In our last blog – which can be read here; we announced that Fundamental Asset Management is now a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment.
In further recognition of the growing importance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues, we are producing a series of Blogs titled ‘AIM for Positive Impact’ highlighting the initiatives being made by our AIM portfolio companies in addressing ESG and related matters.
First up, long term portfolio holding James Halstead.
Flooring -Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, UK
AIM quoted flooring manufacturer James Halstead may not immediately strike you as a business with impressive ESG credentials, but its website is an ESG-conscious investor’s dream. From the opening page, which highlights the benefits of its flooring in sectors such as healthcare and education, through to its easy to find links to Corporate Responsibility and early mention of “Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility” in the company’s annual report, James Halstead is visibly sustainable.
Chairman Anthony Wild has commented how the company’s recognition of its responsibility towards good corporate governance has contributed to its ability to deliver long-term shareholder value.
James Halstead has produced an annual sustainability report for 16 years, highlighting how far ahead it is of some of its fellow AIM-listed companies that are yet to produce one. It therefore comes as no surprise to see that Polyflor, Halstead’s main brand, is the industry leader from a sustainability perspective, with harvested rainwater being used for production as far back as 1915 and recycling vinyl since they pioneered it in 1950.
Polyflor was also an early adopter of BRE with products first assessed on a Life Cycle Analysis in 2005. They were also the first commercial flooring manufacturer to achieve the BRE’s standard for Responsible Sourcing, BES 6001, for many of its products. There were other firsts, including being the first flooring manufacturer to achieve GreenTag LCARate certification and being the first flooring manufacturer to roll out a recycling initiative inclusive of site collections and distributor dropoff sites to suit all customer and waste volume requirements.
The 2021 Sustainability Report also commented on a further reduction of their carbon footprint, by increasing renewable electrical energy consumption to 100% from 93%, as well as reducing CO2 emissions by 29%.
It just goes to highlight for how long concerns about the environment and our impact upon it have been around. Perhaps a hundred years ago investors may have been primarily concerned about the bottom line, but today’s investors increasingly demand any company to be visibly sustainable. As James Halstead demonstrates, doing good is not only the right thing but is good for business too.
Although it’s not all good news on the ESG front, with a distinct lack of diversity to the James Halstead Board of Directors, so something to improve on!
To find out more about the benefits of investing in AIM, please speak to our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894
Our upcoming webinar will review the second quarter of the year as well as discuss our ESG and PRI developments. For more information on investing in AIM shares for Inheritance Tax Planning purposes.
This video presentation here also provides a brief introduction to the Fundamental AIM IHT portfolio service.
Fundamental Asset Management
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