico Dépôt France and in Spain. supporting the Rising Sun Domestic Violence & Abuse Service – a charity in Kent addressing The foundations are funded by annual Kingfisher domestic violence and providing services for corporate donations as well as colleague and adults, children and families. The Screwfix Pennies customer fundraising, and profits from sales initiative asks customers to round up their orders of our reusable plastic bags. In addition, with to the nearest pound with the proceeds donated the agreement of our shareholders, unclaimed to charity through the Screwfix Foundation. dividends were also donated evenly to our foundations in 2020/21. Through our newly created Fondation Castorama in France, we extended our Our foundations have already started supporting community impact by supporting four NGOs a range of projects. For example, the new B&Q working to improve housing and community Foundation awarded grants to charities across facilities, increase access to housing and foster the UK ranging from homelessness and abuse self-help networks among disadvantaged families charities, to children’s hospices and rehabilitation and communities. For example, in the Provence centres, to support communities with projects region, it is supporting Compagnons Bâtisseurs to improve homes or a community space. One to help low-income households improve their of the first grants awarded was to St Martins in living conditions. The foundation’s support will Norwich, a homeless charity supporting adults fund the creation of a DIY workshop and tool who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. library where people can learn the skills and The grant is being used to create a safe and access the resources they need to improve welcoming outdoor area for clients to wait for their homes. Castorama France also piloted appointments, meet and socialise, without the DIY skills training which we hope to deliver and fear of being moved on. expand in 2021.

Fundacja Castorama (Foundation Castorama Brico Dépôt France is also supporting the Poland) supported the renovation of the ‘Brico bus’, a mobile DIY service unit which visits Psychotherapeutic Center in Pszczyna, which disadvantaged communities around the country runs a range of services to help vulnerable to help them improve their housing. 40 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Good Homes Change Lives in Romania

Nicuşor is one of the 2,600 people who benefited from Good Homes Change Lives, the first financing campaign of Fundaţia BricoDépôt (the Brico Dépôt Romania Foundation).

His family’s home does not have running water, but thanks to the work of NGO Zi de Bine Association, he’s now able to use a mobile solar shower unit. Zi de Bine is one of 10 projects to receive a grant in 2020/21.

Any NGO in Romania had the chance to apply for the funding to support projects to improve living conditions and quality of life in disadvantaged communities. Other projects selected included: a hospice for cancer patients, a centre for disabled children and a children’s after-school centre.

In addition to the Foundation grants, Brico Dépôt Romania also donated products from its stores to support the projects.

“I’ve taken only one bath, in my entire life, before. I was younger and I went with my mother to a relative’s flat and they let me sit in the bathtub for as long as I wanted. But let the water jet come on me from above, from that round thing… I have never taken a shower like this in my life. I think that’s why I trembled here, inside…” Nicuşor, 8 years old 41 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Partnering to increase our impact

Our banners partner with leading Partnering with Habitat for Humanity organisations working to tackle in Romania homelessness and improve housing Brico Dépôt Romania, is working with Habitat and support for vulnerable people. for Humanity to support families who have been severely affected by Covid-19. This includes making micro loans to help people struggling Supporting Shelter in the UK during the pandemic to fix up their housing. In addition, we launched our first financing In the UK, B&Q supports the housing and campaign supporting 10 national charities. homelessness charity Shelter. Our partnership focuses on helping people who have been through very difficult experiences to have a “Every day our team home where they can feel safe and secure. We of specialist DIY Skills fund a team of nine specialist DIY Skills Advisers who provide practical home improvement Advisers see the difference assistance to people who’ve experienced or are that even modest home at risk of homelessness. This has benefited over 1,196 households since the partnership began. improvements can have We provided funding to promote a series of on people’s happiness digital advice films, helping Shelter reach more than 60,000 people. levels. With B&Q’s ongoing support, we can continue to Taking action in France provide hands-on help and

In France, our Brico Dépôt banner continued basic DIY training to even its partnership with Fondation Abbé Pierre and more people – equipping supported Communauté Jeunesse “Femmes Solidarités 91” which provides emergency them with the confidence accommodation and support to female victims and skills to create a home of domestic violence and their children. where they feel happy Our partnership with the Red Cross continues and safe.” to support local emergency response in the UK, France and Poland. In 2020/21, this included Polly Neate, support to help those affected by serious Chief Executive of Shelter flooding in the south of France. 42 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Getting our colleagues involved

We want to get our colleagues involved in our work with our charity partners. This can benefit our local communities and be a rewarding experience for colleagues. Unfortunately due to the pandemic and the need to maintain social distancing, we were not able to organise volunteering activities during 2020/21. We plan to restart volunteering activity when it is safe to do so and in line with government guidance in our markets.

Our colleagues did get involved in a range of fundraising activities, however. For example, at B&Q colleagues took part in the virtual London Mojo Marathon, plotting an outdoor route between London stores in line with Covid guidelines, and raising £200,000.

Herts Young Homeless has been awarded a £5,000 grant from the B&Q Foundation to support its work with vulnerable 16- to 24-year- olds who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. Herts Young Homeless will use the funds to provide the young people they support with essential items of furniture or household equipment after they move out of shelters or their own homes following a family breakdown. Colleagues from the local B&Q store in Welwyn Garden City visited the charity to donate B&Q paint and other products. 43 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Over £8 million community Community investment contribution in 2020/21 £ thousands

We supported over 1,100 community 2020/21 5,505 2,751 programmes during the year through projects 2019/20 1,449 1,457 connected to improving housing, community 2018/19 1,599 1,029 spaces and to support Covid-19 relief efforts. 2017/18 2,377 1,376 Altogether, our community investment was 2016/17 1,781 1,234 worth £5.5 million during the year (2019/20: Community gifts and investment Fundraising and other leverage £1.5 million). This includes cash donations, employee time and in-kind contributions, with +£8 million product donations valued at cost price. This is community contribution Community investment: details of company giving 2020/21* equivalent to 0.70% of underlying pre-tax profits in 2020/21 (2019/20: 0.26%). £ thousands £68 At least 442,000 people directly benefited from Value of employee time 1% our community contributions, bringing the total £855 to 791,000 since 2016/17. We expect to reach † £2,991 Management costs 16% our target of one million by 2025 ahead of In-kind contributions schedule and, as a result, we have increased our 54% ambition. Our new target is to help more than two million people whose housing needs are greatest by 2025.

Our customers and colleagues raised a further £1,591 Cash donations £2.7 million through in-store collections, 29% payroll giving, fundraising events and using our contact centres to take pledges from the public during charity fundraising appeals (2019/20: £1.5 million).

Read about our PPE donations on page 4. 791,000 people directly benefited from our * We follow the LBG guidelines on measuring community investment; definitions of categories can be downloaded here. community contributions † Management costs are incurred when making a community investment. These include the salaries, benefits and since 2016/17 other overheads of community affairs staff along with research and communications spend if used to help the community engage with the company. 44 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

If Walls Could Talk

Tackling unfit housing requires a multi-sector, whole-society approach. That’s why we want to work with others to catalyse

change and encourage more people If Walls across business, government and Could Talk Shining a light on the issue of unfit housing society to take action.

