Responsible sourcing
How products are made and where materials come from matters. On this page you’ll find out about our approach to responsible sourcing for our landscaping products.
Marshalls independently assessed
The Marshalls independently assessed icon is applied to stone products imported from India, where we’re working with trusted consultants to carry out bespoke audit and improvement programmes.
This gives us added assurance over standard audit schemes. It reflects our commitment to upholding labour standards while supporting suppliers on their ethical journey.
When you see the Marshalls independently assessed icon on products, this means:
- We’ve carefully chosen our consultants to make their detailed assessments and don’t rely on alternative audits commissioned or carried out by the supplier themselves
- All assessments are aligned with the ETI Base Code and/or ILO standards and local legislation
- We’ve tailored our approach to the local environment and culture to work towards the most effective solutions for the management and workforce
- Workers interviews are central to our process, rather than relying solely on document reviews
- To support this, we choose auditors with a strong local knowledge and ability to speak the languages of the workforce, not only those of management
How often do we audit our Indian suppliers?
In our Group Procurement Policy , we state that high-risk suppliers require a social audit at least every 2 years, in line with the ETI base code.
Continuous improvement with suppliers
Audits don’t change behaviour, action does. We use training, corrective plans and supplier support to show commitment beyond compliance.
Where issues are identified, we require our supplier to commit to clear actions and timescales, and we carry out a follow-up audit within an agreed timeframe.
XertifiX
XertifiX is a European certification scheme aligned with EU legislation and International Labour Organization (ILO) standards, designed to drive continuous improvement in the Asian stone sector. We work with XertifiX to identify and audit the quarries and factories in our Chinese stone supply chain, rolling out a formal audit programme that requires year on year improvement. Under the scheme, each location is visited at least once a year to check progress against the standard.
As the first UK company to join XertifiX, we’ve been supporting our suppliers to meet these requirements, including recently delivering training in three Chinese stone factories covering worker rights, health and safety, traceability and management systems.
Stone Federation and Ethical Stone Register
We’re members of the Ethical Stone Register. This is a unique resource created specifically for the natural stone industry, in response to The Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the issues of sourcing materials responsibly. This is an initiative of the Stone Federation, the official trade association for the natural stone industry, of which we're a member.
View more about sustainability
If you’d like to understand how we bring trust and transparency to our work as a Group, find out more about Built for the Future, our approach to sustainability.
Hero image credit: Walter Schmidt / XertifiX e.V.