ResponsibleFurniture SolutionsWorking for a secure, sustainable environment

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Symphony has a culture of being green; it is embedded in all our business practices. We maintain a responsible attitude to the environmentand sustainability issues. Our overriding approach is driven by anunderstanding of the impact of our activities on future generations.

Being Green

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Needs, Responsibilitiesand the Carbon Footprint

Quality Assurance Symphony has always been progressive – we werethe first company in our industry to gain the qualityassurance accreditation BS 9002 Part 2, and subsequentlyBS EN ISO 14001:2004 – independently endorsing ouractivities to limit our impact on the environment.

BS EN ISO 14001:2004 is an international standard thatspecifies a process for controlling and improving acompany’s environmental performance. Symphony wasthe first company in its industry to attain BS EN ISO14001:2004 accreditation for recognising and controllingthe effects of manufacturing on the environment.

Symphony SolutionsOur Building Division Installations and Customer Careteams have been awarded accreditation to BS EN ISO9001:2008 (Certificate no: FM0187) which independentlyacknowledges the quality of each stage of the delivery

process. It confirms the competency and training of ourInstallations and Customer Care teams, and that the entireprocess is well managed and controlled throughout.

Repair Not ReplaceTo further minimise its future impact on the environmentevery component in a Symphony cabinet is replaceable.Therefore any damage to a cabinet during the course ofthe kitchen's life can easily be repaired without the needto replace the complete unit.

Symphony recently commissioned a report by theBuilding Research Establishment (B.R.E) to demonstrateto rented social landlords the cost effectiveness of theSymphony product through its life span. Followingextensive research, we can now uniquely provide anindication of Whole Life costings over a sixty year period,based upon twenty five year life assessment.

Today’s housebuilder, rented social landlord, retailer and consumerare acutely aware of the need to minimise carbon footprint, maximiseenergy efficiency and utilise sustainable materials. Symphony isdelivering the best in its field in all areas to support these goals.

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We know that we owe a responsibility to the future of the planet, and every part of our business is driven by a desire to minimise any impact we inevitably make. Thefollowing pages will demonstrate how we are workingresponsibly to ensure a secure sustainable environment.

Sustainable Procurement Policy As a significant British manufacturer, we aim to supportUK companies wherever we can. Our suppliers share ourvalues on minimising environmental impact andprotecting the environment. The availability of sustainablematerials is the cornerstone of our purchasing strategy.

Symphony look to source carcases made from100% recycled materials and all our timber based materials are sourced from guaranteed FSC sustainable forests.

Our policy is quite clear – we buy locally whereverpossible – over 30% of our core product is sourced from suppliers within one hour’s drive of our factory,which is ideally located within easy access of the national motorway network.

Sustainability

We freely acknowledge our responsibilities to do whateverwe can to meet environmental challenges, whilst alwaysconsidering our obligations to provide sustainable andfunctional furniture solutions.

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One Planet Living is an award winning not-for-profit socialbusiness. Managed as a member led club, it enablesmembers to specify and purchase environmentalconstruction products, materials and services more costeffectively and easily, reducing the environmental impactof developments.

One Planet Living allows members to select sustainableproducts quickly without the need for carrying outexpensive and time consumingresearch themselves.

All the products have been assessed against the OnePlanet Living principles and the website allows membersto compare listed products rapidly and effortlessly,including energy, carbon and water savings, cost, lifetimeand payback periods. Suppliers benefit from directaccess to members who are seeking the best products tohelp them build sustainable homes.

Symphony subscribes to the best principles of OnePlanet Living procurement policies and is currentlythe only kitchen manufacturer in the social and privatehousing market approved by One Planet Living.

One Planet Living helps its members to purchase and specify green construction products and services easily and affordably.It helps them build knowledge in sustainability.

Product Credentials

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The need for One Planet Living is increasingly apparent:housing currently produces around one thirdof the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions, adding to theeffects of climate change. By encouraging the use oflow energy materials, innovative resource saving devicesand high quality construction methods, One PlanetLiving aims to reduce the environmental impact of theUK housing stock.

FIRA Club Green has been helping companies toimprove their environmental impacts for the past decade.Key areas of action have been to help membersunderstand legislation such as the packaging regulationsand the changes to the process guidance notes,to understand key environmental impacts and how thesecould be better managed and to benchmarkenvironmental performance through annual site audits.

Future Sustainability - Zero Carbon Homes. Symphony actively supports the Government’s ambitiousplans to produce carbon neutral homes by 2016.Our recent initiatives include the introduction of an energyefficient LED lighting range and working with ourappliance partner Electrolux to develop and promoteenergy efficient appliances.

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The Furniture International Research AssociationLtd (FIRA) is one of the world’s leading furnituretechnology centres, and was founded in 1949 forthe furniture industry.

