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Bee Aspinal: Our Sustainable Journey

Spending quality time at home with our families during 2020 has helped us appreciate just how precious our planet is and how we must do whatever we can to protect and preserve what we have. We have witnessed nature's reset, from wildlife flourishing across all parts of the globe to seas and rivers clearing, to the disappearance of air pollution visible from outer space. We are more aware than ever of the effects our way of life is having on our planet, and the positive steps we can take to make a difference. It is with this focus, that we are refining our whole way of working to make Aspinal of London as sustainable a brand as we can make it. Aspinal as a company, our team as a family, are determined and committed to making a difference.

Iain Burton, Founder and Chairman and Mariya Dykalo, Creative Director

This journey began a long time ago. At Aspinal of London, we have always been dedicated to making sustainable products designed to be handed down through generations. All our products are handcrafted by skilled artisans in some of the finest workshops in the world. This supreme artisanship means that our customers can love and appreciate an Aspinal product for a lifetime. We are proud to create timeless, long-lasting and responsible luxury.

Now, as we approach our 20th anniversary, we have looked again at how we work as a brand. Aspinal is known as the No.1 brand for Quality. It is our goal to ensure that behind artisanship and quality, our customers understand we are committed to implementing sustainable business practices.

With these goals at the forefront, we are proud to launch Bee Aspinal: our commitment towards a sustainable future for our brand.

Bee Aspinal is personal to our head office and design hub, set deep in the heart of the South Downs. Bee Aspinal represents our Sustainability Strategy, clustered around our four P's: Planet, Partnership, People and Product.

Planet

As part of the global fashion and accessories industry, our responsibility is to preserve our planet and to minimise any potential negative impacts on the environment. Plastic control is paramount. We began an initiative to reduce plastic in our supply chain, warehouse and customer-facing operations in 2020 and pledge to remove all single-use plastic by the end of 2022. We reduced our carbon emissions by 85% from 2018-2021, transporting our products via sea or road rather than air freighting wherever possible.

Aspinal's main headquarters are set in the glorious English countryside, surrounded by breath-taking nature and verdant woodlands in the South Downs National Park. This location has inspired us to establish our first five beehives which are managed by a visiting bee keeper from our local branch of the Bee Keeper Association, set up to help combat the decline in British bees within the surroundings of the South Downs. Bees are a vital cornerstone of our ecological balance, yet unfortunately, bee populations have been in decline in recent years due to climate change and the use of toxic pesticides. We are determined to do as much as we can to help stem this decline.

Partnership

At Aspinal we make extensive efforts to forge partnerships with people who share our brand ideals. The success of this approach is demonstrated by the fact that many of our artisan partners have worked alongside us for up to 15 years.

We develop bonds with the most talented craftspeople who have experience and skill, passed down through generations, in creating our luxury leather goods. Their work exemplifies the inherent ability and passion they have for their art. We pledge to continue supporting them and everyone who, like us, endeavours to build a more sustainable future.

People

People are a top priority for Aspinal, and we believe they are the key to engraining sustainability throughout our organisation. Aspinal of London remains a family-run British owned business; our employees are the future generations we are working for. In that spirit, we are committed to an equal and inclusive working environment and representative leadership. Our new Inclusivity and Diversity Committee is established to focus on gaining broader representation across our business.

Beyond our immediate team, we work with our supply chain partners to ensure the wellbeing of their employees and extend our positive impact throughout our neighbourhood. That is why we encourage all our suppliers to be members of SEDEX, one of the world's leading ethical trade membership organisations, working with businesses to improve working conditions in global supply chains.

All this is just the beginning. We are now writing our full Sustainability Strategy and Supplier Accord which will be the roadmap for our sustainable future. Aspinal of London will still have the same unparalleled quality at its heart, but it will also have an equal passion for protecting our planet. We will lose none of the values you know us for, yet we all have much to gain. Join us on our journey.

Product

We pride ourselves on the quality and provenance of all the premium materials we use. We use only ethically-sourced raw materials, and all leathers are a by-product of the food industry. By using the LWG (Leather Working Group) Award programme, we know our leathers and suedes are produced using the most environmentally conscious methods available, including metal-free tanning. 94% of the leathers used in our current collection are sourced from tanneries with the respected LWG rating or LWG members. Over the next year, we are striving to make this 100%.

All our products are made by hand and crafted with skill and care. This is why we have always confidently offered a one-year no quibble guarantee and a repairs service, which reflects the exceptional quality of materials and skills of our artisans.

We launched a capsule vegan collection in early 2021 and are expanding our investment into developing new materials. In addition, we are incorporating upcycled fabrications and hardware in our future collections as part of an initiative to reduce wastage within our practices. We believe the provenance of the materials we reuse gives our products an even richer history and a more vibrant character, whilst maintaining the finest artisanship and quality standards.

The Aspinal Honey Bees

The natural landscape of Aspinal's countryside home, based within the National Park of the South Downs, is a constant inspiration behind our collections, and a daily reminder of our responsibility to protect our precious planet. Our Aspinal headquarters are also the base for the Aspinal Bee Foundation, set up to help combat the decline of British bees by providing the local bee community with the perfect surroundings in which to thrive. Our in-house beekeeper maintains five hives throughout the year, harvesting up to 300 jars of homegrown honey annually.