Environmental features

Our outlets are designed to be sustainable, whether that’s through energy use or enabling more environmentally friendly travel.

Green energy

For the last 15 years, the vast majority of electricity used across our sites has been green.

The current crisis in the energy sector is making it harder to get contracts for renewable energy, however we will always choose it where possible.

85% of food stores have fridges with doors

The doors we have on our fridges reduce energy consumption by around 27%.

We first trialled these doors in 2013 and since then, have installed them at 80 of our 94 food stores (85%), which puts us way ahead of most other food retailers.

We automatically fit them in new stores and during refurbishments. Our plan is to invest in fitting them in all food stores going forward.

11 food stores use CO2 refrigeration

CO2 as a refrigerant gas is far less harmful to the atmosphere than other refrigerant gases.

We are currently installing CO2 refrigeration systems in new and refurbished food stores, so hope to see this number grow over the years.

11 sites with solar panels

These panels enable us to produce our own renewable energy. We're looking to expand this further, with a further 10 sites approved for installation.

We are continuing to look across our estate at other sites which may be suitable for installation.

13 sites with electric car charging points

These are 50KW rapid charging points, meaning that the average electric car will get a 40-mile charge in around 20 minutes.

We hope to expand this further – not only by making electric charging available at more food stores, but also at our offices, warehouses, and other businesses.

New builds designed to encourage walking and cycling

All our new build stores have cycle parks installed and safe pedestrian routes to nearby public footpaths to help reduce car travel.

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) estimates that 57% of convenience customers walk to stores.

We believe it’s a similar picture for many of our outlets, which are in rural communities and are designed to give people a place to top up their shopping without having to drive to a big supermarket.

25 water refill stations

The water refill points in our food stores encourage our customers to choose reusable bottles for water, we plan to introduce these in more stores where meal deals and food-to-go ranges are popular, and where we have space.

Reducing energy consumption

We use energy-efficient LED lighting in many of our buildings.

Lots of our outlets also have a management system that regulates lighting and heating, and monitors energy use, flagging up issues if it increases unexpectedly.