In 2020/21, we launched ‘If Walls Could Talk’, a new campaign, supported by our housing partners Shelter, Fondation Abbé-Pierre and Habitat for Humanity, to shed light on the issue

of unfit housing across our markets. International Report

The campaign began with a research report exploring the views of over 7,000 people across five countries in Europe (see box). This Shining a light on unfit housing in Europe highlighted the impact of unfit housing on health and wellbeing and how housing problems have How does poor housing impact people’s issues’. More often than not, these are long- been exacerbated by the pandemic. day-to-day lives, and what impact has the term problems – almost two thirds (62%) pandemic had on housing problems? These have been living with at least one housing We are using the findings to help inform our are some of the questions we explored in issue for over a year. strategic approach to fixing bad housing and a survey of 7,000 people across the UK, to help us prioritise funding via our banner France, Poland, Romania and Spain. Excessive cold, noise and damp are the most foundations. We’ve also communicated frequently mentioned problems. Almost a the results of this research to media and Our research found that unfit housing third of people across all countries said it had government. As part of the campaign we have affects millions of people across Europe, a major impact on their overall wellbeing. increased the information we provide on our contributing to health problems and colleague websites to help people affected negatively affecting many aspects of their Those with housing issues said that by housing issues. This includes, for example, lives. With people spending more time at lockdown and spending more time at home raising awareness of Shelter’s helpline for home because of the pandemic, these during the pandemic had magnified their people in the UK. problems have been magnified. housing problems, leaving them feeling “trapped”, “powerless” and “frustrated”. More than a third of people in France, Poland, This was particularly the case for the Romania and Spain, and 18% in the UK, told us most vulnerable in society and those with that they are living with ‘significant housing disabilities. 45 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

45 Our Responsible Business Fundamentals 46 Safety at work Our Responsible 47 Human rights and ethical sourcing 50 Waste and recycling 51 Ethical conduct Business 52 Cyber security and data protection 54 Tax governance and risk management 55 Public policy Fundamentals 56 Pensions 57 Governance and engagement 59 Engaging our stakeholders Being a Responsible Business encompasses all 61 Material issues aspects of the way we work, from how we treat 62 Assurance statement our colleagues and partners, to our sourcing practices, our ethical standards and our use of resources. We have clear policies to ensure we take a consistent best practice approach across our retail banners and keep improving. 46 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Safety at work

Every colleague should be able We audit our stores against our mandatory How did we perform in 2020/21? to do their job in a safe working minimum health and safety standards and each retail banner has an action plan to address areas Our total employee accident rate (number of environment. Our Group Safety for improvement. all work-related accidents per 100,000 full-time and Compliance Risk Officer equivalent employees) was 9,484 (2019/20: oversees our approach to health 11,183). The reduction is due to the impact of and safety, implementing policies store closures during national lockdowns. and procedures to make sure Operating safely during the pandemic There were no work-related fatalities. However, a we’re meeting high standards During the pandemic we implemented COVID Risk Assessments are regularly colleague at B&Q died after suddenly becoming across the business. additional strict safety measures to protect updated as advice changes. Similar unwell and falling in one of our stores. our customers and colleagues. These measures are also in place at our distribution In 2020/21, much of our focus has been on have included: and fulfilment centres, and training has been There were no health and safety related ensuring that we implement strict Covid safety — The provision of gloves, visors and masks provided to colleagues to help support and prosecutions or fines during the year. measures in our stores and operations to to colleagues. implement these changes to their work protect colleagues and customers, see box. — Limiting the number of customers in store. environment. Employee accident rate — Safe queuing before entering the store Number of ‘all work-related’ and floor navigational markers to help We’re regularly checking and auditing our accidents per 100,000 full-time Clear standards and reporting systems enforce social distancing. stores to make sure our health, hygiene and — Sanitiser stations throughout the store. safety rules are implemented and working equivalent employees We have a Senior Management Safety — Perspex screens at paint mixing and effectively. 2020/21 9,484 Committee in each retail banner and a network timber cutting stations, in showrooms and 2019/20 11,183 of safety professionals. at checkouts. During national lockdowns and restrictions, — Encouraging contactless or card payments we have also supported our colleagues 2018/19 10,018 We have Group health and safety management wherever possible. working at home. This included wellbeing 2017/18 10,689 standards to ensure we take a consistent support, individual working from home 2016/17 12,196 approach to occupational health and safety ergonomic assessments, and providing management across our locations. Our Group- additional IT and ergonomic equipment to wide accident management reporting system colleagues who needed it. tracks accidents (including minor accidents) and near misses and helps us to identify the root causes of accidents and reduce safety risks. A Health & Safety dashboard, summarising performance at each retail banner, is regularly reviewed by the Group Executive and the Board. 47 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Human rights and ethical sourcing

We respect human rights and take Our Supply Chain Workplace Standards We identified 10 salient issues. These are: We also carried out a detailed risk and gap steps to protect the rights of our explain the ethical standards we require from — Modern slavery. assessment to ensure we understand where suppliers, and our Ethical Sourcing and Supplier — Child/underage labour. salient risks are most likely to appear in our employees, workers in our supply Workplace Ethical and Environmental Assurance — Freedom of association/collective bargaining. supply chain and business, and that we are chain and others affected by our (SWEEA) Policy requires all high-risk production — Health and safety. addressing and prioritising these. This included business activities. sites of finished goods for resale (GFR) to have a — Wages/working hours. consideration of emerging risks such as those valid ethical audit at least every two years. — Land rights. related to the Covid-19 pandemic. We recognise that managing and mitigating — Depletion of natural resources. human rights risks and upholding human rights is We support a number of external initiatives that — Air, water and land pollution. This work has confirmed that the most a shared responsibility and we work with others, aim to protect and promote human rights and — Impacts of climate change. significant human rights risks for our business including suppliers, peers, industry bodies, improve standards in the retail supply chain. For — Discrimination. are found in our GFR supply chain, including NGOs and governments, to address salient example, we are a signatory to ‘Better Retail, at the raw material extraction and product issues and raise standards. Better World’, the British Retail Consortium manufacturing stages. (BRC) commitments on the UN Sustainable More detailed information on our policies and Development Goals, and a member of the UN our approach to human rights and modern Global Compact, see our data appendix. slavery risks in our supply chain, is published Partnering with Slave Free Alliance on modern slavery in our Modern Slavery Act Transparency The majority of our ethical sourcing work Statement. focuses on direct suppliers. However, we aim Modern slavery is a complex issue and — Extend provision for training on modern to influence standards in our extended supply collaboration with others in the retail slavery risks for colleagues. Read about our Code of Conduct and chain, including among raw material suppliers. sector and beyond is key to raising — Strengthen supplier engagement and whistleblowing process on page 51. Read about our approach in relation to wood awareness and creating change. communication, to reinforce policy and paper (page 20) and leather (page 21). requirements. To help strengthen our capabilities, we — Conduct deep dives into high-risk Our policies and approach are working with Slave Free Alliance materials’ supply chains beyond ‘finished Identifying our salient human rights (SFA), a social enterprise developed by product’ level. Our Human Rights Policy sets out our issues anti-slavery charity Hope for Justice. — Increase checks on suppliers, including commitment to respect human rights, in line The Alliance works with victims, law ethical audits and spot checks. with international agreements and guidelines We want to make sure we prioritise and manage enforcement agencies and businesses including: the United Nations Guiding Principles our salient human rights issues. These are the to help bring about a slavery-free During 2021/22, we will be working with on Business and Human Rights; the International human rights at risk of the most severe negative supply chain. SFA to implement their recommendations, Bill of Human Rights (which includes the impact through our activities. including running training for colleagues and Universal Declaration of Human Rights); the During 2020, they undertook a gap suppliers. Read more in our Modern Slavery UN Global Compact; the International Labour During 2020, we worked with a consulting analysis covering our policies, risk Act Transparency Statement. Organisation’s Declaration on Fundamental partner to identify our salient human rights assessment processes, due diligence and Principles and Rights at Work; the Children’s issues, across our business and supply chains, training provision. They made a number of Rights and Business Principles; and UN as defined by the UN Guiding Principles recommendations for strengthening our conventions on the elimination of discrimination. Reporting Framework. approach, which included: 48 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Monitoring compliance through Audit results in 2020/21 Supplier production sites – GFR (goods for resale) 2020/21 ethical audits by audit grade % 3% We check supplier compliance with our Top five non-conformances by Grade 1 standards through ethical audits, targeting category (goods for resale) 2% 2% Business critical Grade 2 suppliers in the highest-risk countries, sectors 3% and locations. The majority of non-conformances relate Grade 3 to health and safety, which include fire The audit reviews suppliers’ performance and safety issues such as provision of fire identifies any instances of non-conformance extinguishers and number of fire exits. with our standards relating to labour standards Other common non-conformances and human rights, health and safety, business include working hours, wages and ethics and environmental performance. benefits, and environmental factors.

