With its Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability Report for fiscal 2024, Signet Jewelers says it is hitting its goals in diversity, responsible sourcing, and its signature “Reclaim, Reuse, Re-Sparkle” protocol and is expanding efforts on these global commitments.
The report, which covers Signet’s fiscal year ended Feb. 3, 2024, outlines how the company has—and any jewelry business could—become an industry leader in environmental and social responsibility, says Colleen Rooney, Signet’s chief officer for ESG (environmental, social, and governance standards).
Signet highlights what it calls its Three Loves in the report: Love for All People, which relates to the company’s charitable donations and efforts; Love for Our Team, focusing on workplaces and employees; and Love for Our Planet and Products, which includes the Signet promise on ethics, sourcing, and recycling.
“Our ‘Three Loves’ framework helps us focus on things that we control that can create a better outcome for the world,” Rooney says. “We chose our goals on purpose because they’re measurable. We knew we could make incremental advances to achieve these goals by 2030, and they’re important to our two stakeholders—our team members and our customers.”
She says Signet revised its corporate sustainability goals for fiscal ’24 for two reasons: It wanted to emphasize measurability, having achieved many of its original goals, and it sought to align with the United Nations’ sustainability goals.
Signet has 27,991 team members worldwide, 24,639 in North America, according to the report. The company’s brands include Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, Banter by Piercing Pagoda, Diamonds Direct, Rocksbox, and Ernest Jones.
Rooney points to Signet’s board and employees for their mentorship and commitment, respectively, in making Signet a better place to work and shop. Signet’s board includes a corporate citizenship and sustainability committee, whose members bring best practices from their roles at other companies, such as Best Buy and Kimberly Clark, for Signet to emulate, Rooney says.
She mentions Brian Bancroft, Signet’s senior vice president of procurement and business support services, who is a leader in the company’s supplier diversity program. In fiscal 2024, Signet spent more than $54 million with diverse suppliers—raising its overall spend to $160.5 million since the program began in fiscal 2022. This past fiscal year, Signet joined the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce to further expand its supplier diversity initiative, Rooney and the report note.
“That’s a tribute to Brian and to his team,” says Rooney. “There’s a quilt of team members’ dedication when you read about the supplier diversity program in the report, and our employees feel a sense of ownership on that.”
Signet also is proud of its work with its charitable partners, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Rooney says. The company has raised more than $100 million for St. Jude over 25 years.
Statistical highlights from Signet’s report (current as of February 2024) are:
• In stores, 74% of assistant managers or higher positions are women, and 37% are BIPOC. Within the company, 40% of executives at the VP or above level are women, and 15% are BIPOC.
• 85% of all Signet jewelry is sourced from Responsible Jewellery Council members; Signet intends to increase that to 100%.
• In 2024, Signet increased recyclable content in paper-based packaging from 41% to 79% and in plastic-based packaging from 32% to 85%. (For example, Rocksbox packaging is made up of a reusable box, reusable cloth jewelry pouches, and recyclable paper and plastic elements shipped in a recyclable mailer bag.)
• Signet had 96,945 total jewelry trade-ins under the Reclaim, Reuse, Re-Sparkle program, with 61,094 carats of diamonds recovered and $20 million in recovered metal. It also customized and repaired 3.7 million pieces of jewelry.
Top: Signet employees at a June 2024 event where the jewelry giant received the Extraordinary Performance Award presented by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Signet is a significant corporate donor to St. Jude. (Photos courtesy of Signet Jewelers)
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