12 October 2021

THG PLC

Notice of Capital Markets Event and 2030 Sustainability Strategy

Group commits to ambitious goal to be climate positive and offset entire historical emissions

THG PLC ("THG" or the "Group"), the proprietary technology platform specialising in taking brands direct to consumers ("D2C") globally, is today hosting its inaugural Capital Markets Event for analysts and institutional investors, focusing on its end-to-end technology platform, Ingenuity.

In addition, the Group will set out its 2030 Sustainability Strategy, and its ambitious goal to be climate positive and offset its entire historical emissions.

The conference call and webcast for analysts and investors will commence at 2.00pm (UK time), and a copy of the presentation made to attendees will subsequently be made available on the Group's website. No material new information will be disclosed today.

Since 2004, THG has been revolutionising how brands connect with consumers. Today, THG drives the global growth of some of the world's best-known brands. Across the Nutrition, Beauty and OnDemand divisions, and now THG Ingenuity, the Group is renowned for its partnerships with the some of the fastest growing brands.

THG x Planet Earth is the Group strategy for a better, sustainable future. Guided by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, our targets are centred around three key priorities:

·      Protecting Climate and Nature

·      Strengthening Our Supply Chain and Circularity; and

·      Empowering People and Communities.

As a vertically-integrated business, we are acutely aware of the impact that big businesses have on the environment, and the great responsibility and influence we hold with our people, communities and suppliers in the UK and internationally. Our sustainability goals reinforce the direction in which THG is travelling, providing a formal structure and targets underpinned by science, data and technology, and driven by our talented people all over the world.

Matthew Moulding, Executive Chairman and CEO of THG, commented:

"We are committing to use our global scale, our world-class talent and our dedication to innovation, to act as a force for good. More importantly, we are using our access to capital to invest in and influence environmental and societal changes that will benefit our planet today and create a sustainable future for generations to come.

"Publishing our goals is our first step, and next year we will publish our roadmaps to achieving each milestone target towards 2030. We have always been fast-paced, agile and responsive to changes in the market, and our sustainability strategy is no different - while we have our sights set on the year 2030, we will certainly do our best to achieve more and work in partnership with others to accelerate the pace of positive change.

"Events in 2020 and 2021 have demonstrated both the immensely powerful and unpredictable nature of Planet Earth and the unity, collaboration, resilience and desire from society to build a better future. Our vision is to leave the world a better place than we found it. It will take real responsibility and commitment from every one of our people, suppliers and supporters, working in partnership to help us achieve our shared goals."

Protecting Climate and Nature

THG's Goals

Climate: Be climate positive and offset our entire historical emissions.

Nature: Have a net positive nature impact across our own brands.

Water: Use water sustainably in high water impact areas of our value chain.

THG's Targets

·      Publish Net Zero roadmap aligned to Science Based Targets by 2022

·      Offset all of THG's direct historical emissions by 2025

·      Transition to 100% renewable electricity for own operations by 2025  

·      50% of suppliers and THG Ingenuity partners to set carbon reduction targets by 2025

·      100% sourced agricultural materials to be deforestation-free for own brands by 2025

·      Top 20% of own brand suppliers (by impact) to introduce restorative agricultural practices by 2030

·      30% reduction of water use in water stressed and own operation sites by 2030

·      25% of product and ingredient suppliers to disclose water usage and adopt Water Stewardship by 2030

Strengthening our supply chain and circularity

THG's Goals

Ethical Supply Chain: Protect human rights and work to eliminate modern slavery in our supply chain.

Circularity: Transform all of our waste into resources for our value chain.

THG's Targets

·      Implement a progressive Human Rights policy by 2023

·      All suppliers to commit to THG's ethical sourcing standards by 2025

·      100% of own brand packaging to be recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025

·      Zero waste to landfill from our own operations by 2030

·      To recycle more plastic than we produce by 2030

·      70% of packaging from third party brands to be recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2030

Empowering people and communities

THG's Goals

Employee Wellbeing and Development: Create a workplace culture which brings out the best in all.

Diversity and Inclusion: Promote policies and practices that are inclusive for all at THG.

Investing in Our Communities: Support our communities and lead initiatives to teach tech and life skills.