FIRA GOLD AWARDThe FIRA Gold Award is the ultimate mark of productexcellence. Achieving this unique prestigious awardshows that a product, range of furniture, installation,component or material has been completely evaluated forfitness for purpose, quality and workmanship. All Symphony kitchen frontals achieve FIRA Gold Awardaccreditation to reassure every customer – housebuilder,retailer, specifier or consumer that they can haveconfidence in their new furniture. We will not launch products that do not meet these exacting FIRAGold Award performance requirements.

FSCSymphony has gained full chain of custody from theForest Stewardship Council (FSC). This indicates thattimber products used in our furniture come from wellmanaged sources, and comply with environmental, social and economic standards. We make every effort toensure all our suppliers offer us sustainable products andconduct a full audit of their environmental credentialsprior to appointment (our Purchasing Departmentundertake a thorough evaluation of all our suppliers prior to appointment).

PEFCThe Programme for the Endorsement of ForestCertification schemes (PEFC) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation, founded in 1999,which promotes sustainably managed forests throughindependent third party certification. The PEFC providesan assurance mechanism to purchasers of wood and

ProductReassurance

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paper products that they are promoting the sustainablemanagement of forests.

PEFC is a global umbrella organisation for theassessment and mutual recognition of national forestcertification schemes developed in a multi-stakeholderprocess. These national schemes build upon the inter-governmental processes for the promotion of sustainableforest management, a series of ongoing mechanismssupported by 149 Governments in the world covering85% of the world’s forest area.

PEFC has in its membership 35 independent nationalforest certification systems of which 25 to date have beenthrough a rigorous assessment process involving publicconsultation and the use of independent assessors toprovide the assessments on which mutual recognitiondecisions are taken by the membership. These 25 systems account for more than 200 millionhectares of certified forests producing millions of tonnesof certified timber to the market place making PEFC theworld’s largest certification system. The other nationalmembers schemes are at various stages of developmentand are working towards mutual recognition under thePEFC processes.

PEFC promotes sustainable forest management –environmentally, socially beneficial and economically

viable management of forests for present and futuregenerations – through independent third party forest certification.

A sister organisation to FSC, we can confidentlyguarantee that our products meet both importantsourcing specifications.

FISP FISP (The Furniture Industry Sustainability Programme)supports and improves the furniture industry’ssustainability credentials and has rapidly becomeestablished as the industry forum on all environmentaland sustainable issues.

Specifiers increasingly ask their suppliers to prove theyhave sustainability at the heart of the operations, andFISP is a very easy way to demonstrate this. FISPfocuses not just on current environmental issues, but alsoincorporates purchasing, end of product life and socialand community issues – inherently part of our long termsustainability strategy.

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Symphony Group HeadquartersProduction FacilitiesThe design and construction of Symphony’s new 500,000 sq ftstate of the art manufacturing and Head Office facilities atBarnsley, South Yorkshire, have incorporated BREEAM standards.

BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is theleading and most widely used environmental assessmentmethod for buildings. It sets the standard for bestpractice in sustainable design and has become the‘de facto’ measure used to describe a building’senvironmental performance.

BREEAM provides clients, developers, designers andothers with a range of benefits including:

- market recognition for low environmentalimpact buildings

- assurance that best environmental practiceis incorporated into a building

- a benchmark that is higher than regulation

- inspiration to find innovative solutions thatminimise the environmental impact

- a tool to help reduce running costs,improve working and living environments

- a standard that demonstrates progresstowards corporate and organisationalenvironmental objectives

BREEAM addresses wide-ranging environmental andsustainability issues and enables developers anddesigners to prove the environmental credentials of theirbuildings to planners and clients.

Symphony adheres to the highest possible buildingstandards established by BREEAM.

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Energy Efficiency The BREEAM principles of finding innovative solutions tominimise the environmental impact have been embracedin Symphony’s new Barnsley production facility which hasbeen designed to deliver the highest levels of insulationand energy efficiency.

One of the largest biomass fired boiler plants in the UKhas been installed. Delivering all heating from the use ofwood waste from a 500m3 storage silo, Symphonyemploys 100% recirculation systems to optimise wasteand minimise emissions. The installation of the boiler hasalso negated the need for a gas supply to the site.

The planned installation of a 2 mega watt wind turbine onthe site will make the Barnsley facility not just energyneutral, but uniquely will make it a net contributor tonational energy requirements through the use of innovativewind turbine and ground source heat pump technology.

In addition a sophisticated dali zoned lighting system inthe office and warehouse areas detects occupancy,daylight and dimming to ensure best electrical energy usein busy areas.

Symphony will continue to look at ways to reduce itscarbon footprint and is working towards Carbon TrustCertification. This will be an independent endorsement of the company’s achievements in carbon reduction andaddressing its climate change impact.

Segregated Waste Segregated waste bins throughout the facility ensure allwaste is effectively and efficiently recycled. The minimumof non recyclable waste is locally and ethically disposed of.

At our Rotherham warehouse distribution centre, we workwith Yorkshire Water to ensure that any waste from the siteis used to line sewerage filtration.

Symphony is a member of recycled packaging organisation,Valpak. This membership has been achieved by minimisingpacking, without compromising protection, and usingreusable protective blankets on deliveries when possible.