We start from a principle that we should work The number of non-conformances in with our suppliers to help them address issues the table are from ethical audits carried and improve performance. Factories agree to out in the past two years (2019/20 and 62% 28% Grade 5 Grade 4 the implementation of a remediation action plan 2020/21). The data covers production and we agree enough time for them to develop sites registered so far on Sedex. their knowledge and implement changes. Once completed, their compliance with our standards Non-conformances Number will be confirmed through a follow-up audit. Health, safety and 4,290 As a last resort, we cease to trade with factories hygiene if they don’t work with us to address business We allocate grades based on the results — grade 1 (no non‑conformances); Working hours 1,037 critical issues. of the most recent ethical audit that — grade 2 (some observations); Wages and benefits 719 has been carried out in the past two — grade 3 (minor non‑conformances); We monitor the effectiveness of our audit years. We use the Sedex audit grade — grade 4 (1‑3 major Environment 445 programme by grading suppliers and tracking classifications to develop our own non‑conformances); the number and type of non-conformances that Management systems 329 internal grading. The grades are based — grade 5 (4 or more major are found and remedied (see Audit results). All other non-conformance 484 on the number of non‑conformances non‑conformances or 1‑3 critical categories identified during the audit: non‑conformances); and — business critical (business critical non‑conformances or 4 or more critical non‑conformances). 49 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Going forward, we will continue to work with 16 suppliers to achieve compliance with our ethical In practice: supplier engagement examples production sites did not meet our minimum policies and standards. This will include our standards (i.e. they achieved a business Offer & Sourcing function working with our retail Embedding our standards among Responsible recruitment of migrant critical grade); of these: banners to help them prioritise suppliers for sub-contractors workers engagement and auditing. More information is Our tools and hardware suppliers often Recruitment and the supply of temporary, provided in our data appendix. work with a large number of manufacturing contract and seasonal labour have been sub-contractors. We want to make sure that identified as high-risk areas for modern 15 1 these sub-contractors meet our responsible slavery and human rights. We are sponsoring production sites production sourcing standards. the Responsible Recruitment Toolkit from resolved the site submitted Goods not for resale suppliers allianceHR, a specialist trade organisation. non-conformance corrective actions We work with EcoVadis, a sustainability ratings We are running a pilot project with our tools This provides a package of free training, self- and are pending auditor approval platform, to help us assess and manage risk in and hardware suppliers in China to develop assessment and support to help suppliers our goods not for resale (GNFR) supply chain. our approach in this area. Suppliers are and their labour providers to embed Any new suppliers are required to complete required to disclose the sub-contractors responsible recruitment practices. the EcoVadis questionnaire covering four they work with and how they select, manage, Progress against our policy themes – labour and human rights, environment, audit and review sub-contractors. Where We have rolled out the Toolkit to suppliers ethics, and sustainable procurement. Their we find that suppliers do not have a robust of finished goods in the UK which use Our policy is to ensure all suppliers meet responses are reviewed by EcoVadis and a rating approach to responsible sourcing, we are recruitment agencies. Eleven suppliers our ethical and environmental standards. To provided highlighting strengths, weaknesses working with them to address this and agree signed up and commenced using the monitor progress against our policy, we require and risk areas. The EcoVadis assessment is an action plan to meet our standards. We platform during 2020. We aim to roll the high-risk production sites of finished GFR to a requirement in our tender process for new carry out unannounced site visits to check Toolkit out to suppliers in the rest of have an ethical audit. In 2020/21, there were suppliers, with a minimum score threshold implementation. Europe (when it becomes available in 1,318 high-risk GFR production sites listed on of Bronze. those countries) and to GNFR suppliers, Sedex. Of these, 960 production sites have had Six suppliers joined the project during 2020. during 2021/22. an ethical audit in the past two years, which We aim to assess 85% of our GNFR spend (with equates to 73%. suppliers with whom we spend over £75,000) We are also working with the consultancy by the end of 2021. To date 60% of our spend Elevate to provide training for suppliers Under our new strategy we aim to maximise has been assessed by EcoVadis. The suppliers in Asia on the responsible recruitment of the benefits of our distinct retail banners, which achieved an average score of 60 out of 100, migrant workers. will continue to have their own product ranges which is a Silver rating. and commercial approaches in order to service our customer base effectively. The pandemic All suppliers who do not meet EcoVadis Bronze has also had an impact as it has made it harder level must put an action plan in place to improve. to visit factories and reduced the number of They are required to redo the assessment within auditors available. 12 months to demonstrate that they now meet at least Bronze level. We will be supporting low scoring suppliers to make improvements. 50 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Waste and recycling

We want to design out waste from Our work on packaging redesign, use of Waste recycled % recycled plastic and product repair services our operations, find new ways to Target 2025/26 90% also help to reduce waste, see page 37. reuse and recycle resources and 2020/21 69%

help our customers to do the same. 2019/20 70% We are committed to achieving Closing the loop on packaging waste 2018/19 76% zero waste to landfill and 90% of waste recycled. We’re always looking for new ways to turn 2017/18 76% waste into products. A great example is 2016/17 77% one of the plastic film products sold by Cutting waste to landfill Screwfix and B&Q for use in construction projects. It contains recycled plastic that Waste diverted from landfill % We are engaging our stores and waste comes from polythene packaging waste Target 2025/26 100% management contractors to improve recycling collected from our UK distribution centres. 2020/21 85%

