AKRON, Ohio, March 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Signet
Jewelers (NYSE: SIG) today announced it has joined the United
Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate
sustainability initiative, underscoring the Company's
purpose-driven growth strategy. With this commitment, Signet joins
more than 12,000 member companies in more than 160 countries that
are aligning their operations and strategies with universal
principles on human rights, labor, environment and
anti-corruption, and taking strategic action towards broader
societal goals such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For
example, Signet believes SDG 5 - gender equality - is not only a
fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful,
prosperous and sustainable world.
"Our core belief at Signet is that Love Inspires Love.
Signet's Purpose - Inspiring Love - infuses our work with meaning,
and is a standard of responsibility to which we hold ourselves
accountable. It extends beyond our walls to our industry and our
stakeholders across the globe," said Signet Jewelers CEO
Virginia C. Drosos. "It's with that
deeply held belief in mind that we are proudly joining the UN
Global Compact initiative as a way to further demonstrate that the
actions of our company align with our purpose and values. Signet
employees in every part of our business are inspired by the
opportunity to be the change we want to see the world, and it is on
their behalf that we step up in visible support of human and labor
rights, sustainability and anti-corruption practices."
We are now accelerating our long-standing Corporate Social
Responsibility strategy with Environmental, Social, and Governance
(ESG) initiatives, including recent highlights:
- For the third-consecutive year, the Bloomberg®
Gender Equality Index included Signet, the only specialty retail
jeweler to earn that distinction.
- Signet recently announced it is raising its minimum wage to
$15/hour for all U.S. employees by
2022. It also provided Love Takes Care™ Appreciation Awards to
full-time and part-time U.S. employees serving customers in stores
as they reopened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Signet joined the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
(SASB) Alliance.
- Signet deepened its commitment to Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion by adding two new Directors to its Board, increasing the
Board's representation of women and persons of color to 59%
percent.
- Signet became Great Place to Work-Certified®, as a
result of the company's commitment to its employees.
"Joining the UN Global Compact further expresses our commitment
to our multi-year strategy to drive business awareness and action
in support of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,"
said Eugenia Ulasewicz, Chair of
Signet's Board-level Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability
Committee. "I'm proud of Signet's sustainability progress, such as
with our renowned responsible sourcing practices which span more
than two decades, and I look forward to helping expand our societal
impact even further."
The Company's sustainability journey began before 2000, with
more than two decades of Signet playing an instrumental role in
helping establish international responsible sourcing trade
associations, such as the World Diamond
Council, the industry arm of the Kimberley Process, an
ongoing commitment to remove conflict diamonds from the global
supply chain. The Company is also a Founding and Certified
Member, and current Chair of the Responsible Jewellery Council,
while providing support to the Diamond Development Initiative, and
Diamonds Do Good.
In 2011, Signet was named to the Organization for Economic
Cooperative Development (OECD) Conflict Minerals Working Group. And
Signet's Responsible Sourcing Protocol has been in line with
the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights since 2011.
With that work, Signet has led hundreds of suppliers in
implementing the UN Guiding Principles for more than a decade, and
in line with OECD Due Diligence Guidance since 2016.
About Signet Jewelers
Signet Jewelers Limited
is the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry. As a
purpose-driven and sustainability-focused company, Signet is a
participant of the United Nations Global Compact and adheres to its
principles-based approach to responsible business. Signet is
a Best Places to Work certified ™ company and has been named to the
Bloomberg Gender Equality Index for three consecutive years.
Signet operates approximately 2,900 stores primarily under the name
brands of Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, H.Samuel, Ernest Jones, Peoples, Piercing Pagoda, and
JamesAllen.com as well as digital marketplaces under the URLs
www.kay.com, www.zales.com, www.jared.com, www.hsamuel.co.uk,
www.ernestjones.co.uk, www.peoplesjewellers.com, www.pagoda.com,
and www.jamesallen.com.
For more information, contact:
David Bouffard, Signet
Jewelers
david.bouffard@signetjewelers.com
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SOURCE Signet Jewelers Ltd.