We put people and planet before profit
Build a better business
We are responsible and fair in the way we run our business and are investing in the UK
First and foremost we’re an outdoor brand. It is our love of the outdoors and belief in nature that drives us. Everything we do comes from a desire to make great product and build a great business.
Products that are purposeful and long-lasting; and a business that is responsible and we’re proud to work for: to be gentle and look after the things that matter.
We committed to Science Based Targets Initiative in July and will halve our Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 2025. This will happen by switching all fossil fuel use to renewables that use gas and petrol/diesel today. This means going electric for our heating and company cars and vans.
These targets are independently assessed and we’re proud to say we are officially doing our bit to limit global warming to the 1.5 ̊C scenario.
We will reduce our full value carbon emissions by at least 15% each year. We will set a more robust target each year and be Net Zero by 2050 at the absolute latest.
We define Net Zero as the total decarbonisation of our entire value chain. It’s only achievable by reduction in emissions not offset – it is far more than burn now and offset later and means a minimum 95% reduction in carbon emissions.
We will continue to offset our Scope 1, 2 and Scope 3 upstream freight and commuting emissions knowing that being climate neutral is just a passing point on our journey to Net Zero.
Your feedback has guided us and we greatly appreciate the hundreds of customers that completed our sustainability consultation. You ranked our priorities for 2022 as:
This year I’m particularly proud that we:
We’re continuing to learn and share ideas about building better businesses and making better products. The buzz from seeing Alpkit customers out on the hill is so rewarding and I thank each and every customer for buying from us. I also have immense pride in our team – the spirit and soul over this past year has been inspirational – and it is great to see this validated in us winning TGO Online Retailer of The Year in 2021.
David Hanney
Chief Exec
2021: A year of Aktivism
January
We started work on our new Edinburgh store. It’s a 100 year old engineering unit that we retrofitted insulation, double glazing and down fans
February
Held our UK Made week to celebrate that 30% of our products are UK Made according to Department of Trade & Industry rules
March
Signed up to the Better Business Act to require companies to put people and planet alongside profit
April
Stores reopened after the long 2021 lockdown. We restarted our Volunteer Program with 5 extra paid days for staff to work with charities and community projects of their choice
May
Mountain Rescue fund-raisers held donating 10% of total store sales to local Mountain Rescue teams
June
We adopted the Higg Index to help estimate the environmental impact of the materials we use
July
Alpkit carbon reduction targets set by the Science Based Targets Initiative. We committed to have our Scope 1 and Scope 2 Emissions and reduce our carbon intensity by 2025
August
We helped original academic research to better understand the Life Cycle of waterproof jackets
September
Held Big Shakeout 2022 for the first time since 2018. It’s our end-of-the- summer party and a good fund raiser for the Alpkit Foundation
October
As a founder member of the Microfibre Consortium we signed up to their 2030 Microfibre Commitment
November
Alpkit Foundation reached £450,000 awards to more than 1500 projects. Continuum Projects campaigned for down duvets, taking cumulative donations to 5 tonnes.
We won a Sustainability Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards
December
Alpkit won Online Retailer Of The Year in TGO Magazine annual awards.
We compare ourselves to an all-business average and our peer group
We are committed to using business as a force for good. We measure our social and environmental performance according to this independent 3rd party standard. We chose B Corp for its high standards, rigour and integrity. We certified last year and our next verification date is in August 2023.
Between now and our renewal date, we'll continually review and monitor our performance using their framework.
* 2022 score is our self-assessment using self-assessment tool provided by B Corp. Our scores are independently verified every 3 years. Our last verified score was in August 2020 and the next is due in August 2023. The self-assessment tool is free to use at bcorporation.net
Read more about sustainability at Alpkit
