Corporate Responsibility
Committed to making great footwear – with care.
As a trusted, family footwear brand with a reputation for quality and reliability, we care deeply about the impact our business has on the wider world.
That’s why we’re committed to making great footwear and clothing, whilst leaving a minimal footprint on the environment and respecting the people who make our products.
Every member of our team has a role to play in helping us meet this commitment, and our efforts are guided by our Business Standards Policies.
For more information on our plans as a company to work towards ‘Positive Business’ please click the link - https://pentlandbrands.com/positive-business/
Our approach to being a responsible business focuses on four key areas:
Our Approach
Making any product has an impact on the environment. The extent of this impact depends on the materials used, the way it’s made, its journey from factory to consumer, and how it’s disposed of when no longer wanted. This doesn’t mean we can’t do everything in our power to reduce our waste, product products with sustainable materials and maintain the quality of products our customers have grown to love.
Our efforts to reduce this impact include:
• Giving our designers and suppliers the guidance they need to avoid the use of any potentially harmful substances.
• Considering the environment when we source shoe boxes and other packaging – for example, specifying that shoe boxes should be made from recycled pulp, and sourcing our boxes locally to reduce the need for transport.
• Choosing to ship our products by sea, instead of by air freight, wherever possible.
We are already on our journey to understand how we can further reduce the environmental footprint of Kickers products, for example by looking for
renewable or recycled materials that still provide the high-quality end product our consumers expect and deserve.
As a business, our own direct environmental impacts are relatively low. We work in a modern, efficient building, and outsource all our manufacturing.
Nevertheless, we take significant steps to keep our footprint low, right across the business. Our jobs do involve travel to manufacturing sites, but we avoid flights where possible by using video-conferencing technology and other modern solutions.
Our policy is to only do business with suppliers that adopt and implement our standards, or have policies that reflect the same values.
Our Code of Employment Standards for Suppliers reflects globally recognised labour standards.
We monitor our supply chain’s performance against these standards, and support suppliers’ efforts to improve by sharing best practice, providing resources and training, and linking them with appropriate local organisations.
We are committed to supporting community and education initiatives.
Here in the UK, we work closely with many charities and partners to give back to the community and participate in conversations that help to better us as people and as a brand.
Our continued partnership with the ‘National Saturday Club’ trust, where 13-16 year olds get the opportunity to try and learn subjects and topics they love, is a huge passion project for those that work on the Kickers brand.
We also have a fantastic relationship with the ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ Charity where we help support the various initiatives they run throughout the year. We are passionate about how we can play our part in educating today’s youth on this topic and hopefully help this amazing charity continue to bring awareness to this problem.
If you would like to find out any more information on any of these topics, please do reach out to us directly, via our customer service team or our social channels.
