Sustainable Development Goal

Since the beginning, power has been evenly distributed between women and men: women hold 45% of the Group’s directorships, 39% of management positions in the subsidiaries, and 34.1% of the audience at the ‘objectives, strategies, projects and challenges’ presentations, which brought together 118 people in February.

Our three committees within our Board of Directors are chaired by women: Karine Gaudin (Audit Committee), Laurence Paganini (Earnings Committee) and Mathilde Yagoubi (Sustainable Development Committee). Our extended Executive Committee includes four women, three of whom are operational managers: Fabienne Bochet (Isocel), Anne-Sophie Bultey (Distrilabo) and Laure Empereur (Dipra / Edouard Rousseau). Our management committees in our subsidiaries have been expanded to include several women in purchasing, marketing and administrative management positions. Three members of our subsidiary management committees (a sales director and two administrative directors) are currently taking a management development course for experienced managers. The aim is to enable them to strengthen their leadership skills to become developers of collective intelligence. The average length of attendance on the course is 3 years.

More than 31% of our Group’s employees are over 50 years old. We were asked about the training plans offered to them. Each employee benefits from the same training plan according to their skills and initial training. No distinction is made according to age. In 2021, we recruited 10 people over 50.

We regularly use ESAT* for simple assembly and packaging work. The maintenance of our green spaces is entrusted to the Isatis work assistance centre (located in Villefontaine, in Isère), for all our sites located in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier (38). 11 of our subsidiaries employ disabled workers.

In 2021, Jetly renewed an agreement with an association called Messidor, which manages re-insertion centres in the AuvergneRhône-Alpes region, contributing to the rehabilitation of people with mental disabilities. This association seconded 1.5 disabled workers employed by JETLY for the packaging of small spare parts (2 in the first part of the year, 1 in the second half). This partnership already resulted in the hiring of a disabled worker on a permanent contract at Jetly on January 1, 2020. For more than 6 years, this partnership has not only allowed the company to find stability, efficiency and savings for this operation, but also for the worker to reintegrate through work and to find an environment favourable to his personal development.

Individual earnings and bonuses are devised within the subsidiaries and payrolls are concluded at subsidiary level too. Information and best practice sharing between managers ensures consistency.

In the Group’s longstanding subsidiaries, the fixed component of earnings is paid over 13 months (except at FGinox, over 12 months). Salaries are revised annually, taking into account each individual’s development in their function and the cost of living. We pay particular attention to the lower salaries, which are much higher than average for our sector.

Since the beginning, Thermador Groupe subsidiaries’ profits have been shared with employees. Even before statutory profit sharing, we introduced our own brand of profit sharing in Thermador, the first company created in the Group’s history. This virtuous practice spread to the other subsidiaries subsequently. Sharing profits come with the year’s results, during which the management teams present the operating accounts of each subsidiary on a monthly basis. Everybody thereby understands how the annual result is put together, and what mass of profit sharing will be distributed. The distribution of that mass is decided by the management team, and takes into account each individual’s performance as fairly as possible. In each subsidiary, the variable profit sharing amount therefore depends on profit, which means there are major differences between the companies of the Group. It varies from 3 to 37% overall earnings. The average for the Group is 20% of gross annual salary. In three of our subsidiaries, Jetly. Sferaco and FGInox, a legal profit-sharing agreement or incentive agreement is in place. These variable earnings are paid in February. For the other subsidiaries, bonuses are paid in December. They are not subject to any holding mechanism and are therefore immediately available. On our operating accounts, the payroll represents approximately 10.7% of turnover (cf: table on page 19). As explained on page 72, we have always implemented a policy of salary transparency. In each subsidiary, once per year, we post all monthly and annual salaries, including of course those of the managers. This has the enormous advantages of limiting the spread of misconceptions and encourages us to maintain consistency of salaries. The range of gross salaries in Thermador Groupe is €22k to €341.7k (annual salaries for 12 months of presence), and the average annual salary of €50.3k.

