Hobbs the Printers takes gold in EcoVadis scheme

Hobbs the printers has gained the gold standard in the EcoVadis assessment scheme at its first attempt. This puts the Southampton business in the top 4% worldwide, judged on environment, human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.

“They look at a range of factors,” says deputy managing director Graham Bromley. “And the information they look at is very detailed, very specific. They want documents to prove everything, you can’t just make statements, they want to see everything. This is as tough a process as I have come across.”

The business was already a carbon balanced printer, offsetting the carbon from 445,000 tonnes of paper in the first six months of the year and that status remains. It also has an array of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the factory, generating 171,000 kWh to the end of July this year. EcoVadis goes much further, Bromley points out. 

There is a strong focus on the transparency of its supply chain, to ensure that there are no hidden surprises in the products and services that the printer is selecting. Says Bromley: “It’s not just about FSC paper. This goes much deeper asking do we know where our suppliers are from, making sure there is no taint of modern slavery, have we checked this and so on.”

The business works for a number of companies that have already achieved EvoVadis certification so Hobbs will fit smoothly into the framework and will help customers when they ask the questions of their suppliers. “This goes well beyond print,” he explains. “It is not print specific and we know that a number of customers are already on it.”

The process was handled in house by a team led by Bromley. Gathering the necessary documentation took several weeks before it could be submitted to the EcoVadis organisation. There were detailed questionnaires to fill out and proof to find. The entire process was managed in-house, supported by training from the EcoVadis academy. “We had to understand the requirement and then had to work very hard,” he says. 

The process exposed areas which Hobbs knows it will need to work on to move up to platinum status and to be in the top 1% of companies worldwide working with EcoVadis.