Lowell independently rated as Silver for ESG

We’re delighted that EcoVadis, a leading independent Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) ratings company, awarded us a Silver rating for the second year running.

We see this as a great achievement, a source of pride for our people, and a clear proof point to Clients, investors, and Colleagues alike that they’ve chosen a company that prioritises social and environmental impacts as well as commercial performance.

We’re in the top 15% of companies across all sectors

It’s a big deal.

A Silver rating places us in the top 15% of all companies rated by EcoVadis during 2024. And that really is all companies, not just those in our sector. EcoVadis compared our performance over the previous 12 months with more than 150,000 companies in its extensive database. Digging into the sector detail, we’re comfortably in the top 5% of Collection Agencies and Credit Bureaux.

Sustainability - our environmental, social, and ethical performance - underpins everything we do. Our Silver rating reflects this.

We’re aligned to global standards, which includes being a signatory of the UN Global Compact and validating our climate goals with the Science Based Targets initiative. We have board-level oversight of sustainability, plus strong policies and training in place to manage sustainability topics.

A Silver rating shouts sustainability

Of course, we’re not the only company leaning into sustainability. Any business worth its salt has some degree of a sustainability agenda. But our Silver rating shows us, our Clients, and potential investors that we’re a company that’s making more strides than most on our sustainability journey.

While a Silver rating acknowledges our achievements relative to the other companies that EcoVadis has assessed, it also points the way to future improvements. This isn’t a rating that stands still. Every year, EcoVadis increases the score required to maintain a rating, fostering a culture of continuous improvement (we’re working towards 12 goals for 2025, each aligned to world class standards in Customer, Client, and Colleague performance metrics).

We showed the initiatives, pulled in the points

We’re pleased that our improvement initiatives scored us 10 points more than we achieved in 2023 (which, incidentally, left us just a tantalising couple of points shy of the Gold spot):

Our new Business Travel & Expenses policy encourages colleagues to consider carbon emissions, financial cost, and their wellbeing before hitting the road or strapping in for take-off.

A renewed groupwide Human Rights policy includes clear commitments to international human rights standards.

Our tightened Procurement policy and Supplier Code of Conduct asks probing questions to help us understand potential suppliers’ commitments to environmental, social and governance topics.

We slashed operational greenhouse gas emissions by 64% since we started tracking them back in 2019, through actions including switching to green electricity tariffs, reviewing our office footprint, adjusting our hybrid working model.

Come see our transparent reporting

As you can tell, we go to great lengths to embed sustainability across our business and weave it through our thinking at every level. We’re transparent and open with reporting progress. Each year, we produce a comprehensive Sustainability report detailing our performance over the previous year and reporting against 23 metrics. Our 2024 report will be published in April.

For more information about how sustainability propels Lowell, visit our sustainability page or contact our Head of Sustainability, carol.ord@lowellgroup.co.uk.