GREEN REWARD
B&Q invests in making it easier for employees to green up their homes
B&Q, the home improvement and garden centre retailer, has announced plans to help its 30,000 employees to reduce their energy bills and their carbon footprint with a programme of “eco-incentives”.
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The programme is part of B&Q’s endorsement of the Prince of Wales’ START initiative which launched in February 2010. Next month, as part of The Prince’s START initiative, The Prince of Wales will go on a five-day tour of Britain, highlighting some of the best examples of communities and individuals starting to live more sustainably.
So that “all B&Q’s employees can make a START”, over the next three months employees will be able to take up energy saving incentives, including special discounts on energy saving bulbs, insulation and energy efficient thermostats.
Each month there will be a different discount which, if every employee took up, would lead to a cash saving per employee of £140 and a total of £4.2 million equating to a CO2 saving of 651kg per employee, a total of 19 million kg*.
A special internal online forum has been set up for employees to share their green tips and stories with cash prizes for “Eco ideas” and “Eco Heroes” nominated by colleagues for changes they may have made to their home, community, workplace or lifestyle to make it more eco friendly.
By the end of 2010 B&Q will have a qualified Eco Adviser in every store. Its Eco Adviser qualification, a UK first, will see over 1,300 employees qualified to City & Guilds Level 2 Diploma in Retail Skills (selling Eco products) enabling them to advise and help customers on eco products for their homes.
A final word
“We want to make it easier for our colleagues and customers to green up their homes and we hope that our support of the Prince of Wales’ START initiative together with the investment we are making in special discounts on eco products for our employees will mean that as many of us as possible will be able to make a start in our own homes.” - Euan Sutherland, CEO of B&Q and Kingfisher UK.
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* Figures based on every employee switching to energy saving light bulbs, using an electricity monitor, switching off appliances rather than leaving on standby, insulating their loft to 270mm and turning heating down by 1 degree Celsius.
B&Q is the largest home improvement and garden centre retailer in the UK and Ireland with 330 stores, employing more than 30,000 people nationwide. More than a quarter of its workforce is over 50 years of age, with a similar number under the age of 25. For more information go to www.diy.com/aboutus.