Stelrad Radiators is celebrating its success in becoming a gold level member with the Supply Chain Sustainability School – demonstrating its engagement and commitment to continuous improvement in sustainability. Further, this meets the sustainability requirements of an increasing number of customers, including Bellway Homes, one of the major housebuilders Stelrad supplies.
Launched in 2012, The Supply Chain Sustainability School (the School) is a free learning environment, upskilling those working within, or aspiring to work within the built environment sector. The School focuses on 17 key topics of sustainability as well as addressing topics in Offsite, Procurement, Digital, Lean Construction, management, People and FIR (Fairness, Inclusion and Respect).
The School is part funded by the CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) and membership gives access to thousands of learning resources and CPD-accredited content.
Stelrad kick-started its journey with the school by completing an assessment that resulted in a customised plan of action with ten suggested learning resources to help address gaps in their knowledge. It had achieved silver status in 2022 and has just been awarded Gold status in July 2023.
Stelrad has observed an increasing recognition of the importance of School membership throughout the supply chain. This recognition is appearing more frequently in the tender process for projects, indicating a widespread emphasis on sustainability issues. The company’s membership of the school has positively influenced Stelrad’s tender applications.
Membership of the School has also had a positive influence on the company’s strategic goals and helped it to develop products and processes that align with its strategic goals – including products that optimise heating performance and are fully compatible with low carbon, low temperature heating sources.
Stelrad’s future objective with the Supply Chain Sustainability School is to persist in interacting with and utilising the provided resources while broadening the range of participating employees within the company. Stelrad also plans to use the results of sustainability reassessments completed via the School as a valuable indicator to guide the direction of its efforts to enhance sustainability.
Heading up Stelrad’s sustainability strategy is Andy Dent: “This award is excellent news for us here at Stelrad and is recognition of the increasing engagement and focus we place on sustainability matters. A focus on sustainability is seen by many of our current and potential customers as essential to any relationship with them. Our engagement with the School helps us demonstrate what we can offer them and its value is illustrated by Bellway Homes making this a requirement of remaining as an approved supplier for their homes.”
Andy continues: “The Supply Chain Sustainability School has assisted Stelrad in identifying areas where sustainability knowledge is lacking. The e-learning modules have proven to be a valuable source of information, aiding our workforce in engaging with the School and developing their understanding of current and future requirements. This includes gaining early insight into new legislation that has an immediate effect on our business.
“The self-assessment tools provided by the School have facilitated a deeper understanding for Stelrad of the priority areas that it needs to address. These tools will continue to generate insightful data for driving improved sustainability outcomes within the company.”
More information on the company’s sustainability strategy can be found at www.stelradplc.com/sustainability/.