Signet Jewelers Limited recently released its 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report that highlights the Company’s global CSR initiatives.

The Company had set itself CSR goals across four key areas: People, Responsible Sourcing, Environmental Stewardship and Charitable Giving. The recently released report provides an update of Signet’s progress toward these goals, apart from other important information.

“For the first time, the company produced an integrated CSR report with its annual report, streamlining the way Signet communicates with stakeholders and investors,” the Company remarked.

“At Signet, we know that our sphere of influence goes beyond just the places we do business,” said Virginia C. Drosos, Chief Executive Officer. “We recognise that our people, values and culture require that we take responsibility wherever we have an impact. Instilling trust among our key stakeholders — investors, employees and customers — means that we are transparent about our CSR goals, and that we must integrate them into our daily operations.”

Signet reiterated its commitment to leading in CSR in an “authentic and sustainable way”. For example, the Company explained, Signet is one of very few public companies to have a Board-level CSR Committee, which has been in place for five years. The Committee provides strategic direction and governance oversight on goals and progress for Signet’s four CSR key areas.

“The Board CSR Committee believes that our CSR commitment clearly supports the company’s business strategy for long-term growth,” said Eugenia Ulasewicz, Signet Board Member and Chair of the Board CSR Committee. “CSR is central to our culture, reflected in our core values, and essential for us to remain both an industry leader and a competitive company.”

Following are the highlights from Signet’s CSR report with regard to each of its four key areas:

People

• Signet was the only jewellery retailer selected for the 2019 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index.
• 74 percent of Signet’s field leadership are women.
• 43 percent of senior management (VP and above) are women, as are 50 percent of the Signet Board of Directors.
• Over 11,000 Signet team members certified as experts in diamontology or gemmology.

Responsible Sourcing

• Signet leads the industry as 1 of 4 U.S. companies to have reported a conflict-free gold supply chain for five consecutive years to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as verified through independent audits.
• More than 99 percent of gold sourced by Signet is verified conflict-free.
• Signet is the first retailer to join De Beers’ innovative new blockchain programme, Tracr. The programme aims to establish a unique and completely secure way to trace diamonds.

Environmental Stewardship

• Signet reduced its absolute energy consumption in the past year by 7 percent and saved more than 11 million kilowatt hours.
• Signet reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 25 percent, versus Fiscal 2014.
• Water consumption was lowered by more than 60 percent at Signet’s factory in water-scarce Botswana.

Charitable Giving

• In 2018, Signet collectively raised nearly $6 million in 2018 for its national and international charitable giving partners.

Since 1999, Signet customers and team members have raised more than $71 million to support the lifesaving mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.