THG's Targets

·      Achieve at least 15% improvement in employee engagement score by 2025

·      Pay all direct staff, agency workers and contractors a living wage by 2025

·      All Tier 1 suppliers to pay a living wage by 2025

·      Achieve 50% female representation and at least 20% ethnic minority representation in Graduate and Apprenticeship   schemes by 2025

·      Eliminate gender and ethnicity pay gaps across all THG divisions by 2030

·      Achieve 50% gender equality and at least 15% ethnic minority representation on the Board and senior leaders by 2030

·      Provide 10,000 people in the community with technology and life skills training by 2030

·      Two days volunteering per year for every THG employee by 2025

THG Governance

Sustainability Committee 

During 2020, the Board established a Sustainability Committee to review and ensure that the Group has appropriate and effective strategies, policies and operational controls to conduct their business in a responsible manner (including performance against the Group's sustainability strategy and in relation to environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters). The Sustainability Committee consists of the Chief Sustainability Officer, the Group Commercial Director and two Non-Executive Directors. 

Chief Sustainability Officer 

THG's Chief Sustainability Officer is part of the Executive Leadership Team. The Chief Sustainability Officer is accountable for the ongoing development and implementation of the Group's sustainability strategy and policies.

Remuneration 

From 2022, THG's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and members of the Executive Board and Senior Leadership Team will each be set relevant sustainability-linked objectives which will impact their remuneration.

Management Oversight 

To ensure effective delivery of the Group sustainability strategy, THG will measure progress against the goals in senior leadership objectives, and increase its focus on sustainability alongside business outcomes in reviews. The sustainability strategy will be reviewed every two years by the Chief Sustainability Officer and the Sustainability Committee to ensure it meets changing demands. 

For further information please contact: 

ENDS

Notes to editors

THG (www.thg.com) is a vertically integrated, digital-first consumer brands group, retailing its own brands in beauty and nutrition, plus third-party brands, via its proprietary, end-to-end, e-commerce technology, infrastructure and brand-building platform (THG Ingenuity) to an online and global customer base. THG's business is operated through the following businesses:

THG Ingenuity: Ingenuity Commerce provides an end-to-end direct-to-consumer e-commerce solution for consumer brand owners under 'Software as a Service' (SaaS) licences. The wider Ingenuity division provides stand-alone digital services, including hosting, studio content, translation services and beauty product development and manufacturing.

THG (eco): THG (eco) is the driving force behind the Group's sustainability action plan. THG Eco covers the core pillars of THG's sustainability commitment: the planet, sustainable resources, people and livelihoods.

THG Beauty: The globally pre-eminent digital-first brand owner, retailer and manufacturer in the prestige beauty market, combining its prestige portfolio of eight owned brands across skincare, haircare and cosmetics, the provision of a global route to market for over 1,000 third-party beauty brands through its portfolio of websites, including Lookfantastic, Dermstore, Cult Beauty and Mankind and the beauty subscription box brand GLOSSYBOX.  

THG Nutrition: A group of digital-first Nutrition brands, which includes the world's largest online sports nutrition brand Myprotein, and its family brands (Myvegan, Myvitamins, MP Clothing and Myprotein Pro), with a vertically integrated business model, supported by six THG production facilities.

THG OnDemand: Personalisation and customisation is a key offering within THG OnDemand, enabling brands to offer unique products to a vast range of consumers across THG's global territories through websites including Zavvi, IWOOT and Pop in a Box.

Other: Luxury D2C websites including Coggles, AllSole and MyBag, in addition to THG Experience. The latter comprises prestige events locations at Hale Country Club & Spa, King Street Townhouse Hotel and Great John Street Hotel, providing deeply experiential brand building environments, most notably in support of THG Society, the Group's proprietary influencer marketing platform.

Cautionary Statement

This announcement may include "forward-looking statements" in respect of the Group's operations, performance, prospects and/or financial condition. Forward-looking statements are sometimes, but not always, identified by their use of a date in the future or such words and words of similar meaning as "anticipates", "aims", "due", "could", "may", "will", "should", "expects", "believes", "intends", "plans", "potential", "targets", "goal" or "estimates". By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions and actual results or events may differ materially from those expressed or implied by those statements. Factors which may cause future outcomes to differ from those foreseen in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those identified in the "Risk Management" section of the Group's 2020 Annual Report. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that any particular expectation will be met and reliance should not be placed on any forward-looking statement. Additionally, forward looking statements regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future.

Except as required by any law or regulation, no responsibility or obligation is accepted to update or revise any forward-looking statement resulting from new information, future events or otherwise. Past performance cannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance and persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast.

This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to sell, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase any shares or other securities in the Group nor shall it or any part of it or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract or commitment or investment decisions relating thereto, nor does it constitute a recommendation regarding the shares or other securities of the Group. Statements in this announcement reflect the knowledge and information available at the time of its preparation.