Interview with

Estelle de Caneva

Group CSR Director

“This year allowed us to launch numerous strategic CSR projects and get all of our stakeholders involved.”

At a time when sustainability issues have never been more important, 2024 was a very constructive year for the Group’s transition towards increased responsibility. The roll-out of WeTHOM and the progress made in several projects are proof that we have embarked on a positive dynamic. Estelle de Caneva, Group CSR Director, looks back on the highlights of 2024.

What are the Group’s priorities for 2024?

With WeTHOM, the Group has set itself ambitious sustainability objectives. It has also boosted its requirements across all its entities and territories, as well as with all its partners. We broke ground in several areas and now have 3 priorities:

Continuing to improve employee well-being at work. We have been rolling out action plans with this aim for years. In 2024, we installed a new barometer – Great Place To Work® – which evaluates the quality of the working environment across the Group: France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxemburg and China.
Making 100% of our purchases responsible. The Group intends to monitor its entire value chain to ensure that its purchases
of non-branded products comply with the strictest environmental and social standards. To achieve this, we are evaluating, empowering, and assisting our suppliers so that all of them can be RJC CoP- or SMETA 4-certified by 2030.
Reducing our environmental impact. We launched action plans to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 30% according to scopes 1, 2, and 3 by 2030, as well as plans to help better protect non-renewable resources: energy reduction plans in all buildings, eco-responsible habits, development of a new recyclable packaging range, etc.

What is the status of the WeTHOM plan roll-out?

The WeTHOM plan is progressing very well. FY24 allowed us to launch several projects in each of the plan’s 3 target areas, with the participation of all our stakeholders.
In 2024, we raised awareness about the Group’s major social and environmental challenges among 6,500 employees: they took part in educational workshops (a Climate Fresco for staff at head offices and logistics platforms, and a CSR Fresco for network staff at points of sale) and participated in challenges, quizzes, e-learning modules, etc.
As part of our Responsible Purchases strategy, we raised awareness with all of our tier 1 product suppliers through group or individual meetings, webinars, workshops, etc.
We also set out ambitious CSR commitments with our investors, issuing Sustainability-Linked Bonds in February 2024.
Finally, we are working with key players in the industry – professional organisations, schools, trade unions – to drive forward our initiatives and action plans.
The piloting of the WeTHOM plan also took shape. We have 15 project managers, supported by sponsors, who work with CSR leadership to implement the WeTHOM plan. We created dedicated job positions (responsible purchases, CSR reporting, etc.) and have called on experts for assistance in different areas: responsible purchases, RJC accreditation, carbon footprint, CSRD, energy management, employee experience, CSR training, etc. Today, the professions have taken on these projects with evidence-based discourse.
In short, our stakeholders are on board and the ship has set sail!

What are the main results of 2024?

On the social side, 2024 saw great progress for us on several projects that add value and develop human capital evenly across every Group entity: professionalising teams through the internationalisation of THOM Academy, partnering with the Haute École de Joaillerie de Paris, promoting functional and geographical mobility within the Group to give staff more opportunities, equal opportunities and Mission Handicap, the roll-out of THOM for Me… Human beings are the beating heart of our strategies and development.
In 2024, the Group obtained the Great Place To Work® certificate for every Group entity. This is a very important result, as the quality of employee experience is a key issue for the Group. The GPTW survey allowed us to identify employee expectations and will be key in building relevant action plans.
On the ethical and environmental side, the Group has significantly strengthened its ambitions and made major advancements.
In order to ensure social and environmental responsibility across its value chain, the Group established a new and much more stringent Responsible Purchasing charter in 2024. To find out more about its suppliers, the Group is reinforcing its audits, carrying out risk assessments, and implementing action plans adapted to the situations it encounters. In 2024, the proportion of jewellery purchased from world-class certified (RJC CoP or CoP & CoC) or audited (SMETA 4) suppliers grew from 72% to 81%.
The Group also took concrete steps against global warming and towards the preservation of non-renewable resources. By optimising use and installation, our energy reduction plan led to a 16% decrease in electricity consumption in our buildings (head offices, logistics platforms) and points of sale in France. More and more of our employees have been adopting eco-responsible habits: reducing paper and electricity consumption, recycling waste, and environmentally-conscious digital behaviours. Development of a recyclable packaging range is currently underway. We are making progress in multiple areas.
I’d like to conclude by adding that, in 2024, the Group committed to an RJC CoP certification process with the aim of receiving accreditation by 2026.