InStyle Direct’s ESG Strategy

As a company and as individuals, we at InStyle Direct take our behaviour and responsibilities exceptionally seriously. Our ESG strategy is action-oriented and covers what we are doing right now as well as our concrete promises for the future.

A Diverse Organisation with a Shared Vision

InStyle Direct has a London-based HQ and warehouse as well as six international offices around the globe. We are incredibly proud of our diverse workforce. Our multinational employee base spans 22 different nationalities, with a total of 16 different languages spoken. InStyle Direct’s international organisation operates with a shared, profound passion for our planet’s future and for its people. Our work culture supports this by ensuring that all employees are:

• Fairly treated with equal dignity and respect
• Rewarded, supported and encouraged to realise their full potential
• Provided with a positive health and safety culture
• Provided with opportunities to continue training and improvement

Looking beyond the company, we seek to engage, support and improve our communities through charitable giving and through individual and collective action.

Shared Future. Shared Responsibility

As interior providers, InStyle is keenly aware of the importance of responsibly-sourced products and raw materials. The survival of the earth’s ecosystem and all its inhabitants depends on us making the right decisions which in our case involve:

• Making a conscious effort to source sustainable / part sustainable products and making sure that obtaining them is not at the expense of the local community
• Reducing paper consumption by 60% over the past 3 years
• Promoting and re-cycling used furniture, thereby reducing demand for new resources. Almost all pieces can be repurposed and used for a variety of different projects
• Our commitment to joining the Furniture Industry Research Association. The FIRA is an invaluable source of expertise and knowledge when it comes to ensuring that work practices and supply chains comply with ethical guidelines

Everyday Efforts

We are also working hard to ensure that our office and warehouse spaces reflect our values, and this involves:

• The recycling of all daily waste. Using a baler for cards and plastic has allowed us to streamline the process of disposal. This also allows us to greatly reduce fire risk
• Running a transport fleet that is currently 50% Euro compliant with an actionable plan to decrease vehicle emissions even further
• Encouraging the use of electric cars within the sales team. Currently, 75% of the sales fleet is electric
• Recycling used mattresses by converting the wool into materiel for household sponges and melting down the springs
  Using renewable energy in the warehouse
• A robust and actionable CO2 offset plan

We reduce waste and manage our carbon footprint by ensuring that all our products are, not only of superior quality but are built to last. This prevents clogging up our landfill sites with cheap, throwaway furniture and ensures our clients get value for their money.

Ethical Movements

Ethically sourcing our materials, suppliers and transport networks not only helps the planet but is also a way of ensuring that the communities involved and impacted continue to flourish. From rural villages and factory workers to everyone involved in the transportation chain, we practice the following:

• Promote healthy and safety all the way down the supply chain. Although other countries may have different laws, we can model best practices and we can demand full disclosure and make informed decisions on who we choose to partner with
• Give back to the communities that provide our raw materials and manufacturing base. We do this by setting up training opportunities in India via our curtain factory. We also upcycle our products so that less-affluent communities can enjoy their benefits

Staying on Track & Meeting Targets

No serious environmental or social initiative can be achieved without a monitoring system or timeline and that is where the “governance” part of our ESG comes in. ESG audits are a core component of InStyle Direct’s strategy and consist of regular site/factory visits, input from independent experts, monthly meetings with stakeholders and advice from the FIRA.

Many of our suppliers are members of eco-conscious trade associations. They may be accredited with BWA (British Woodworking Association) or IRQAO (International Register of Quality Assessed Organisations). These companies will also invariably be on the register of various other quality assurance organisations and InStyle usually finds that their work practices are in keeping with our standards and ethics.

We consider regular ESG audits as a great way of keeping on track and on target. We will be doing this through:

• Supplier Audit Forms will be issued to all suppliers to complete every three years. In order to keep everything above board, we will use an external contractor as well as our own resources
• Part of that process will be expecting suppliers to provide documentation which has been approved by accredited organisations to demonstrate correct or good practices in each of the request fields
• Factories are the priority at present, but InStyle are pledging to do this across the whole chain
• Factory visits will be carried out on a random basis throughout the year
• The focus is on our current season suppliers and any new suppliers

Over the next decade or so these audits will make sure that we:

• Use 100% recycled packaging by 2025
• Be ISO 14001 certified by 2028
• Achieve totally carbon neutrality by 2035

Giving Back

Until this happens, the work goes on. The quest for a better planet for better people goes on and where better place to start than with our team of incredible InStyle individuals. Our staff are involved in a diverse and inspiring group of charitable activities which we help facilitate by granting them time off to support, promote and organise their various causes. We also donate used books to local schools.

• A great example of this is our employee football group – a great way to keep fit and keep in touch while raising money for charity
• InStyle Direct also donates used furniture to the Heart Foundation charity, supports the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and is involved in a number of overseas educational foundations

Employee Contributions

Our employees help promote a greener business model with some of the following efforts:

• Contributing to a paperless environment
• Using reusable and refillable alternatives to plastic cups
• Swapping water supply for filter tap water
• Switching lighting to LED
• Reducing landfill waste by using waste disposal alternatives
• Tree planting

A Cleaner, Greener, Fairer Tomorrow

We refuse to promote an aspirational lifestyle and aesthetic while disregarding the plight of our planet which is why we use our industry positioning to help the planet. We stand as a positive force for change. This attitude and belief stretch from our informed business decisions down to every piece of furniture that we place in our client’s properties.

Recycling Materials Responsibly

InStyle Direct recycles mattresses via Matt UK and guarantees 100% landfill avoidance on all mattresses. Aside from the foam and springs, the average mattress we donate is deconstructed into 15 reusable materials. And all processes are carried out by hand to stay carbon neutral! Given the currently limited awareness of one of London’s leading recycling and waste management specialists, we aim to help make the service more well-known in the industry.

Charity Close to Our Heart

We run many successful, highly successful charitable initiatives that draw on the organisational and operational strength of our company. This includes raising money for St Luke’s hospice. Our recent efforts included selling 26 higher-cost items from our Gold and Diamond packages which achieved an entire donation of £6,315.00.