Leading construction company, Gilbert-Ash, has reinforced its commitment to sustainability and responsible business practices after securing its second EcoVadis Silver Medal with a record score of 80 out of 100.
The latest result represents an 11-point improvement on the company's previous score of 69 and marks its strongest performance across four EcoVadis assessments.
Confirmed following its assessment in August, the achievement places Gilbert-Ash in the Advanced performance category, just one level below the highest Outstanding classification.
With the average construction company achieving a score of 60, Gilbert-Ash's latest result puts it 20 points ahead of the industry benchmark.
EcoVadis is one of the world's leading sustainability rating platforms, evaluating businesses across four key areas: environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.
Michael Heron, ESG Lead at Gilbert-Ash, said: "Achieving our second EcoVadis Silver Medal is a fantastic milestone for Gilbert-Ash and something everyone across the business can be proud of.
"To improve our score by 11 points inside 12 months is a testament to the hard work, collaboration and commitment of our teams.
"What actually makes this achievement particularly rewarding is that EcoVadis looks at much more than environmental performance. It examines how we operate as a responsible business, from looking after our people and managing our supply chain, to upholding ethical standards and sustainable procurement."
The improved rating follows a year of significant progress across Gilbert-Ash's environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities.
Key initiatives included the completion of the company's first Double Materiality Assessment, helping identify and prioritise the ESG issues most important to its stakeholders and long-term business success.
Gilbert-Ash also produced its first Ethics Report, strengthening its approach to ethical audits, anti-bribery and corruption training, and modern slavery awareness.
Further improvements included introducing ESG requirements into subcontractor contracts to encourage higher environmental and social standards throughout its supply chain.
The company also moved from annual to quarterly carbon emissions reporting, providing greater visibility of its environmental performance and supporting progress towards its Net Zero by 2040 commitment and approved Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) targets.
The EcoVadis submission was supported by 10 colleagues from across Gilbert-Ash, drawing together extensive evidence covering environmental management, health and safety, human resources, business ethics, procurement, carbon reporting and other key operational areas.
Michael added: "This has been a business-wide achievement. The assessment demands a huge amount of information and supporting evidence, and we couldn't have achieved this result without the co-operation and commitment of colleagues across multiple departments."
While the Silver Medal marks an important milestone, Gilbert-Ash is already targeting further improvements, with an ambition to secure an EcoVadis Gold Medal at its next assessment.