Better Health for All
-10
The company's core self-storage business has no direct positive or negative health impact. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company implemented a comprehensive crisis response, including enhanced cleaning, providing PPE, enabling remote work, paying for taxis for store staff, reducing reception hours, recruiting a dedicated COVID-19 site manager, and forming an operations working group.
1
It also provided free and discounted storage to local communities and not-for-profits, including food banks, which was particularly needed during the pandemic.
2
The company provides substantial mental health support for its employees, including promoting Wellbeing Programmes, training 14 Wellbeing Experts and 16 Mental Health First Aiders, introducing a Wellbeing Library, and offering an Employee Assistance Programme, alongside enhanced support for neurodiverse team members.
3
The Big Yellow Foundation and community investment, which includes donated space to local charities, food banks, community groups, and NHS partners, totaled £796,123 in donated space and £256,000 in grants to charity partners in the year ended March 2024.
4
These initiatives primarily focus on social rehabilitation and community support rather than direct health equity. The company does not offer health-related products or services, nor does it collect or manage health-related data. Its products do not have addiction potential or require specific health risk disclosures.
Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
-10
The company's core business is self-storage, not financial services. Therefore, most KPIs related to lending, deposit services, financial products, or financial literacy are not applicable. For the profit_reinvestment KPI, Big Yellow Group PLC reinvested £345,000 in grants to its seven charity partners in 2025.
1
This represents 0.298% of its 2025 adjusted profit before tax of £115.6 million.
2
This falls into the -100 tier, as it is under 0.5% of profits reinvested in community or empowerment initiatives.
Fair Pay & Worker Respect
10
The company's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 42:1 in 2024.
1
The median ethnicity pay gap was 7% as of April 5, 2024, meaning ethnic minorities earned 93p for every £1 white employees earned.
2
The employee engagement score from the May 2023 survey was 88%, with a 92% response rate.
3
Staff turnover, including part-timers, was 18.1% for the year ending March 2024.
4
The company reported no fines, notifications, penalties, or settlements relevant to sustainability for the financial years ending March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2024.
5
Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
-10
The company reported zero instances of modern slavery for the financial years ending March 2024
1
and March 2022.
2
No issues were raised via the confidential whistleblowing helpline in the last financial year (2024)
3
or during the year ended March 2022.
4
Proactive risk assessments are ongoing, including engaging SGS in April 2022 to design a supply chain risk framework and assess key suppliers.
5
A detailed spend-based risk matrix was conducted in 2018 to identify potential inherent risks, with an intention to refresh this work.
6
Honest & Fair Business
20
The company achieved a GRESB rating of 89 out of 100 in 2023, a recognized transparency benchmark.
1
It also received an A- award from CDP
2
and its third EPRA sBPR Gold Award.
3
The company aligns its reporting with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
4
and publishes an annual UK Modern Slavery Statement.
5
Kind to Animals
0
Big Yellow Group PLC, a self-storage company, supports animal welfare charities. In 2019/20, charitable donations to animal-related charities totaled £2,780.
1
The company provides free storage space to Dogs Walk This Way Rescue - CIC at its Byfleet site
2
and to the local RSPCA chapter in Sheffield, offering two units totaling 350 square feet.
3
It also acts as a drop-off location for donations to Saving Needy Dogs in Swindon
4
and provides blankets, dog apparel, and crates to Paws2Rescue's rescuers in Romania.
5
The company installs green roofs and walls at urban locations, which provide habitats for local wildlife and contribute to local biodiversity.
6
No War, No Weapons
0
Big Yellow Group PLC's core business is self-storage solutions, and it explicitly does not engage in military contracts, arms manufacturing, or conflict facilitation, with no direct or indirect involvement in war-related activities.
1
This business model inherently means the company has no revenue from arms or defense, no dual-use technology, no sales to embargoed regimes, and no defense assets to divest.
2
The company also declares annually that it has not made any political contributions.
3
While Big Yellow provided over £308,000 in free or discounted space and boxes for Ukraine relief and other charitable organizations, and its Foundation donated £255,700 to charity partners, these initiatives are not explicitly defined as peacebuilding or disarmament investments under the rubric, and no proportion of revenue is provided.
4
Planet-Friendly Business
-40
Big Yellow Group PLC has SBTi-approved targets from September 2024
1
, aligned with a 1.5°C pathway
2
, including near-term goals to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42%
3
and Scope 3 emissions by 25% by FY30 from a FY22 baseline
4
, and a long-term net-zero target by FY50
5
. The company aims for Net Zero Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 2030
6
and Scope 3 emissions by 2032
7
, with interim targets for 2030
8
. It sources 95% of its total operational energy from renewables
9
, comprising 76% from REGO-backed grid electricity
10
and 19% from solar
11
. The company reported zero environmental compliance violations for the financial year ended 31 March 2024
12
. 10% of its properties are green certified (BREEAM, BRAVE, LEED)
13
. The landfill diversion rate for FY25 was 14%
14
. The company fully complied with TCFD recommendations in FY25
15
and completed climate scenario modeling in April FY24
16
, considering <2°C, 2-3°C, and >3°C pathways
17
. Biodiversity efforts include an average Biodiversity Net Gain of over 10% per new store
18
and a 2,583% net gain at Kings Cross
19
. The company prioritizes brownfield redevelopment and does not develop on greenfield sites
20
.
Respect for Cultures & Communities
10
Big Yellow Group PLC has 11 formal partnerships, including seven charity partners, Southwark Rugby Club, TreePoints, Lifetime Training, and SGS.
1
No cultural appropriation incidents are reported in the provided articles. FPIC processes are stated as not applicable to the company's operations.
2
No specific tracking of indigenous or minority-owned suppliers is mentioned. The company undertakes conservation and canal assessments, considers current site use and heritage prior to site acquisition, and conducted an archaeological dig at the Wapping site in cooperation with Historic England, with no incidents disrupting cultural or heritage sites reported.
3
No cultural incidents or response frameworks are mentioned in the provided articles.
Safe & Smart Tech
20
The company has not experienced an information security breach in the past three years.
1
It has achieved IASME Gold certification, which includes Cyber Essentials, following external audits.
2
Mandatory Information Security and Data Protection training is provided for all staff, complemented by frequent tests like penetration testing and phishing simulations.
3
The company limits the retention of customer data to the minimum requirement
4
and has no documented incidents of unauthorized data use.
5
A Data Compliance Officer oversees ongoing compliance with GDPR and PCI DSS
6
, with policies and procedures regularly reviewed and benchmarked against industry best practice.
7
Security testing, including penetration tests and phishing simulations, is conducted frequently on systems and people
8
, and cyber risk is regularly evaluated by internal and external experts.
9
Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
-20
Big Yellow Group PLC diverts 99% of its waste from landfill, with 1% going to landfill
1
and 58% incinerated for energy generation
2
. Boxes and other packaging contain at least 70% recycled content
3
. The company has implemented several waste reduction initiatives, including paper-free customer move-ins saving approximately 800,000 pieces of paper annually
4
, moving internal weekly paper-based processes online saving 170,000 pieces per annum
5
, and a hard hat recycling scheme
6
. Hazardous waste, such as WEEE and lightbulbs, has special collection arrangements
7
. Waste data is collated annually by waste management contractors
8
, and no waste disposal violations were reported in the financial year ended 31 March 2024
9
. The company has a target to send zero waste to landfill by 2025
10
. Customer education includes an online Box Shop with 'Environmental Attributes' and 'Your bit' sections to inform customers about product composition and recyclability
11
, and details of the nearest municipal recycling centre are displayed in stores
12
.