In January 2001, we set up a Company savings scheme (PEE), open to all employees of the subsidiaries and 95% invested in Thermador Groupe shares. Until 2012 the top-up was 100% of the amount put in by the employee, with a cap of €1,000. The maximum contribution then changed year-on-year. In 2020, the contribution was 300% for the first €300 invested, 150% for the €301-1,000 tranche, and 30% for the €1001-1,500 tranche, i.e. a maximum of €2,100. The total amount contributed by the employees was €2,057k and the amount of the employer’s contribution was €794k. 453 employees (out of 566) subscribed to a 1% capital increase reserved for them. Taking advantage of the possibilities provided by the PACTE law, employees benefited from a 40% discount on the purchase of shares in exchange for 10-year holding commitment. In 2021, contribution was unchanged. the amount of the employer’s contribution was €1,224k and amount of employer’s contribution was €920k. 529 employees (out of 606) subscribed. At December 31, 2021, the Company savings scheme (PEE) held 302,500 shares, i.e. 3.3% of the capital.

We are carrying out actions on Scopes 1 and 2, which will represent 1,089 T of CO2 equivalent in 2021.

Dual-flow CMVs have been installed in the buildings of our subsidiaries Sferaco, Syveco and Isocel as well as in the new buildings of Dipra, Aello and Axelair. This technology will reduce heating requirements and therefore energy consumption, while improving interior air quality.

Axelair’s range of air treatment systems also uses water technology, which avoids the use of refrigerants. This consists of diffusing hot or cold air via a fan convection system and a water circuit fed by an air-water heat pump. This range is used in Axelair’s new building.

At Thermacome, in Saint-James, the network was refurbished by replacing the old ceiling tiles with new ones integrating heating and cooling emitters as well as a system allowing the circulation of hot or cold water over an area of 600 m², eliminating all the heating and air-conditioning installations in the subsidiary’s offices, while using one of the products we sell. This set-up will serve as a "test site". The Mont-Saint-Michel urban area has authorised the use of this system as part of the renovation of this building. The new Dipra building is equipped with radiant metal radiant and cooling panels over the entire surface area of its offices, i.e. 1,091 m². The principle of operation by radiation of these emitters offers the advantage of a very high level of reactivity to variations in ambient conditions, particularly in relation to changes in outdoor conditions. In fact, the desired temperature is reached more quickly with lower fluid temperature levels than in conventional systems. In addition, this technology reduces energy consumption by eliminating more energy-intensive heating and cooling systems. Similar technology will be installed during the renovation of the Thermador Groupe building in 2022.

Finally, the air purifier, distributed by Axelair, much in demand since the outbreak of the pandemic, meets the health and safety requirements for occupants, and is used by our subsidiaries Jetly, Mecafer, Pbtub, Axelair and Thermador Groupe. The air purifier does not directly save energy, but it does replace room ventilation, which causes fluctuations in room temperature and thus excessive energy consumption.

The fleet of vehicles owned or leased by us is an integral part of Scope 1 and represents 233 T of CO2 equivalent of our total carbon footprint. In this context, we are going to act on this item by choosing less polluting vehicles when renewing them (nb: half of our fleet will be renewed in the next two years). We are studying what’s available and remain attentive to developments in hybrid and electric solutions but, as our customers are present throughout the country, we are of course waiting on the ramp-up of recharging facilities. The number of kilometres travelled by our sales teams and the diversity and location of our customers are major factors in the choice of our vehicle fleet, which is adapted to the needs of our different activities. Our Belgian subsidiary, Sodeco, on the other hand, can rely on a more favourable geography and more advanced technological development within its territory and aims for a fleet of completely electric vehicles by 2026.

Our current fleet is very diversified because it depends on the sometimes longstanding policies of our subsidiaries. Accordingly, we set up a working group that has produced a common policy for all subsidiaries, which will also make it possible to have a more reliable emissions factor and greater accuracy on our Scope 1 carbon accounting.

