The story

Lincolnshire Co-op sought support from Simply Sustainable to develop its first environmental sustainability strategy. The aim was to align the environmental sustainability strategy with Lincolnshire Co-op’s overall purpose, and expectations of relevant stakeholders, including its members. This project provided Lincolnshire Co-op with a clear, actionable plan to improve its environmental sustainability performance in line with the society’s overall growth ambitions and purpose beyond profit 2030 strategy.

The process began with identifying the key environmental sustainability topics that were most relevant to Lincolnshire Co-op and the range of industries in which it operates. Simply Sustainable started by examining material topics from ESG rating agencies, competitors and established sustainability frameworks. This thorough research resulted in a long list of potentially material environmental sustainability topics, as agreed upon with Lincolnshire Co-op.

The environmental sustainability topics formed the basis for Simply Sustainable’s strategic analysis and were the foundation for the discussions and collaborative workshops with Lincolnshire Co-op to build the strategic framework. After identifying the environmental sustainability topics, a strategic analysis was carried out, which included a horizon scan using the PESTEL (political, environmental, social, technological, environmental and legal) framework, a competitor analysis, a maturity assessment and a SWOT analysis.

• The horizon scan, using the PESTEL framework identified the main sustainability drivers affecting the industries in which Lincolnshire Co-op operates across political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal realms.
• Using Simply Sustainable’s bespoke methodology, the competitor analysis assessed and evaluated the sustainability performance of five peers and competitors, as agreed with Lincolnshire Co-op. This was then benchmarked against Lincolnshire Co-op’s perceived performance.
• The maturity assessment established Lincolnshire Co-op’s current level of maturity on each of the previously agreed environmental sustainability topics against hallmarks of best practice. This was broken down into four categories: beginning, progressing, better and advanced.
• The SWOT then utilised the existing strategic analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for Lincolnshire Co-op in relation to environmental sustainability.

These four steps ensured that Simply Sustainable comprehensively understood Lincolnshire Co-op’s current environmental sustainability performance and future business drivers, uncovering key trends, potential risks, and opportunities.

The findings from the strategic analysis informed the development of a structured environmental sustainability framework. To do this, two workshops were carried out. The first was to prioritise the environmental sustainability topics important to Lincolnshire Co-op with the support of insights from the strategic analysis. The second was to decide upon the environmental sustainability strategic framework (or ‘strategy house’), paying particular attention to the SWOT analysis results. Through these two collaborative workshops involving both Simply Sustainable and relevant internal stakeholders from Lincolnshire Co-op, a clear framework emerged, centred on three key pillars and underpinned by priority environmental sustainability topics.

Once the strategic framework was established, Simply Sustainable worked alongside Lincolnshire Co-op to set ambitious but achievable KPIs and targets for each pillar. These were decided upon during two workshops held with Lincolnshire Co-op, supported by Simply Sustainable’s research and analysis of any KPIs and targets set by key peers, competitors, and best practice sustainability and ESG frameworks. This included standards and frameworks such as GRI, SASB, ESRS, SBTi, IFRS, TCFD, UN SDGs, as well as industry and topic specific frameworks, where relevant, e.g. the Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard (FLW). These were then accompanied by a roadmap of suggested actions, structured across three time periods up to 2030.

Finally, Simply Sustainable provided recommendations to strengthen Lincolnshire Co-op’s governance around sustainability to further support successful implementation of the strategy. This involved a further SWOT analysis of Lincolnshire Co-op’s sustainability governance structure against The Wates Corporate Governance Principles for Large Private Companies. Followed by a recommended environmental sustainability governance structure, accompanied by each group’s defined roles and responsibilities, aligned with the RACI principles (responsible, accountable, consulted, informed). This was accompanied by areas for improvement regarding Lincolnshire Co-op’s current governance approach and key recommendations for improvement.

The overall result of this collaborative project was a solid environmental sustainability strategy that will be actionable, achievable and aligned with Lincolnshire Co-op’s existing purpose. The creation of an environmental sustainability strategy marks a defining moment in Lincolnshire Co-op’s efforts to formalise its approach to environmental sustainability and illustrates its commitment to shaping a more environmentally responsible future.

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