Doing business responsibly
Our 2030 goal
Ensuring the highest ethical and environmental standards throughout our business and global value chain.
Key stats
48 %
of employees had their annual incentive aligned to Group carbon reduction in 2025/26
65 %
of suppliers by spend have a signed Ethical Trading Declaration
59 %
of suppliers by spend have an EcoVadis membership
74 %
strategic suppliers by spend with SBTs
80 %
of RS PRO suppliers by spend have a Sedex membership
Why it's important
Our commitment to doing the right thing underpins how we operate and ensures we remain a trusted, transparent partner across the industrial value chain.
We apply a rigorous approach to governance, ethics, and compliance across our business and work closely with our >2,500 product suppliers to ensure our >875,000 strong range of stocked products is sourced from businesses that meet our high ethical and environmental standards. This creates clearer differentiation and a stronger go-to-market proposition for our trusted Better World product range - enhancing supplier alignment with customer expectations and reinforcing RS's position as a reliable, sustainable channel partner.
Our 2030 ambitions
- Responsible business:
ESG-related targets included in our employee rewards programme across all levels and geographies - Responsible supply chain:
Evaluate our suppliers against our high ethical and environmental standards and set ESG objectives for strategic suppliers
Maintaining excellence through EcoVadis Platinum
Incentivising ESG progress
Our 2030 ambition: ESG-related targets included in our employee rewards programme across all levels and geographies.
Responsible supply chain
Our 2030 ambition: Evaluate our suppliers against our high ethical and environmental standards and set ESG objectives for strategic suppliers.
Additional 2030 ESG ambition areas
Advancing sustainability
Developing sustainable operations and product and service solutions for our customers and our suppliers.
Empowering our people
Creating an inclusive and engaging environment, where everyone is proud and excited to come to work and can perform at their best, develop, and thrive.
Championing youth & communities
Inspiring the next generation of engineers and innovators and supporting our communities worldwide to improve people's lives and create a more sustainable world.