In compliance with the French legal and regulatory framework concerning electronic waste (WEEE), ten of our subsidiaries are members of the Ecosystem eco-organisation, which deals with the recycling of waste from this type of equipment. We entrust recycling to a professional, as required by law. The cost of membership is variable and regulated according to the category of products sold. The total cost for Thermador Groupe and its subsidiaries in 2021 was €409,000.

We are also making progress in waste management, which has improved compared to the previous financial year, due in particular to the fact that actions have been implemented in the subsidiaries, such as the installation of shredders at Sferaco and Thermador, which are useful for transforming our logistics waste into packaging-cushioning products. We have raised awareness amongst operational staff regarding the importance of waste reduction and how they can contribute, by reusing our suppliers’ packaging at the order preparation stage, for example.

Because of the nature of our business, we do not have any hazardous industrial waste and 90.7% of our waste is sent to specialised channels for recycling.

We are also continuing initiatives taken over recent years to limit our emissions in other areas, such as travel, whether for business or daily use by employees. Indeed, our business trips are made by rented vehicle, train, plane or with a personal vehicle, the expenses being reimbursed afterwards (nb: travel expenses for personal vehicle use were previously accounted for in Scope 1) and represented 481 T of CO2 equivalent in 2021. Long-distance travel, which was previously practised, has been prohibited or made more difficult due to the health context. We have therefore adapted by implementing several actions such as the development of videoconference meetings. We also encourage our travelling sales representatives to choose rail over air travel. When vehicle rental is necessary, they limit themselves to small models that consume little fuel.

We decided to measure the carbon impact of our employees’ commuting to work. This item represented 1,138 T of CO2 equivalent in 2020 based on an extrapolated calculation. We have carried out more detailed calculations for the year 2021, taking into account the type of vehicle used, which brings our emissions to 948 T of CO2 equivalent.

In order to reduce these emissions, six of our subsidiaries have signed a home-working agreement, which can eliminate at least one round trip per week for 146 employees. We have maintained our principle of encouraging employees to live within 50 km of their place of work.

As Belgian legislation is slightly different, Sodeco does not have a home-working agreement but has included riders in the contracts of each employee concerned, which allows 28 people to work from home two days per week on average and avoid contributing to carbon emissions in the Brussels area, which is already severely impacted by heavy traffic. In partnership with the CAPI (Communauté d’Agglomération Porte d’Isère, our local community of communes) and Klaxit, a company specialising in carpooling, we have launched a mobility plan, making it easier for employees to carpool. 171 employees are also covered by the Ministry of Ecology’s sustainable mobility allowance, which means that those who opt for soft mobility (carpooling, public transport, non-motorised means of transport, etc.) over a certain number of journeys get a bonus. We want to develop this agreement for all our employees in France in the coming year. Sodeco is a partner of the Pelicano association and pays it a sum for each kilometre travelled by its employees for home-to-work commutes. 2,700 kilometres were cycled in 2021 as part of this operation.

The subsidiary also has three charging stations for electric vehicles and plans to install six more, which will be powered by energy generated by solar panels. Office-based employees in Belgium can also be allocated company cars, where the costs of insurance, maintenance, fuel and electricity are included in return for advantageous financing, provided that the vehicle is a hybrid or electric.

As part of our sustainable development commitments, it is essential to train and raise the awareness of management teams, both of existing and future legal and regulatory frameworks, and of the results achieved. To this end, training courses have been organised:

• On European taxonomy, in July 2021.
• On the carbon challenge, and a follow-up session in February 2022, for all management committees.

Internal awareness will also be added to the induction course for anyone joining a management committee. Internally, reference personnel in the subsidiaries will be trained on the basis of the methodology described above. The reference personnel of the four subsidiaries involved in the approach will perfect their skills with the aim of being totally autonomous in the carbon accounting of their respective subsidiaries, and those appointed to that role in other subsidiaries will be made aware of this topic and of how to use the carbon accounting calculation tool.

