Better Health for All
0
No evidence available to assess AO WORLD PLC on Better Health for All.
Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
-30
AO.LSE acts as an introducer for finance through NewDay and offers AO Care insurance, both regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
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The company states it ensures responsible lending by adjusting credit lines to individual customer profiles.
2
For financial literacy, AO facilitated pension advisory sessions with a third-party specialist to help employees better understand pensions and aid financial well-being.
3
The company's website and app are designed to be simple, easy, and empowering to use, simplifying product searches and providing comprehensive product information.
4
Fair Pay & Worker Respect
-20
The company's gender pay gap report for April 5, 2024, shows women earned 67p for every £1 men earned, indicating a 33.0% lower median hourly pay for women.
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The mean hourly pay for women was 27.0% lower than men's.
2
At the group level, the median ordinary gender pay gap was 5%, but for AO World Plc, it was 33%.
3
Employee engagement surveys indicated an average employee NPS score of 17 for the year, and an average happiness score improved from 7.2 in November 2022 to 7.8 in January 2024.
4
Employee turnover decreased by 30% over the last two years, and the company reported greatly reduced labor turnover and increased retention during the year.
5
The company has an independent and confidential whistleblowing hotline and states they take any breach of policies or allegations of labor abuse seriously.
6
No specific labor law violations or fines are mentioned in the provided articles. For health insurance, the company offers the Help@Hand app with remote GP, mental health, and physiotherapy support, and in its Logistics business, provides a Simplyhealth cash plan for everyday health treatments.
7
However, no percentage of the workforce covered by employer-funded health insurance is provided.
Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
-40
AO World PLC reported that no social audits were conducted during the financial year 2020-2021.
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For the same period, no ILO indicators of forced labor were identified, and no specific instances of modern slavery or violations were mentioned.
2
The company stated that all suppliers undergo a risk assessment process.
3
Modern Slavery Statements for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 did not provide quantitative data for other ethical sourcing metrics, and the 2019-2020 statement explicitly noted that KPIs to measure effectiveness were not covered.
4
Honest & Fair Business
-60
AO.LSE has a whistleblower policy and a confidential hotline, with the Audit Committee monitoring its effectiveness.
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However, there is no explicit evidence of independent investigation processes. The company reported one financial restatement for a deferred share option value in FY23.
2
For audit coverage, 3 out of 13 reporting components were subjected to full scope audits for group purposes, representing approximately 23% of components.
3
The board has three members, excluding the Chair, considered independent, out of a total of at least 12 directors.
4
A formal anti-bribery policy is in place, but there is no evidence of training frequency or effectiveness metrics.
5
The company's plastics have received RecyClass accreditation, an independently audited standard, but this verification is limited to a specific product claim rather than a broader range of ethical claims.
6
Kind to Animals
0
No evidence available to assess AO WORLD PLC on Kind to Animals.
No War, No Weapons
0
No evidence available to assess AO WORLD PLC on No War, No Weapons.
Planet-Friendly Business
-40
AO.LSE's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions for 2025 were 1,493,520 tCO₂e, which represents a 5.66% increase compared to 2024.
1
For FY24, total emissions were 1,442,927 tCO₂e, a 2% decrease from FY23.
2
The company aims to set science-based targets for Scope 1 and 2 emissions in the medium term but has not yet validated them.
3
Close to 90% of the electricity used by operations was renewable in FY24, with fixed price agreements for 90% of energy usage until October 2026.
4
The company has recycled over 7 million appliances since its recycling plant opened in 2017, including 1.5 million appliances in FY24.
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It also recycled approximately 3,000 tonnes of packaging and produced 11,000 tonnes of recycled plastics in FY24.
6
AO has a net-zero target year of 2050, aligned with the government target.
7
The company is making mandatory climate-related disclosures as recommended by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and includes qualitative scenario analysis for 1.5°C and 4°C warming scenarios in its reports.
8
Respect for Cultures & Communities
-10
The company reports no cultural appropriation incidents.
1
While a confidential whistleblowing hotline is available for colleagues, suppliers, and their staff,
2
and a dedicated service for vulnerable customers exists,
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there is no explicit mention of formal grievance mechanisms specifically for broader community concerns. The company states it will act and address any identified breaches or concerns,
4
but lacks a specific cultural incident response framework. Training completion rates for Modern Slavery e-learning and vulnerable customer e-learning exceed 99% for relevant staff,
5
but this is not specific cultural sensitivity training for all employees. AO supports the redevelopment of Flag Lane Baths, an art-deco building, into a community hub,
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which can be seen as cultural preservation. The company works with small local businesses for its two-man home delivery service,
7
but a specific percentage of local procurement spend is not provided. A language app is provided to support employees whose first language is not English, encouraging its use socially.
8
Safe & Smart Tech
-20
The company uses standard SSL/HTTPS encryption for secure connections.
1
Users are afforded industry-standard privacy controls, including rights to access, correct, erase, restrict processing, transfer data, and withdraw consent.
2
However, the company's data retention practices include keeping transaction data for 10 years and customer data for 6 years post-customer status, which indicates limited data minimization.
3
The company states it complies with applicable privacy laws and analyzed its practices for FCA’s Consumer Duty rules, and noted FCA’s consultation on legislation to reduce fraud rates.
4
Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
-40
The company achieved a 90% solid non-hazardous waste diversion rate in 2024.
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Its current packaging is approximately 78% recyclable.
2
Circular design principles are applied to some product components, with waste plastic being turned into new parts like base plates and ducts as part of a cradle-to-cradle approach.
3
Waste reduction initiatives include investing in an extruder for plastics recycling, using fleet routing technology, and launching new semi-trailers that increase capacity by 10%.
4
Hazardous waste is managed through the safe and efficient capture of environmentally harmful gases and oils from appliances.
5
The company refurbishes appliances that still have a useful life, selling them with a warranty, and aims to produce high-quality recycled plastic for new long-life products.
6
There were no reportable spills in 2024.
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Material efficiency is targeted through a reduction in average packaging weight per unit.
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The company has a packaging weight reduction target of 10-20% in 24 months and a residual waste reduction target of 50% by 2042 relative to 2019 levels.
9
Suppliers are required to comply with environmental legislation and work towards environmental management systems like ISO 14001.
10
Customer education includes website information on product environmental ratings, an energy-saving tool, and energy-saving tips.
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