rates and reduce waste. Our updated contracts 2019/20 87% with waste management contractors in the UK 2018/19 88% and France now include our waste reduction 69% waste recycled and recycling commitments. From 2021, we will 2017/18 90% hold quarterly meetings with contractors to In 2020/21, we generated 176,600 tonnes of 2016/17 90% review progress against these. In France, we waste, a decrease of 4% year on year, compared have monthly waste scorecards for our stores to an increase in like-for-like sales of over 7%. to encourage improvements. This reduction in waste generated is partly Waste recycling and disposal 2020/21 due to store closures in 2020 as a result of the thousand tonnes We are also helping customers to reduce, reuse pandemic. Our recycling rate was 69% (2019/20: 26 and recycle by introducing take-back and 70%) and we diverted 85% of waste from landfill Waste disposed 15% to landfill recycling schemes in some stores. This can (2019/20: 87%). reduce waste to landfill, increase recycling of materials that aren’t consistently covered by We were disappointed not to meet our zero 29 kerbside schemes and enable more circular waste to landfill target by our target date 122 Waste disposed Waste recycled 69% use of resources. In the UK, B&Q is installing of 2020 but will keep working towards this 16% to incineration recycling units for small electrical products, commitment going forwards. We expect to batteries and light bulbs in all stores, exceeding see improvements in 2021/22 as we increase regulatory requirements. B&Q also takes back engagement with our waste management old plastic plant pots for recycling in some contractors and update our waste contracts in stores. In France, we have permanent collection other markets. points in some stores for old paint pots and paint waste. 51 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Ethical conduct

We expect everyone working with in sensitive areas of the business received The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors Communicating our Code to us to carry out our business fairly a fair competition training module. By April receives regular updates on the outcomes colleagues and suppliers 2021, 74,000 colleagues had completed the from our internal audits, whistleblowing reports and with complete integrity. We do refresher module. and the outcome of internal investigations. During 2021/22, on top of the Code of Conduct not tolerate bribery or corruption. Statistics and trends will be monitored by the refresher training, we will be running an The training covers our integrity principles, how retail banners’ Local Ethics and Compliance awareness campaign to highlight our integrity to report concerns via the Kingfisher Speak Up Committees. standards and encourage colleagues to use our Our Code of Conduct channel and other topics in line with our Code Speak Up channel to report concerns or raise of Conduct. Different modules are available In 2020/21, we launched a new third-party due questions. This includes videos from members Our Code of Conduct helps to promote a to store and office colleagues, tailored to the diligence tool for goods not for resale vendors of our Group Executive to reinforce the culture where transparency, honesty and specific integrity risks they may encounter. We to integrate and strengthen our due diligence importance we place on integrity. fairness are the norm. It sets out our personal also provide additional Market Abuse Regulation process in areas such as anti-bribery and and shared responsibilities for meeting high training for colleagues in higher-risk roles. corruption, sanctions and conflict of interest. We embed the requirements of our Code of ethical standards. It states that all employees Conduct into our procurement processes and have a duty to report any potential breaches supplier contracts. Potential new suppliers are of the Code. Our Code forms part of the Strengthening our governance Raising concerns and whistleblowing informed during the tender process of our Code contractual terms and conditions for all new processes procedures of Conduct, policies and ethical requirements so employees. they can take these into account when quoting During 2020/21, we established our Group We encourage employees to ask questions to provide products or services. The Code includes sections on: sustainability; Ethics and Compliance Committee to help or raise concerns via their line manager or ethical behaviour; working with third parties; ensure good governance of compliance-related member of the Legal and Compliance team. We also operate a whistleblowing service for modern slavery; anti-bribery and corruption; activities across the Group. It is chaired by the They can also report any concerns via our suppliers. gifts and hospitality; and conflicts of interest, Kingfisher Chief Financial Officer and meets independent Speak Up channel or get advice via amongst others. We operate an online approval at least four times a year. Other members a dedicated email address. We raise awareness and reporting procedure for hospitality and gifts. include our Chief People Officer, Group General of the hotline via our Code of Conduct training. Counsel, Internal Audit and Risk Director, and You can read our Code of Conduct on Group Head of Compliance. Reports are investigated and if an employee is our website. found to have breached our Code of Conduct, Our compliance network, including a Local appropriate disciplinary action is taken. The Compliance Officer in each retail banner, helps number of open and resolved cases and the Embedding our standards us implement our Code. During 2020/21, we outcomes are reported to the Audit Committee started the establishment of a Local Ethics and of the Board of Directors. We will be introducing All new joiners are required to complete Code Compliance Committee in each of our retail new training for colleagues in charge of of Conduct training, which includes our anti- banners to help further embed our policies. investigations during 2021/22. bribery and corruption policies. In 2020/21, over 35,000 colleagues also completed a Code of Our internal audit function monitors compliance In 2020/21, there were 168 cases opened of Conduct refresher module, launched during among businesses to the Code requirements, which 160 were investigated and closed during the year, and over 3,000 colleagues working using a risk-based approach to plan their work. the year. 52 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Cyber security and data protection

Cyber-attacks and security security standards. Our policies, standards external audit of our systems. Our European Cyber security is included in our induction incidents are a growing risk to all and associated controls framework are aligned card payments processes are also designed to training for all colleagues, including contractors. to international standards such as ISO 27001 meet the requirements of the standard. In 2020/21, we also launched more detailed businesses. We are very mindful and the NIST Framework and comply with the cyber security awareness training covering how of these risks and have designed General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and We have cyber security insurance which was to identify and guard against cyber threats such processes and controls to protect other relevant regulations. renewed in 2020. The renewal process involves as phishing. This is now being rolled out. the data entrusted to us and our our insurers reviewing our protections and business operations. All colleagues New IT solutions go through a ‘Secure By controls. have a role to play in protecting Design’ process to ensure they are secure and compliant with applicable regulations data and guarding against cyber and adhere to our security standards when Working with others security threats. deployed. As part of our IT controls framework, we regularly test our IT processes to confirm Suppliers must confirm that they comply with In 2020/21, we further strengthened our that they meet our standards and, if any risk our cyber security policies, and this requirement security procedures, monitoring and training areas are identified, we put in place a mitigation is integrated into our supplier contracts. in light of the increased risks resulting from plan and monitor progress against this. Contractors completing IT development work the pandemic including more colleagues are contractually required to train their staff on working from home and a significant increase We conduct regular impact assessments cyber security. in online sales. of cyber threats facing Kingfisher and take appropriate steps as needed. We participate in industry and government forums to ensure we remain aware of the latest Cyber security: our approach cyber threats and to share best practices. Internal and external audit This includes the Cyber Security Information Our Information Security and Risk Director Sharing Partnership (CiSP), a joint industry and develops and implements our approach to Our security policies, standards, IT processes government initiative set up to exchange cyber cyber and information security based on and governance frameworks are regularly threat information in real time, and working with industry best practice. Our Chief Information reviewed by an independent audit team. In the British Retail Consortium on data security Officer oversees our approach to cyber the last two years this has included external and regulatory topics. security and reports directly to our Chief auditors carrying out a cyber security audit Executive Officer. and an audit of our use of cloud services. Review and audit findings are reported to the Training our colleagues The Board of Directors receives regular updates Audit Committee of the Kingfisher Board of on cyber security risks and processes, at least Directors. We communicate our policies and remind all every six months. colleagues to keep security top of mind through Our systems and processing of card payments our training and awareness campaigns. During Our Group Information Security and Acceptable in the UK are certified compliant with PCI DSS, 2020/21, we developed guidance on cyber Use Policy is approved by our Group Executive the worldwide Payment Card Industry Data security when working from home and provided and supported by a suite of more detailed Security Standard. This involves an annual regular tips and reminders to colleagues. 53 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Data protection

