Sustainability
Our big drive towards a sustainable future.
At Sytner Group, we’re currently on a journey, driving towards creating a more sustainable future by investing in and caring for our people and our planet. Ultimately, we want our people and our business to make a difference within the communities in which we exist by finding solutions to protect each other and our environment for generations to come.
Caring For Our Planet
A range of initiatives have been introduced to drive us towards a greener and more sustainable future, and these include:
In 2022, over 91% of the cars we sold were EU6 emissions compliant, up from 88% in 2021 (1)
We are actively reducing our own Carbon Footprint - our 2022 emission intensity was 17% lower than in 2021 (2)
From October 2022, all electricity supplied to Sytner Group is certified 100% renewable (i.e. zero carbon) (3)
We have installed 734 electric charging points across our UK dealerships, an increase of 28% from 2021 (4)
By digitising processes and working towards becoming paperless, we estimate c. 7.5 million fewer sheets of paper were printed in 2022 (compared to 2020) (5)
We recycle 100% of surplus PC’s, phones and other IT hardware (6)
We are working hard to substitute products for more sustainable alternatives. For example;-
Over 69% of the oil used in our workshops during 2022 was carbon neutral (up from 65% in 2021) (7)
10/22 of our vehicle cleaning products are certified to be biodegradable (8)
We estimate 100% of all automotive and hazardous waste collected from our dealerships in 2022 was recycled (99% in 2021), as was 72% of general waste (71% in 2021) and 0% went into landfill* (9)
Over 176,000 worn out tyre casings (85% of those replaced) were collected for recycling (10)
Caring for our people
That doesn’t just mean caring for our colleagues, but also the communities in which we belong to and thrive in.
Automotive excellence
Developing talent and building careers is right at the heart of what we do, as we know that by investing in and nurturing our people, we’ll be better placed to help shape our future and the future of our communities. Here’s some of the ways we do this:
• Providing exciting career opportunities with outstanding learning and development programmes. In 2019, we were named as the UK’s Best Retailer to Work For by the Glassdoor Best Places to Work awards.
• By being the only UK retailer to run an industry-endorsed Technician challenge. Moderated by and in partnership with the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), our Elite Technician Challenge seeks to reward the best technician talent we have.
• Actively listening to our colleagues is another area we excel. Our independent annual engagement survey provides meaningful insight so we can take action and make improvements. Last year, we had engagement score of 8.4, which is well above the consumer sector average of 7.8 in the UK.
Celebrating differences and committing to future talent
Embracing diversity and inclusion is of huge importance at Sytner Group, as we are a business committed to our wider group aim of delighting colleagues and customers. Since we were the first automotive retail group to hire a Head of Diversity and Inclusion in 2019, huge steps have been made to create a more inclusive workforce; these include:
• Becoming a member of Inclusive Companies to challenge the lack of diverse representation within the UK, aiding us to foster a truly inclusive environment
• Launching several network groups including; sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity and disability. These groups allow colleagues to be heard and discuss important issues and ideas in the workplace
• Joining the #10000blackinterns programme. Being a part of this programme allows Sytner Group to offer paid work experience, training and development, in turn, transforming the lives and prospects of young black people in the UK
• Partnering with Leicester Pride and pledging to be a headline partner for a number of years is something we’re proud of. We believe we have a duty to stand up and let our colleagues and communities know that ‘we see you, we support you and we embrace you’.
Industry-leading colleague benefits
At Sytner Group, we’re continuing to improve the benefits package offered to our colleagues to give them a better work-life balance:
We’re now providing an extra two days holiday to all colleagues and recognising long service with an added week of holiday for every five years served
Sytner Group provides 90% of colleagues’ average earnings for the first nine months of maternity and adoption leave and the business has increased paternity leave covers a full two weeks of pay.
Joining The Mental Health Charter, gives every colleague the opportunity to access a host of support via an app
Mental health training is now being rolled out across the group
Automotive excellence
Developing talent and building careers is right at the heart of what we do, as we know that by investing in and nurturing our people, we’ll be better placed to help shape our future and the future of our communities. Here’s some of the ways we do this:
• Providing exciting career opportunities with outstanding learning and development programmes. In 2019, we were named as the UK’s Best Retailer to Work For by the Glassdoor Best Places to Work awards.
• By being the only UK retailer to run an industry-endorsed Technician challenge. Moderated by and in partnership with the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), our Elite Technician Challenge seeks to reward the best technician talent we have.
