Garrard has held the Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark since 2017. All its diamonds are conflict-free, supplied by members of the Kimberley Process Scheme. It holds a Fairtrade gold licence, using certified gold, and recycles surplus gold so that it may be reused. It is committed to science-based targets to cut its indirect global greenhouse gas emissions by 2023. All offices, workshops and stores are powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. It has achieved its 92 per cent recycling target and aims to increase it to 100 per cent by March 2023. All its packaging is recyclable and FSC-certified.
Garrard is the world’s longest serving jeweller. It was founded in 1735, the year in which it received its first royal patron, Frederick, the Prince of Wales. Its fruitful relationship with the royal family, culminated in 1843 when Garrard became the official Crown Jeweller. Today, Garrard has a global presence.
When Joanne Milner (above) became CEO in 2016, her mission was to keep the brand’s proud heritage relevant. ‘It’s my absolute number one priority to ensure Garrard is fit for the next 300 years and that means being sustainable,’ she says. ‘As you get older, you learn from younger people. One of my nephews studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and lived with me while he did research at the Natural History Museum. He really woke me up to climate change.’
She points out that Garrard was already on the road towards sustainability as a royal warrant holder: ‘Prince Charles was championing action against climate change long before anyone was listening,’ she says, ‘but when I arrived, I realised I was no expert so the first thing I did was seek one out who could bring an element of certification.’ Garrard partnered with Positive Luxury and a year later was one of the first fine jewellery houses to be awarded the Butterfly Mark: ‘As soon as we asked for guidance and started being transparent, things got easier. My biggest mistake was thinking we had to do everything perfectly. My advice to any brand is get help to start measuring. If you don’t know your current emissions, how can you evaluate your progress? The Scope 3 emissions are the hardest to quantify and that’s why we sought Positive Luxury’s expertise.’
‘We also signed up to the government’s Together for our Planet SME hub,’ she says. ‘It has really useful tools for smaller businesses to keep you up to date. It’s so important to admit you don’t know what you don’t know! We loved being part of the Walpole initiative to bring together SMEs to support each other. I’d advise anyone starting on this journey to surround yourself with your peers to share knowledge and ideas.’
Garrard does not have a team that is employed solely to work on sustainability. ‘This is because it is embedded within our culture – everyone is a part of it,’ says Joanne. ‘I feel strongly that sustainability must come from the top and be led from the boardroom. We don’t leave sustainability to some green team working over there – it’s the responsibility of every single person from me onwards. We have a monthly meeting with representatives from every department and all learn from each other. We run fun competitions for the best idea – it could even be a way for using less water at home. Combatting climate change doesn’t stop and start with coming to work. It’s not, “Urgh, I’ve got to do this,” it should be exciting.’
Joanne’s approach is above all collaborative: ‘Often there can be too much focus on what is not perfect, rather than the areas that are performing well. So we must stop the blame culture. We’re all on this journey together, and should work collaboratively, helping and learning from each other.’