We hold customer, colleague and supplier In certain cases, individuals have the right to data and have a responsibility to collect, use access, rectify and delete any data we hold and store it responsibly in line with national on them. We’ve implemented a process for regulation and the EU General Data Protection customers and colleagues to exercise their Regulation (GDPR). rights; relevant information can be found in our privacy notice here. Our approach includes strong policies on data management and training for our people. Our All new joiners are required to complete Group Data Protection Officer oversees our data protection training. In addition, we approach to data protection and reports to the roll out annual refresher training on data Group General Counsel. We also have a data protection and the GDPR to all colleagues protection lead in each market to help implement across the Group. During 2020/21, 35,000 our standards in line with local requirements. colleagues completed the refresher training; by the end of March 2021, 74,000 colleagues Key policies include our Data Protection Policy had completed the training. and Record Keeping Policy, supported by a suite of more detailed standards. Our Data Under the GDPR, we’re required to report Protection Policy and Data Protection Standard certain types of data breaches to the are published on our website. We update our relevant regulator, such as the Information policies regularly. Commissioner’s Office in the UK, and the affected individuals. We provide training to For any process at Group or banner level explain to our colleagues how to recognise that may involve handling personal data, and and what to do if a data breach happens. is likely to result in a high risk to individuals, colleagues are required to complete a data Our Data Protection team investigates all protection impact assessment. Suppliers that personal data breaches reported to them process personal data on behalf of Kingfisher to mitigate risks and determine if notification must confirm that they comply with our data to the affected individuals and regulators is and security policies, and this requirement is required. integrated into our supplier contracts. 54 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Tax governance and risk management

The Kingfisher Code of Conduct failure to comply with the applicable rules and The Group pays tax on its profits, its properties, in applies high standards of procedures. The Group seeks to take a balanced employing 80,000 people, in environmental levies, The Group seeks approach to tax risk having regard to the interests in customs duties and levies as well as other transparency, honesty and fairness of all stakeholders including investors, customers, local taxes. The most significant taxes it collects to engage with tax to colleagues and suppliers. The staff and the governments and communities in for governments are the sales taxes charged Code requires that we carry out our the countries in which it operates. to its customers on their purchases (VAT) and authorities with work ethically and in compliance employee payroll-related taxes. Taxes paid and with the law. We have a zero- As a multinational group, operating in an collected together represent Kingfisher’s total tax professionalism, tolerance approach to tax evasion increasingly complex and changing international contribution, which is shown below. corporate tax environment, some risk is honesty and and the facilitation of tax evasion. unavoidable. In 2020/21, Kingfisher decided to repay and These principles underpin our forego all UK and Republic of Ireland business respect. approach to tax. Kingfisher manages and controls this risk rates relief for which it was eligible, worth through local management, the tax specialists £105 million. Our core tax objectives are to pay the right that it employs and agile monitoring of changes amount of tax at the right time and to comply in law and interpretation of law. The Group may Kingfisher participates in the Total Tax with all relevant tax legislation in all Group engage with reputable professional firms on Contribution survey that PwC perform for the entities. Kingfisher undertakes its activities and areas of significant complexity, uncertainty or Hundred Group of Finance Directors. The 2020 pays tax in the countries in which it operates materiality, to support it in complying with its survey ranked Kingfisher 26th (2019: 28th) for in compliance with the local and worldwide tax tax strategy. Group companies work within a tax its Total Tax Contribution in the UK. In 2020, 97 rules. These tax objectives are met through controls framework, and compliance with this is (2019: 99) companies contributed to the survey. the application of the Group Tax Standards and monitored by the Internal Audit and Risk team. the published Kingfisher Tax Strategy, which The statutory tax rates applicable to this are Board approved, as well as other relevant The Group seeks to engage with tax authorities financial year (2020/21) in our main jurisdictions Group policies and standards, which document with professionalism, honesty and respect. It were: UK – 19%; France – 32%; Poland – 19%. our approach to tax compliance, tax risk works with all tax authorities in a timely and management and tax planning to ensure that constructive manner to resolve disputes where consistent minimum standards are observed they arise, although it is prepared to litigate Total taxes paid as a result throughout the Group. where this is not possible. of Group operations £billions The responsibility for tax policy and management of tax risks lies with the Chief Tax contribution 2019/20 2020/21 Financial Officer and the Group Tax Director who engage regularly with the Board and the Kingfisher makes a significant economic Taxes borne 0.7 0.7* Audit Committee on all tax matters. contribution to the countries in which it Taxes collected 1.3 1.5 operates. In 2020/21 it contributed £2.2 billion Tax risks can arise from changes in law, in taxes that it both pays and collects for these Total tax contribution 2.0 2.2 differences in interpretation of law and the governments. * Includes the repaid business rates relief referred to on page 5. 55 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Public policy

We interact with regulators and We follow government guidelines in relation Which trade associations do we Examples from 2020/21 government officials in our markets to employing former public officials (the work with? ‘revolving-door’). and at EU level. We give our views 1. Apprenticeships: Screwfix’s ‘Trade Sometimes we engage with policymakers via on proposed legislation and inform Apprentice’ competition celebrates trade associations and industry groups. This can the development of policies that Working with lobbying companies tradespeople at the start of their increase the impact of our policy messages. will impact our business and the careers. This year, in a session hosted Relationships with trade associations in the UK, We work with a number of external lobbying by the UK Apprentices Minister retail sector. Ireland, France and Brussels are overseen by companies, which are all members of and the competition finalists, the our Group Director of Corporate Affairs and, in recognised self-regulatory organisations such apprentices shared their experiences other markets, by the relevant local CEO. We also engage on sustainability topics, as the Association of Professional Political of the pandemic and its impact on their supporting measures that incentivise Consultants in the UK and the European Public training, mental health and uptake of Our memberships include: sustainable business practice and encourage Affairs Consultancies’ Association (EPACA) renewable and green technologies by — EU: EDRA/GHIN (the European DIY Retail investment in sustainable business and in the EU and are governed by their codes of trade professionals. Association home and the Global Home innovation; see opposite for examples conduct. The lobbying companies we use in Improvement Network) and EuroCommerce. from 2020/21. the EU are also listed on the EU Transparency 2. Brexit: In 2020/21 we continued to — UK: The British Retail Consortium (BRC), Register. implement our Brexit contingency Confederation of British Industry (CBI), and planning. Priority areas included customs the GC100 – the Association of General Our approach and standards and product regulation, environmental Counsel and Company Secretaries working in Which issues did we prioritise in standards, and requirements for plant FTSE 100 Companies. Our Group Director of Corporate Affairs 2020/21? passporting and plant health safety — France: The French Association of Private manages our public policy activities and checks. Our Government Affairs Businesses (AFEP), and the French reports to a member of our Group Executive. Our public policy priorities during 2020/21 Manager chairs the British Retail Federation of DIY Retailers (FMB). The Board of Directors reviews the key primarily focused on the response to the Consortium’s Brexit working group. — Ireland: Irish Business and Employers aspects of our public policy activity at least pandemic. Other priorities included: preparing Confederation (IBEC), Retail twice a year. for the new Trade and Cooperation Agreement 3. Home energy efficiency: In 2020/21 the Excellence Ireland. (TCA) after Brexit; changes to property taxes French Government’s ‘MaPrimeRénov’ — Poland: The Polish Confederation of Private All our public policy work must meet the ethical (UK and Poland); deforestation; domestic energy scheme, which provides funding for Employers and the Polish Organisation of standards set out in our Code of Conduct and efficiency; and housing policy. domestic energy efficiency projects, Commerce & Distribution (POHID). our Group Corporate Affairs Policy and reflect was expanded and made available to — Portugal: Portuguese Association of Retail our public sustainability commitments. We are all households. We supported this as Companies (APED). registered on the EU Transparency Register of a direct way for customers to claim — Spain: Association of Distributors of Hardware lobbying activities. government funding to complete home and DIY (ADFB). energy efficiency projects. Castorama — Turkey: Chain Stores Association (KMD), In line with EU and UK corporate governance France has a dedicated section on its Turkish Industry and Business Association best practice and as stated in our Code of website to encourage customers to (TÜSİAD). Conduct, it is our policy not to make donations participate. directly to political parties or politicians. 56 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Pensions

