Corporate responsibility

In MKM, it’s really important that we do the right thing and we’re very aware of the impact of our business. Our approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is what we call “Doing The Right Thing”. This doesn’t stop us being a well performing business - we believe we can do the right thing and be a profitable business.

For us, Doing The Right Thing covers four pillars: Our Communities, Our Team, Our Customers and Our Planet – all underpinned by strong compliance and active governance.

 

MKM community engagement

MKM is an important part of the communities we operate in. People need shelter, business premises, and to maintain & renovate their homes, so the materials we supply are integral to the society we live in. Each of our branches and our Central Support offices are also local employers with over 3000 employees across England, Scotland, and Wales.

Within our communities we support hundreds of charities & organisations across our 130+ locations including hospices, schools and colleges, community trusts, disability support organisations, poppy appeals, food banks, community festivals, scouting, litter picks, theatres, and hundreds more. These community and charity initiatives take many forms - fundraising, sponsorship, donations, materials, volunteering to name a few.

We also believe in the power of sport to bring people together, supporting positive physical and mental health, and providing valuable experience of teamwork, leadership and discipline. We’re proud to support hundreds of clubs, teams, and facilities in over 50 different sports from angling, basketball, curling, dance, and football, to netball, rowing, shinty, and swimming.

Corporate social responsibility is in our DNA, and MKM has supported the communities we operate in since the very start of the business.

Charity & Community Support

 

Our commitment to our teams

Our people are our greatest asset, and we trust and empower our teams to take responsibility and ownership. We want to attract and retain the best teams and for our employees to have a satisfying and rewarding career - so we invest in developing our people. We want to inspire and motivate our team members to strive for constant improvement in everything they do, through empowerment, trust, and the freedom to make well informed and measured decisions throughout the working day.

We provide a range of employee benefits and regularly review our offering to stay relevant and of value to our employees. Most notably, we recognise and reward performance through a unique and generous bonus scheme.

We also invest in the wellbeing of our employees to help them thrive. We support them with a variety of wellbeing tools including an employee assistance programme, discounted gym memberships, cycle to work scheme and an exceptional dedicated mental health support service for everyone.

Recruiting talented individuals is the best way to ensure our business continues to grow. We have seen the benefits of apprenticeships over the years, particularly with employees in senior positions who progressed from an apprentice level. Our apprenticeships are offered over a number of areas within the business. You can find out more here.

We invest in learning and development aligned to the needs of individuals, including leadership development, robust succession planning and a comprehensive learning platform with bespoke training modules.

We want all our employees, customers, visitors, and contractors to go home safe at the end of the day. To help us do this, we carry out risk assessments to identify any significant hazards and then implement suitable control measures to minimise the risks. We provide the relevant information, instruction, and training to enable our employees to work safely. We also provide adequate resources to help keep people safe and fulfil our legal obligations. We regularly monitor and review our safety management systems through audits, inspections, and meetings, and it is our aim to continually improve our safety performance.

 

Our branches are all open to the trade and the general public. And anyone is welcome in our team. We do not discriminate on the basis of background, gender, race, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability - or any other characteristic – and firmly believe in the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

 

Supporting our customers

As well as to our communities and our people, we have a responsibility to our customers, beyond the products and services we supply. So we commit to providing the products and information that customers need to stay ahead of changing regulations and legislation, so they can continue to thrive as a business. We strive to deliver the best level of customer service, whilst continually looking for ways to improve, taking into account the comments and feedback received from our customers.

 

It’s important that our customers can be confident about the products they buy, and so we recognise the importance of Environmental, Social, and Governance factors in our operations and supply chain. It is important to us that we source products in a way that does not have a negative impact on people and the environment.  In order to ensure this, we have put in place a number of measures. 

 

For example, we purchase timber products from legal and sustainable sources, with full chain of custody documentation. We source natural stone from suppliers with ethical sourcing commitments, and we have a zero-tolerance approach to slavery and human trafficking, working with our suppliers to enforce effective systems and controls to prevent slavery and human tracking in our supply chains. We are working with suppliers to identify EPDs and life cycle assessments which can be provided to our customers for full disclosure on the environmental impact of the products we supply.

 

Find out more about our responsible sourcing here.

 

MKM branches have the flexibility to source locally manufactured products, with the support of a dedicated procurement team in our central support function. This supports local businesses, but also reduces road miles and therefore carbon emissions.

 

We continuously review the products available, with the introduction of a compelling range of Air Source Heat Pumps and Solar PV from a wide range of manufacturers in recent years. We work with manufacturers to ensure that our customers have access to up-to-date training and support to help them maintain their skills and knowledge. This includes upskilling plumbing and heating engineers to fit renewable technologies and providing guidance on the impact of updates to building regulations, or government funding for low carbon heating options.

 

In 2024 we introduced ‘Greener Options’ on our website, and we continue to work to improve product information to help customers make a more informed purchase decision. 

 

Protecting our planet

We believe we can have a Positive lasting impact on our planet through the products we buy and sell, but also how we carry out business.  We measure and have strategies in place to reduce our scope 1 and 2 Carbon emissions, which we are directly responsible for in our operations.

We have a number of initiatives in place to tackle energy use, carbon emissions and waste:

• Increasingly installing Solar PV on branches so we can produce our own renewable energy
• Using REGO-certified electricity since 2020
• Transitioning to EV or Hybrid company car fleet, away from diesel or petrol
• Transitioning our fork lift truck fleet to electric
• Operating a Cycle To Work Scheme
• Introducing Compressed Natural Gas HGVs, where possible
• Reviewing our waste arrangements in line with the waste hierarchy
• Reviewing our own packaging to maximise use of recycled and recyclable materials
• Providing guidance to all our branches so they can minimise energy use
• Promoting the benefits of adopting good environmental practices and raise the levels of environmental awareness around the business

 

Active governance and stewardship

Our commitment to doing the right thing is grounded in effective governance. We manage our business with integrity, acting professionally at all times. Here’s how we uphold these principles:

Legal Compliance: We adhere to all relevant regulation and legislation, ensuring all our operations are both lawful and responsible.

Honest Communication: Our marketing, advertising, and customer communications are designed to be clear, informative, and legally compliant, reflecting the integrity that defines our company.

Respect and Professionalism: We treat our customers, potential customers, colleagues and suppliers with respect, always conducting business in a professional manner.

Transparency: We are open and honest in all our dealings with the public, providing customers with the information they need, including details about our products, services, and our social and environmental responsibilities.

Ethical Sales Practices: We avoid a "hard sell" approach, focusing instead on helping our customers make informed decisions.

Problem Resolution: If an issue arises, we commit to acknowledging and addressing it promptly and effectively.

Industry Standards: We maintain our membership with the Builders' Merchants Federation and subscribe to their Codes of Practice.

UK Tax Compliance: We are committed to fulfilling our tax obligations in the UK, ensuring that we pay the right amount of tax at the right time. We view tax as an important part of our broader contribution to society. Our latest tax strategy can be found here.

Continuous Improvement: We regularly review and update our governance practices to ensure they meet the highest standards and reflect the evolving needs of our customers and communities