• Actively listening to our colleagues is another area we excel. Our independent annual engagement survey provides meaningful insight so we can take action and make improvements. Last year, we had engagement score of 8.4, which is well above the consumer sector average of 7.8 in the UK.
Award-winning Giving-back Programme
Caring for the communities in which we work is a top priority for Sytner Group, and we can evidence this through some examples detailed below:
• Winning the 2022 AM ‘Community Hero’ award
• Every Sytner Group colleague is given one day off, fully paid, to volunteer to support a local charity in whichever way they need
• Since the pandemic began the business has donated over £250,000 to its biggest charity partner, Ben – the automotive charity that supports those working, or have previously worked, in the automotive industry. In March 2023, Sytner Group donated £100,000 to this incredible charity.
• All of our dealerships and stores have local charities that they also support throughout the year. CarShop, our car supermarket brand, donates £1 for every car sold to either Global’s Make Some Noise or a locally-selected store charity.
Modern Slavery
Sytner Group only does business with organisations that share our commitment to working ethically, and provides an undertaking to comply with the current Modern Slavery Act 2016 legislation. We have a zero tolerance approach to modern slavery and, more generally, the underpayment of workers. Sytner Group is also committed to ensuring that its associates (including suppliers) do not knowingly aid, abet or facilitate any type of tax evasion.
Sytner Group operates a robust auditing process on the most susceptible third party companies to modern slavery that it is conducts business with, which is detailed within our modern slavery statement.
Footnotes
1. From 1 Sept 2015, all new cars registered in the UK had to meet EU6 emissions requirements. In 2022, we retailed 181,664 vehicles. Of these, 166,556 (91.6%) were brand new or registered after 1/9/15 and are therefore EU6 compliant.
2. We work with Energy Intelligence Centre Ltd (EIC) who monitor our Energy consumption and Carbon emissions and consolidate them annually into a Streamlined Energy and Carbon Report (SECR). In 2021, our measured emissions were 34,370 tCO2e (from our consumption of electricity, gas, petrol and diesel) and our annual revenue over the period was £5.797bn. In 2022, emissions reduced to 32,873 tCO2e whilst revenue increased to £6.8bn. Consequently, our Energy Intensity Ratio (i.e. CO2/Revenue) in 2022 was 17% lower than in 2021.
3. From October 2022, Sytner Group entered into a contract whereby all electricity purchased is matched to Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs) in respect of a named wind farm asset. This enables zero emission reporting in accordance with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.
4. At 31st December 2022, we had installed 734 vehicle charge points vehicle across our UK businesses (572 at 31st December 2021), We continue to invest and by 2024, expect to have over 1000 charge points.
5. Sytner Group has replaced paper-based deal files with a digital document management platform, removing c.6 million pieces of printed paper PA. The introduction of digital signing technology has avoided c1.5 million pieces of paper being printed.
6. 100% of Sytner Group’s e-waste IT assets are handed to our UK registered partner for recycling, who comply fully with all environmental regulations including the WEEE directive. Our partner operates a ‘zero to landfill’ policy, and every component is either reclaimed or recycled using only vetted UK recycling providers with full permits and accreditations. Nothing is sent anywhere outside of the UK.
7. In 2022 we used a total of 1,919,961 litres of engine oils/lubricants. Of this, 1,335,900 litres (69.58%) were 0W premium grade products provided by Shell that are carbon neutral. In 2021 the proportion was 65.1%. Shell confirm they have achieved this through a combination of greener packaging, distribution, energy mix, efficiencies at refineries and offsets.
8. From 1st July 2022, all vehicle cleaning products have been sourced from a single supplier and have been selected to be the least harmful to the environment whist achieving the best results. Our supplier has confirmed to us that 10 of the 22 products in use are certified biodegradable.
9. We use ENVA, a fully licensed and ISO-accredited waste management company, to collect automotive and hazardous waste from 100% of our GB dealerships. At a majority of these (over 90%), they also collect general waste. They regularly report to us the proportions of recycling of the waste they collected and the statistics reported are theirs. The figures we report here are only for these ENVA sites and it assumes that the performance is replicated at our other locations. To help monitor and report this more closely/accurately in future, we continue to move to appoint ENVA at more GB locations.
10. 2022 is the first year we have tracked the disposal of used tyre casings. We purchase tyres from three main suppliers (Grouptyre, Stapletons and Micheldever) who collectively report to us that in 2022 they supplied 186,151 new tyres and removed 176,928 used casings for recycling via their own programs. These statistics presently exclude our businesses in Northern Ireland.