The Kingfisher Pension Scheme a financial impact on investment performance. The KPS also offers participants in its Money (KPS) manages the pensions They are encouraged to engage with Purchase scheme the opportunity to select an investee companies on these issues, including Ethical Fund for their pension. This fund aims of past and present employees. exercising voting rights where appropriate. to provide long-term growth by investing in the The Scheme is open to all UK shares of companies that meet a set of ethical employees with the same Investment managers must disclose their criteria. benefits offered to all employed, investment approach to the KPS and state irrespective of seniority or whether this integrates ESG factors. The Trustees have also decided to introduce a tool which will provide members length of service. The Scheme is with greater visibility of their underlying governed by a Trustee Board that Investments investments. It will allow members the is gender diverse and consists of opportunity to provide their views directly independent, member nominated The KPS Trustees have explored opportunities to the investment managers on how they and employer nominated Trustee to invest in specific funds that support believe votes, in respect of shareholder progress on sustainability issues, such as resolutions relating to those companies, Directors. renewable energy. Existing investments include should be cast. a £15 million stake in a global farmland fund Reflecting the Trustees’ commitment to which invests in farmland operated according sustainability, the KPS integrates responsible to sustainable farming methods and a £20 “The Kingfisher Pension investment principles into its work and million investment in a global renewable Scheme Trustees take communicates with stakeholders on its energy fund. approach to environmental, social and into account the potential governance (ESG) issues. The Trustees take into account the potential risks and opportunities risks and opportunities associated with climate change and the transition to a low carbon associated with climate Principles economy. The investment strategy for their change and the transition passive equity holdings aims to hedge climate Investment decisions of the KPS are governed change risk by prioritising companies who to a low carbon economy.” by the Scheme’s Statement of Investment invest in low carbon innovation and reducing Principles (SIP). This sets out the KPS’s investment in carbon intensive industries. commitment to act as a responsible investor The Trustees have also decided to switch and states the Trustee Board’s belief that all the underlying fund of the Diversified Return companies should be run in a responsible way. Fund to the Legal and General Future World Multi-Asset Fund which provides enhanced Investment managers acting on behalf ESG integration. Around 98% of the Money of the KPS are required to take account Purchase membership is in the default of environmental, social and governance strategy which consists of 50% Passive Equity considerations (“ESG”) where these may have Fund and 50% Diversified Return Fund. 57 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Governance and engagement

We’ve embedded Responsible We have a three-year Responsible Business Our Responsible Business network brings “The Responsible Business into our governance plan for the Group and have worked with our together colleagues from our Offer & Group functions to integrate Responsible Sourcing, sustainability, procurement, logistics, Business Committee’s and management structures to Business actions into their three-year plans. brand, investor relations, customer and role is to support and enable progress against our goals This is reviewed by the Group Executive and marketing teams and our banners to share and targets. the Kingfisher Board of Directors twice a year. ideas and best practices. The network usually oversee delivery of how meets twice a year in person as well as Kingfisher operates as through regular webinars, with presentation Executive oversight Embedding Responsible Business and discussion on a range of topics, from a Responsible Business. climate change to forests to human rights. Our new Responsible Business Committee Our central Responsible Business team, led In-person meetings were not possible during Promoting ownership of (RBC) leads and oversees delivery of by our Group Director of Corporate Affairs, is 2020/21 due to the pandemic but we held our Responsible Business our Responsible Business strategy. The responsible for developing strategy, targets, monthly webinars on key topics. Committee’s role includes supporting setting governance and reporting and communication strategy by colleagues the ambition, facilitating and monitoring on Responsible Business. across the group, setting Kingfisher’s Responsible Business strategy. Integrating Responsible Business We have Responsible Business experts in performance measures ambitious targets, The RBC is a Committee of the Kingfisher our Group functions who are responsible for monitoring impact and Board and is chaired by non-executive director driving and embedding Responsible Business To encourage focus on our Responsible Sophie Gasperment. Its members are our CEO, practices. For example, within our Offer & Business priorities, in FY 20/21, for the first progress against our four a second non-executive director, our Chief Sourcing function, they embed sustainability time, we linked a portion of our colleague Responsible Business Offer & Sourcing Officer, our Chief People into our own exclusive product brand ranges bonus programme to our performance against Officer and a banner CEO, currently our and support banners as a centre of excellence. our key Responsible Business priorities, and priorities, as well as Screwfix CEO. will continue to do so in FY 21/22. ensuring underpinning Each of our banners has appointed a The Committee met twice during the year Responsible Business lead to oversee our The details of this bonus and the pay-out for fundamentals are in place, to review progress on our key priorities and efforts at market level. They are supported 2020/21 are summarised in our Annual Report Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) by our central team and the sustainability and Accounts, page 97. are key areas of focus for risks and will meet three times in 2021. The experts within Group functions. Banners are the Committee.” Board receives regular updates about our integrating Responsible Business actions performance and sustainability risks and into their three-year plans, setting out how Sophie Gasperment, Chair of the Responsible Business Committee reviews our Responsible Business KPIs each they will progress towards our targets. We quarter as part of its governance dashboard. will be further developing our approach to Responsible Business governance in our banners during 2021/22. 58 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Responsible Business policies Risk management Franchise partnerships We have Our policies guide our approach and help Identification and management of sustainability As part of our Powered by Kingfisher plan, we us to adopt consistent standards across our risks are incorporated in our strategic risk will use the Group’s established, strong retail sustainability markets. For transparency, we publish key assessment processes. banners and own exclusive product brands, to policies on our website. See www.kingfisher. grow the business in new territories through experts in our com/sustainabilitypolicies. Our most significant risks are included in our partnership agreements. internal Responsible Business risk register Group functions We aim to review our policies regularly and (part of our overall Group risk management We signed our first franchise agreement update them when necessary. In light of process), and are monitored over the short (1-3 with the Al-Futtaim Group in early 2021 to who are responsible our new operating model, a review of all years), and medium to long term (over 3 years). expand B&Q in the Middle East, starting with policies will take place during 2021. During These include risks relating to: the opening of two B&Q franchised stores in for driving and 2020 we updated our Ethical Sourcing and — Climate change. Saudi Arabia. Al-Futtaim has a proven track Supplier Workplace Ethical and Environmental — Resource scarcity. record of successful franchise partnerships embedding Assurance (SWEEA) Policy to incorporate — Supply chain ethical and environmental with global retail brands. We conduct extensive recommendations from our auditors. compliance. due diligence on potential franchise partners — Wood and paper compliance. and our key policies, including our Code of Responsible Significant updates to our policies are approved — Discrimination. Conduct, our IT Security Policy, Environmental by our Group Executive. — Sustainability regulation and compliance. Sustainability Policy, Human Rights Policy, Business practices. — Delivery of our Responsible Business strategy. Supply Chain Workplace Standards, and our Deforestation Policy, are included in our Fines and prosecutions Read more on our approach to risk management contract. We reserve the right to monitor and in our Annual Report and Accounts. audit key practices to ensure compliance with There were no prosecutions or fines our policies. relating to health, safety or the environment during 2020/21. 59 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Engaging our stakeholders

