Understanding Our Carbon Footprint

As part of our ongoing commitment to responsible business practices, we have taken an important step in better understanding and managing our environmental impact by measuring our carbon footprint and beginning to develop a plan to reduce it.

We recently completed our first carbon emissions mapping project and are pleased to share our Emissions Management Report for 2024/25. This report marks an important milestone in helping us understand where our emissions occur and where we can focus our efforts to reduce them.

Produced in partnership with Ecologi, the report assesses the greenhouse gas emissions associated with our operations and wider supply chain, and highlights areas where we can take action to reduce our impact over time.

We would also like to recognise the support of the UK Government and Chichester District Council through the Sustainable Support Grant, whose funding helped make this carbon emissions project possible.

Why Measuring Emissions Matters

Understanding emissions is an important first step towards meaningful climate action. By calculating our greenhouse gas emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, we can identify where our greatest impacts occur and where we can focus our reduction efforts.

This report covers the period 1 November 2024 to 31 October 2025 and follows internationally recognised frameworks including the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.

Using these frameworks helps ensure that our reporting is transparent, credible and aligned with recognised best practice.

Our Carbon Footprint in Numbers

For the 2024/25 reporting period, Secret Linen Store’s total emissions were calculated as:

1,837.14 tonnes of CO₂e
These emissions fall into three categories:

• Scope 1 – Direct emissions: 1.92 tCO₂e (0.10%)
• Scope 2 – Electricity use: 7.27 tCO₂e (0.40%)
• Scope 3 – Value chain emissions: 1,827.95 tCO₂e (99.5%)
  

As with many retail businesses, the majority of our emissions occur outside our direct operations, within our supply chain and product lifecycle.

To help track progress over time, we also measured emissions intensity:

• 211.94 tCO₂e per £1 million revenue
• 79.88 tCO₂e per full-time employee

These metrics provide useful benchmarks that we can monitor as we continue improving our data and reduction efforts.

Where Our Emissions Come From

The report identifies several key areas contributing to our carbon footprint.

Products and Materials

The largest share of our emissions comes from purchased goods and services, accounting for more than 90% of our Scope 3 emissions. This includes the materials and manufacturing processes involved in producing our bedding and homeware collections.

Because of this, working closely with suppliers will play an important role in reducing emissions across our value chain.

Logistics and Transport

Transporting products between suppliers, warehouses and customers also contributes to our footprint. Inbound and outbound logistics together account for approximately 122 tonnes of CO₂e, representing around 6.65% of total emissions.

Business Operations

Our direct operational emissions represent a much smaller proportion of our footprint. These include:

• Electricity used in our offices and warehouse
• A single company vehicle
• Employee commuting and business travel

Although smaller, these areas still present opportunities for improvement.

Setting Science-Based Targets

Measuring our emissions is an important first step. The next stage is to set meaningful reduction targets that align with climate science.

This report outlines initial pathways based on guidance from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), helping to provide a clear direction for future action. We will continue working with Ecologi to further develop and refine this approach as we move forward.

Our Carbon Targets

1. Cutting emissions from our own operations
We aim to reduce emissions from our direct operations (Scopes 1 & 2).

Targeting a 42% reduction by 2030
Focus areas:

• Energy use in our warehouse and office
• Moving towards renewable electricity
• Improving energy efficiency

What this means for you: Lower-impact operations behind every order

2. Working with our suppliers
Most of our emissions sit within our supply chain, so collaboration is key.

• Continue to annually measure & report on 100% of our key suppliers. Working closely with them to lower impact at source
  
• We aim to begin reducing emissions across our supply chain, reducing 25% by 2030 (from a 2024/25 baseline)
  What this means: We’re working closely with the people who make our products to lower impact at source

3. Reducing delivery and transport impact
We are working to lower emissions linked to how products move.

• Reducing reliance on air freight wherever possible
• Increasing use of lower-emission delivery options
• Improving efficiency through better shipment planning
• What this means: Smarter logistics with lower impact

4. Designing with lower impact in mind
We are continuing to make thoughtful choices in materials and product design:

• Increasing use of responsibly sourced natural and recycled materials
• Reducing unnecessary packaging
• Designing products to be long-lasting and durable
What this means: Products made to be loved for longer

5. Improving transparency

• We are committed to being open about our progress.
• Continuing to improve the quality and accuracy of our data
• Sharing updates on our progress and challenges

What this means: You can track how we’re doing over time

Looking Ahead

Understanding our carbon footprint is an important step in building a more responsible business. This report provides a baseline that will allow us to track progress, identify opportunities for improvement and work collaboratively with our partners to reduce emissions across our value chain.

There is no quick fix when it comes to climate action, and we know there is still more to do.