Grafton sustainability score: 50/100
Grafton Group plc is an Irish-headquartered builders' merchant and distributor operating across Ireland, Great Britain, Northern Europe and Iberia. Brands include Selco, Chadwicks, Woodie's, MacBlair and HSS Hire Ireland.
More about Grafton
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, it supplies timber, tools, heating and plumbing products to trade and consumer customers.
Founded 1931Head office IrelandStaff ~9,406 (2025)Revenue £2,519.6M revenue (FY2025)Website ↗
Grafton has validated science-based targets and cut its Scope 1 and 2 emissions 40.3% since 2021, but Scope 3 remains a year behind and product-use emissions rose 15.6% in 2024. Timber certification sits at 91%, water is unmeasured, and no controversies or fines are evident.
Grafton scores 50/100 (Making progress) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified November 2026.
That places Grafton joint 162nd of 986 companies scored, and joint 4th of 52 in Retail (non-fashion).
What is Grafton doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Targets & Commitments (9/10, 9/10). Weakest on Water Impact and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (3/10, 4/10).
Where Grafton lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations9/10No verified figures published with their method and a falling trend.
- Emissions from its supply chain7/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling7/10No consistent fall over several years across its operations and supply chain.
- How clean its energy is6/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
- Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste6/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water3/10No monitoring of water use, or no measures to reduce it.
- Its climate targets9/10No validated long-term net zero target.
- How openly it reports7/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Grafton's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Grafton's score based on?
13 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
38% of them were published by Grafton itself; the rest come from independent sources.
8 of 13 sources are independent of the company.
“Scope 1* tCO 2 e 42,380.7 32,427.8 31,453.4”
“These emissions are broken down into 15 categories, of which Grafton Group report against 12”
“committed that all building timber products it sells should be certified as FSC or PEFC.”
“conform with the SBTi Corporate Net Zero Standard.”
“Scope 3 GHG calculation methodology”
“Grafton Group plc commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 48.5% by 2030 from a 2021 base year.”
“The Group can impact biodiversity in its own operations, through its supply chains and in the use of products.”
“two cite a lack of progress around setting net-zero targets or publishing Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions data as problematic”
“Lack of climate targets among reasons 21% of investors voted against chair - Grafton Group”
“The builders’ merchant now has high-performance solar panels installed in six branches”
“Grafton Group, the owner of Woodie's, Chadwicks and MacBlair”
“Barcelona-based air-conditioning and heating products distributor, Salvador Escoda”
“Two institutional shareholders said they voted against his re-election because the company has not set net zero targets or published Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions data”
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How does Grafton compare with other retail (non-fashion) companies?
Where Grafton sits among retail (non-fashion) peers.
Among the 52 major retail (non-fashion) brands we've scored, Grafton is tied =4th of 52, with 1 other.
Who scores higher in Retail (non-fashion)?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Grafton.
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See the breakdown →WHSmith has delivered genuine operational emissions reductions—89% below 2020 baseline—backed by third-party verification and renewable electricity across its core estate.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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