Sustainability challenges are often Colleagues complex and systemic in nature. We listen to colleague feedback through our We partner with stakeholders to direct interactions and regular surveys. 79% of colleagues responded to our most recent progress our work on Responsible colleague engagement survey which included Business issues and encourage questions on our response to Covid-19 and the change beyond our business. support provided to colleagues. We continue to Stakeholder views and feedback have high engagement across the Group, with helps us to develop our approach our overall engagement score increasing from 79 to 81 (vs the retail average of 66, as defined and improve our communications. by our external engagement survey partner). Read more on page 16. Our main stakeholders include our customers, investors, colleagues, suppliers and regulators Investors as well as NGOs, the media and other Our Responsible Business and Investor organisations working on sustainability and Relations (IR) teams collaborate closely to business issues. communicate our approach to environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and Our approach to stakeholder engagement performance to investors, including via investor includes: meetings, our Annual Report, Responsible Business Report, Final Results announcement Customers and benchmarks and indices. We engage with our customers on Responsible Business issues through our research, via Our ESG presentation for investors is published our websites and in-store communications on our website. We engaged with a number of and through our charity partnerships and investors and analysts on ESG topics in 2020/21, fundraising campaigns. Research into customer in addition to participating in four ESG investor views on sustainability topics has informed the conferences and meeting with 78 investors on development of many of our targets. ESG topics.

Two Responsible Business questions are Regulators included in our quarterly Brand Health Tracker We engage with the governments and regulators consumer research, and a third metric will in each of our key markets and with the EU, both be added in 2021/22. This research explores directly and through our trade associations. perceptions of our banners in the UK and Our approach to public policy engagement is France in relation to sustainable products and explained on page 55. community investment. 60 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Suppliers How is our performance rated? We collaborate with suppliers on Responsible Business issues including through our product We participate in many external benchmarks and indices. In 2020/21, these included: development and engage with them on our approach to ethical sourcing and our Code of Conduct. See pages 47 and 51. MSCI-ESG CDP Forests We received a AAA ESG rating for our ability We disclosed our performance through to manage ESG issues (2019/20: AAA). This CDP Forest and received a rating of B in NGOs and industry partners is the highest possible score, achieved by relation to timber (2019/20: not scored). 3% of companies. We scored D in relation to cattle products We partner with many NGOs, other businesses (2019/20: not scored) and expect to see an and specialist organisations to learn from their improvement in this score as we progress insights and address Responsible Business ISS ESG our work on leather sourcing. challenges. Examples are included on pages 12, We received a corporate rating of B- (good) 19 and 41. (2019/20: B-). Workforce Disclosure Initiative Organisations we work with include: Aldersgate We received a score of 66%, above the DISCLOSURE INSIGHT ACTION Group, Bioregional, Business Disability Forum, Sustainalytics sector average of 60%. Centre for European Reform, Fondation Abbé We scored 9.7 (negligible risk). We rank 1st Pierre, FSC, Green Alliance, Rainforest Alliance out of 40 in home improvement retail and – Forest Allies, Shelter, Slave Free Alliance and 2nd out of 428 in the wider retailing sector. FTSE4Good Index Stonewall. We are listed in this index with a rating of 4.4 out of 5 (strong performance) (2019/20: For more information on how we engage our CDP Climate Change 4.4). This puts us in the 95th percentile. stakeholders, see our 2020/21 Annual Report We disclosed our climate change and Accounts. performance through CDP Climate Change and received a rating of A- (2019/20: A-). Forest 500 (Global Canopy This puts us in the leadership category, Programme) among the top 28% of companies in our Identifies and ranks the most influential sector globally. companies and institutions in the forest risk commodity supply chain. We ranked 11th out of 67 retailers with a score of 40%. 61 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Material issues

Our materiality assessment helps The final matrix identifies several high-priority Materiality matrix Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals us to identify our most important issues including product sustainability, climate change, human rights, and wood and forestry. Responsible Business issues, risks Issues such as wellbeing, health and safety, and opportunities, taking into data privacy and security, and diversity and

account business priorities and inclusion, have increased in priority since Product Climate the views of our stakeholders. last year. sustainability change It informs how we focus our resources, and what information The governance of our Responsible Business Wood and programme, including how we establish and Human rights forestry we choose to include in our uphold clear, transparent and accountable Responsible Business reporting. governance structures, is explained in further Chemicals detail on page 57. Packaging and plastics Supply chain Wellbeing, Materiality refresh We have strategies in place to manage our traceability health and most material issues. safety We updated our assessment during 2019 and Raw early 2020. The priority issues from a business materials Data privacy perspective were identified through an internal Community and security Diversity and workshop. This gathered input from a range engagement inclusion of internal stakeholders including colleagues and investment from our sustainability teams and key functions. Expert consultants conducted interviews with 20 external stakeholders including Product quality investors, peers, supply chain stakeholders, Training and NGOs and trade associations. These two development inputs were combined to develop our draft matrix (published in our previous Responsible Accessibility Business Report). Waste in In early 2021 our matrix was reviewed by operations our consultants, in light of the impact of the pandemic and other events during 2020. They made a number of recommendations for adjusting our matrix and their findings were

reviewed by a group of internal stakeholders interest Stakeholder from our Group functions. Medium High Business impact 62 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Assurance statement Independent Limited Assurance Report to the Directors of Kingfisher plc Kingfisher plc (“Kingfisher”) commissioned DNV Business Assurance Services UK Limited (“DNV”, “us” or “we”) to conduct a limited assurance engagement over Selected Information presented in their Responsible Business Report 2020/21 and the Performance Data Appendix 2020/21 (together the “Report”) for the reporting year ended 31 January 2021.