In order to achieve our first objectives and quickly draw up a precise Scope 3 roadmap for our CO2 emissions, we have decided to create a sustainable development manager position, directly linked to the Group’s top management, with a seat on the Executive Committee. This person will eventually lead a team of two specialists, a quality specialist and an eco-designer, and will orchestrate support to the subsidiaries with a high degree of autonomy so that each can contribute to the Group’s objectives. That position will also be supported by Lionel Grès (Axelair CEO) to manage concrete eco-design projects. Our quality specialist is Nicolas Klein and he will join Thermador Groupe in April 2022, having contributed to Sferaco’s double ISO9001 and ISO14001 certification, and organised work on Scope 3 for our CO2 emissions in 2021.

PRESERVING BIODIVERSITY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

We will also work on avoided impact, an environmental concept that is different from the carbon footprint but just as important. This will allow us to demonstrate the positive role of our products in environment terms, such as the management of natural resources, like water.

The rainwater recovery system sold by Jetly has been installed in its building since it was founded in 2009. The recovered water is used to supply the sanitation facilities of Jetly’s offices. In the new building where Aello, Axelair and Dipra are located, the same technology has been installed. The rainwater harvesting tank, combined with a pumping system and a UV wastewater treatment system, takes priority over the drinking water supply. This allows recycled water to be used instead of clean water when it is not intended for human consumption. The use of this technology in our branches therefore limits the consumption of drinking water by reusing the resource in a significant way, since one flush is equivalent to a volume of 6-9 litres.

We have changed the way we top up sprinkler systems, analysing glycol water by sampling rather than draining the tanks completely, thus avoiding the waste of large quantities of drinking water. Aello, our subsidiary specialising in swimming pool equipment, offers a solution based on rainwater recovery, which can be stored in a tank for be used when pools are in operation. This system offers savings of between 5,000 and 10,000 litres of water, compared to the 160 litres of water per day that evaporates from standard swimming pools. A pool, which will be used from 2022 onwards to carry out tests and put the products into practice, will be fitted with this technology.

The Porte d’Isère Environnement association (APIE) has helped several subsidiaries located in Saint Quentin Fallavier to improve their actions in favour of biodiversity. In particular, Thermador was able to carry out an audit to help decision-making and action initiation on its land. Planting was carried out at Jetly to bring in birds and pollinators. With the help of a landscape gardener, Sferaco has set up a plan for its grounds, including an area of rational mowing, insect hotels and outdoor social areas. The association organised two biodiversity awareness days on the Pbtub site this year for employees of the Saint Quentin Fallavier subsidiaries. All new buildings now feature the planting of local species in their specifications. APIE supports each future tenant in making responsible choices in the management of green spaces.

PBtub has a retention pond on its site which has been designed to enhance the development of local fauna with grassy contours, and a natterjack toad was observed here in 2021. Hedges and meadows containing plants that promote biodiversity, areas of rational mowing and wildlife corridors have also been installed on the site. A further audit will be carried out in 2022.

At Syveco and Isocel, the mowing of green areas has been reduced to preserve green areas, which are useful for the proliferation of fauna and flora. A vegetable garden has also been created, and is regularly maintained by employees. This raises their awareness of how they too can enjoy seasonal fruit and vegetables. The Ouessant sheep, which favour eco-pasture over traditional shearing, are still present at Sectoriel, with a new one born in 2021. In total, 71,300 m² are covered by biodiversity actions and 292 species have been inventoried, i.e. 86 more than last year.

Thermador Groupe considers it the Board’s responsibility to establish a responsible tax strategy, whereby its subsidiaries pay their taxes in the jurisdictions where they operate and make their profits.
The following five principles were approved by the Board of Directors on October 14, 2021:
1. Responsibility for the tax strategy lies with the Board of Directors.
2. Principles of fiscal responsibility are part of the company’s code of conduct.
3. The company pays its taxes where the economic value is generated.
4. Intra-Group transactions are conducted under market conditions.
5. In its Universal Registration Document, the company publishes the amount of taxes paid, country by country