‘We’ll take it away!’ SchemeFor our Building Division customers we offer a nationwidewaste storage scheme which includes the provision ofcontainers and the collection of all non hazardousmaterials. We can also provide an audit trail of all thematerial recovered from site to recycled products.

Symphony Standards

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Energy Efficient Transport Planning The Symphony fleet of vehicles is amongst the most fuelefficient on Britain’s roads, due to the inclusion of BluetecEuro 5 Mercedes Actros delivery vehicles. These utilisethe latest fuel technology, converting nitrogen oxides intoharmless nitrogen and water, reducing emissions andkeeping our air cleaner. Energy efficiency is also one ofthe most important factors which Symphony takes intoaccount when selecting the rest of its company fleet ofover 100 vehicles.

Careful loading and detailed journey planning keepmileage, and therefore emissions, to a minimum.

All Symphony furniture is electronically scanned onto the vehicle, to ensure that everything is correct,and scanned off at point of delivery. We can thereforeconfidently guarantee delivery accuracy – first time,every time.

Green Travel Plan and Funded Car Scheme As part of our commitment to the local environment andour investment in our own employees, we havedeveloped a Green Travel Plan, which includes a carshare scheme, the provision of local transport andin-house shower facilities for those travelling by foot or ontwo wheels. Facilitating employee transport needs isimportant to Symphony and we have developed aSymphony funded car share scheme for employees whodo not live locally. The scheme means employees benefitfrom reduced travel costs, at the same time keeping thelevels of local transport on the roads to a minimum.

A ‘work from home’ scheme allows staff the flexibilityto choose their working styles, and avoidunnecessary travel.

Efficiency on the Road

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Our Design and Estimating Department can e-mail allquotations and estimates, or download to CD accordingto individual needs. Our customers can also takeadvantage of the free, twenty four hour access SymphonyExtranet which gives them secure, passworded access toall their account information in real time. Order status,drawings, delivery information and account information areall available at the press of a button. ContactIT@symphony-group.co.uk for more information.

The paperless labour saving tools we have developedallow their users to create room designs online; downloaddirectly to Symphony and immediately create a customerspecific order, complete with worktop colours, frontaldesigns and layouts. Kitchen Creator can be used

extensively on new housing developments and providesa useful aid to sales negotiators in helping theircustomers see the options available to them.

Our Survey to Order team works within the SocialHousing sector, providing an invaluable service to tenantsand providers alike. Our surveyors all carry CAD enabledlaptops which allow them to create instant designs forevery property. This information is then instantlydownloaded directly to our Commercial Office where thedetails are processed. This system has allowed us toprovide many housing associations and local authoritieswith a detailed footprint of their housing stock, negatingtheir requirement to travel to inspect source of supply andreducing their future maintenance costs.

Innovative IT - Thinking GreenSymphony’s Commercial Department hasdeveloped a number of initiatives that allow us to deliver electronic solutions rather than usetraditional paper and mail methods.

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Customer Care Pre and post customer care are at the heart of ourbusiness, and by ensuring we do all we can to geteverything right first time, if it goes wrong, we will putthings right as quickly as we can. We have a dedicatedinternal Customer Care Department, and a quickresponse field based team that can react to urgent orderrequirements or customer needs.

Our Customer Care and Installation teams havebeen awarded accreditation to BS EN ISO 9001:2008which independently acknowledges the quality of eachstage of the delivery process and is supported by KeyPerformance Indicator (KPI) performance monitoring.

Green MarketingSymphony positively encourages customers to shareits green philosophy and access downloads of allSymphony brochures, photography and technicalinformation via the Symphony website Media Centre. All marketing materials are printed on paper fromresponsible sources and we encourage recycling ofused materials.

Ensuring We Get It Right

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Media CentreThe Symphony website Media Centre allowscustomers to download a range of informationincluding:

– Full colour product brochures (kitchens, bedrooms,bathrooms, student accommodation)

– Specification guides

– Corporate policy documents

– Full selection of product photography

– Sinks & Taps Brochure

– ‘Being Green’ Brochure

– Certificates and Accreditations

All these documents, plus a further comprehensive rangeof marketing, supplier and associated material are easilyaccessible from the website Media Centre.

To gain access to the Media Centre, simply go the mainwebsite at www.symphony-group.co.uk and click on theMedia Centre. Follow the instructions to receive yourindividual password and you can then open, view anddownload the files you require.

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www.symphony-group.co.uk

Pen Hill Estate, Park Spring Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S72 7EZ Tel: 01226 446000 Fax: 01226 711185

Printed on 100% recycled paper.All brochures are available for download at www.symphony-group.co.uk

Copyright and all other rights in this brochure and the photographs and other works upon which it is based are owned by The Symphony GroupPLC. No part of the brochure and said photographs and other works may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (including butnot limited to photocopying or storing in any electronic medium) without the prior express written permission of The Symphony Group PLC.Copyright® Symphony Group PLC 2012.

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