Our Observations — Gender diversity: material errors were Colleagues Our Conclusion found in the Castorama France data — Gender diversity (page 19) Our observations and areas for improvement return in the classification of management Planet: Forest Positive will be raised in a separate report to grades. Kingfisher corrected the data and Based on the procedures — Responsibly sourced wood and paper Kingfisher’s Management. Selected subsequent checks at two other banners we have performed and the products (page 21) evidence we have obtained, observations are provided below. These identified no further issues. observations do not affect Our Conclusion set Planet: Climate change nothing has come to our out to the left. — Community investment: material errors — Carbon footprint (pages 23 to 25) attention that causes us to were found in the Screwfix data return for — Haulage – dedicated fleet vehicles (page 26) believe that the Selected — Kingfisher’s Sustainability Reporting Tool ‘motivation’ (community investment/charitable — Energy use (page 27) was supported by comprehensive internal gifts). Kingfisher undertook additional checks at Information is not fairly stated Customers data collection guidelines. Following our other banners and data for B&Q, Brico Dépôt and has not been prepared, in all — Sustainable Home Products sales (page 28) recommendation last year, we noted Romania and Castorama Poland, along with the material respects, in accordance that data collection processes had been Screwfix data, was subsequently updated. Communities with the Criteria. documented internally for some indicators. — Community investment (page 31) To ensure consistency each year in data — Responsibly sourced wood and paper Fundamentals: Responsible sourcing This conclusion relates only to preparation, we recommend that this process products: we noted the number of non- — Supplier assessments (page 34) is completed for all indicators at Group and compliant SKUs (products) increased the Selected Information, and is — Supplier assessments – site grades (page 34) to be read in the context of this banner level. significantly over the reporting period as the data collection expanded to include all Independent Limited Assurance Sustainability Targets — Many of the processes used to collect banners. We recommend Kingfisher creates — Progress towards Sustainability Report, in particular the inherent data from source into the Reporting action plans to decrease the number of non- Targets (page 7) limitations explained on page 63. Tool continue to rely predominantly on compliant SKUs in line with its Forest Positive manual processes using spreadsheets. We ambition and works with banners to implement To assess the Selected Information, which repeat our recommendation to introduce these action plans. includes an assessment of the risk of material automated processes and use systems- misstatement in the Report, we have used based solutions for carbon footprint; haulage; Selected Information Kingfisher’s Sustainability Data Collection energy use; community investment; and Methodology 2020/21 (the “Criteria”), which can supplier assessment data. This year we The scope and boundary of our work is be found www.kingfisher.com/datamethodology. noted improvements in the processes for restricted to selected 2020/21 performance We have not performed any work, and do not Sustainable Home Products and responsibly data included within the Report (the “Selected express any conclusion, on any other information sourced wood and paper products, but these Information”), as indicated with ‘◊’ in the that may be published in the Report or on areas should also be considered for greater Performance Data Appendix 2020/21 for the Kingfisher’s website for the current reporting automation and systems-based solutions. following areas: period or for previous periods. 63 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21 Introduction Colleagues Planet Customers Communities Fundamentals Assurance

Standard and level of assurance Basis of Our Conclusion Our competence, independence and Responsibilities of the Directors of quality control Kingfisher and DNV We performed a limited assurance engagement We are required to plan and perform our work in in accordance with the International Standard on order to consider the risk of material misstatement DNV established policies and procedures are The Directors of Kingfisher have sole Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 Revised – of the Selected Information; our work included, but designed to ensure that DNV, its personnel responsibility for: ‘Assurance Engagements other than Audits and was not restricted to: and, where applicable, others are subject — Preparing and presenting the Selected Reviews of Historical Financial Information’, issued — Conducting remote interviews with Kingfisher to independence requirements (including Information in accordance with the Criteria; by the International Auditing and Assurance management to obtain an understanding of the personnel of other entities of DNV) and maintain — Designing, implementing and maintaining Standards Board. This standard requires that we key processes, systems and controls in place to independence where required by relevant effective internal controls over the information comply with ethical requirements and plan and generate, aggregate and report the Selected ethical requirements. DNV conducts climate risk and data, resulting in the preparation of the perform the assurance engagement to obtain Information; analysis of Kingfisher’s property portfolio, which Selected Information that is free from material limited assurance. — Remote meetings with teams from two retail does not conflict with the scope of this work. misstatements; banners, Screwfix and Castorama France, to This engagement work was carried out by an — Measuring and reporting the Selected DNV applies its own management standards review processes and systems for preparing retail independent team of sustainability assurance Information based on their established and compliance policies for quality control, banner level data consolidated at Group level. We professionals. Our multi-disciplinary team Criteria; and in accordance with ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 – were free to select retail banners and they were consisted of professionals with a combination — Contents and statements contained within the Conformity Assessment Requirements for chosen on the basis of materiality and frequency of environmental and sustainability assurance Report and the Criteria. bodies providing audit and certification of of audit visit over the past three years; experience. management systems, and accordingly maintains — Remote meetings with head office personnel to Our responsibility is to plan and perform our a comprehensive system of quality control review processes and systems for preparing and Inherent limitations work to obtain limited assurance about whether including documented policies and procedures consolidating Group level data; the Selected Information has been prepared regarding compliance with ethical requirements, — Additional testing was undertaken on the following All assurance engagements are subject in accordance with the Criteria and to report professional standards and applicable legal and due to material errors found in our initial sample to inherent limitations as selective testing to Kingfisher in the form of an Independent regulatory requirements. testing at banner level: (sampling) may not detect errors, fraud or other Limited Assurance Conclusion, based on the • Gender diversity data – Kingfisher corrected irregularities. Non-financial data may be subject work performed and the evidence obtained. We The procedures performed in a limited assurance the data at banner level and subsequent checks to greater inherent uncertainty than financial have not been responsible for the preparation of engagement vary in nature and timing from, and at two other banners identified no further issues; data, given the nature and methods used for the Report. are less in extent than for, a reasonable assurance • Community investment data – Kingfisher calculating, estimating and determining such engagement; and the level of assurance obtained undertook additional checks at banners, and data. The selection of different, but acceptable, DNV Business Assurance is substantially lower than the assurance that data for four banners was updated; measurement techniques may result in different Services UK Limited would have been obtained had a reasonable — Performing limited substantive testing on a quantifications between different entities. London, UK assurance engagement been performed. We selective basis of the Selected Information to 15 June 2021 planned and performed our work to obtain the check that data had been appropriately measured, Our assurance relies on the premise that evidence we considered sufficient to provide recorded, collated and reported; the data and information provided to us a basis for Our Conclusion, so that the risk of — Reviewing whether Kingfisher followed its stated by Kingfisher have been provided in good this conclusion being in error is reduced but not process in the Criteria to determine progress faith. DNV expressly disclaims any liability or reduced to very low. towards its Sustainability Targets; co-responsibility for any decision a person or — Assessing the appropriateness of the Criteria for an entity may make based on this Assurance the Selected Information; Statement. DNV Business Assurance — Reviewing that the evidence, measurements and DNV Business Assurance Services their scope provided to us by Kingfisher for the UK Limited is part of DNV–Business Selected Information is prepared in line with the Assurance, a global provider of Criteria; and certification, verification, assessment and — Reading the Report and narrative accompanying training services, helping customers to the Selected Information within it with regard to build sustainable business performance. the Criteria. www.dnv.co.uk/BetterAssurance 64 KingfisherResponsible Business Report 2020/21

Read more

Our Responsible Business website www.kingfisher.com/responsible-business

Annual Report and Accounts www.kingfisher.com/annualreport

Our performance data appendix www.kingfisher.com/dataappendix

Our Responsible Business data collection methodology www.kingfisher.com/datamethodology

Our Sustainable Home Product guidelines www.kingfisher.com/shpguidelines

Contacts

What do you think about our performance? We’d love to hear your views on Responsible Business at Kingfisher [email protected]