Educational resources supplier Findel has successfully met the first year targets linked to what is believed to be the UK education supplies sector's first sustainability-linked loan facility from lender Santander UK.

The Hyde, Greater Manchester, headquartered company has used the £18m facility to support its medium-term growth plans whilst driving its environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments.

Findel hit all four targets that it has made specific commitments to in order to qualify for a sustainability-linked loan.

The first target for Findel was a Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions reduction of 72 per cent against an FY20 baseline. The second was five per cent of its core products being sustainably improved and the third target was nine per cent of all Findel colleagues engaging in meaningful volunteering.

The final target was 50 per cent of Findel's tier one suppliers in high-risk markets being subject to sector specific ESG audits. For the sustainable performance measures to remain stretching, the targets increase year on year.

Sue Careless, ESG executive lead at Findel, said:

"At Findel, we pride ourselves on our ESG focus and performance because of the dedication we have always had to education, care and helping children learn and develop. We work to implement a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach to our ESG activity, which we believe is unique in our sector.

"We are pleased to have surpassed our first year targets and we will continue to push for further improvements in year two.

"We want to continue to lead by example as a sustainable and responsible business in the markets we serve and invest in new products and services for the benefit of educators and parents worldwide."

As part of its sustainability commitments, Findel is also part of the global Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) after setting greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in line with climate science.

Findel's origins as an educational resources supplier can be traced back to 1817. Today, the company's brands and websites offer more than 32,000 products to educators and parents based in the UK and overseas with the business exporting to 130 countries.

In addition to Hyde, Findel has a distribution centre and offices in Nottingham and employs around 300 people in total.

The company's brands comprise Hope, GLS, Davies Sports, Philip Harris, Scandibørn and EuHu.

Findel is backed by Leeds-headquartered private equity firm Endless, which supported a management buy-out in April 2021.

For more information on Findel visit www.findel.co.uk