Sustainability

Our journey so far

We are members of the 5% club, a commitment to furthering the number, quality and range of earn and learn opportunities across the UK.

The ACS apprenticeship programme partners with top educational institutions like Leeds College of Building, Leeds City College and TTE Training to provide hands-on experience and expert mentorship. Our apprentices gain practical skills and industry knowledge, preparing them for successful careers in construction and manufacturing.

Whilst we are still early in our journey, we are delighted to have been recognised with the ‘Manufacturing Future Talent Award’ at this year’s Made in Yorkshire Awards, with judges noting that our “ongoing commitment to employee training and performance” stood out in the judging process!

In 2024 we opened the ACS Academy, a dedicated training facility for staff and customers, featuring bespoke training rigs to provide hands on experience with our products. Through the ACS Academy, we provide factory tours, hands-on training, toolbox talks and detailed instruction on installing our key products, including Masonry Support, Cavity Trays, Intex™ 4-in-1 Masonry Support, and Certus™ and Azure II™ brick-slip systems.

Supporting Communities: Our partnerships for Armed Forces and MND Awareness

Since 2022, we have partnered with DX Group, and the Army Benevolent Fund to raise awareness and funds for the Armed Forces. As part of this initiative, we have produced free steel Tommy soldiers for communities across the country, to be displayed during Remembrance Sunday services and events. Our efforts have grown significantly each year, with over 630 soldiers created at date, contributing to a total of £6,700 raised for charity.

We are proud sponsors of the ‘Extra Mile Challenge,’ backing rugby league legends Kevin Sinfield OBE and the late Rob Burrow CBE in their mission to raise much-needed funds and awareness for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research. Since 2021, our contributions have exceeded £50,000, demonstrating our commitment to this vital cause.

Investing in Sustainability: Our state-of-the-art, facilities

It’s not just our people that we are investing in, our facilities are top notch too.

In 2019 we moved into our purpose-built manufacturing facility in Leeds, home to over 1,000 photovoltaic solar panels that ensure a third of the energy we consume is generated on site through renewable sources.

Auto-dimming LED lighting and maximum levels of insulation have ensured that our factory achieves an EPC rating of A, helping to reduce our energy demand all year round.

Additionally, we are making significant strides in transitioning our company vehicle fleet, with 12 EV charging points and a fully electric mechanical handling fleet already in place.

Our Net Zero target

In 2022 we measured our baseline operational carbon footprint, and we are working tirelessly to achieve a 50% reduction by 2030 and Net Zero by 2050, with our targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a corporate climate action organization that develops standards, tools and guidance to allow companies to set greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions targets in line with what is needed to keep global heating below catastrophic levels.

By aligning our operational carbon reduction targets with the SBTi, we are following the latest climate science to reduce our carbon footprint at the rate our planet demands.

Looking to the future

We are delighted to announce that we have committed to achieving Planet Mark Business Certification.

Planet Mark are a sustainability certification provider with a mission to “#DoMoreGood” – a message that we fundamentally believe in.

From an environmental perspective, we’ll begin measuring our extended Scope 3 emissions, those created upstream and downstream as an indirect result of our business, and committing to an annual 5% reduction in order to maintain certification.

From a social perspective, we’ll be measuring our Social Value creation using the national themes, outcomes and measures developed by Social Value Portal. In doing so, we can begin to quantify our impact on various aspects of society, and strategically improve these over time.

We truly believe in the power of business as a force for good and look forward to sharing further details on our sustainability journey soon.