Sustainable Workspaces in London

Our environmental, social and governance approach

We set ourselves challenging environmental, social and governance targets, so we can maintain and build strong, responsible, sustainable workspaces. We continually review and update our strategy as we grow as a business, develop our processes, and embed our commitments within our business DNA.

Our mission

As custodians of some of London’s most iconic buildings, our mission is to improve their condition and enhance their social and environmental value. We will strive to empower our team to deliver sustainable outcomes for our business and collaborate with our customers to support them to reach their ESG goals.

What we’re doing at Argyll

Environmental Social Governance

We recognise the impact our business has on the environment, take ownership of this, and are working to reduce and minimise this wherever possible.

Our portfolio is a combination of owned and leased buildings, spanning modern properties through to iconic, listed buildings. While this creates some complexities – in particular the buildings where we don’t have direct control, or the listed buildings where interventions are much harder to implement – we are committed to the challenge.

Here’s how we’re creating sustainable workspaces and a climate-resilient business:

Carbon footprint

We measure, monitor and reduce our carbon footprint annually, including all scope one and two emissions.

Net zero carbon

We are working on a roadmap to achieve Net Zero Carbon, with a climate-resilient portfolio.

Zero waste to landfill

We increase our recycling rates each year, and are working towards Zero Waste to Landfill across our business.

Supporting the wider industry

We drive the sustainability agenda within our industry. In 2023, we hosted a roundtable discussing the challenges – and benefits – of retrofitting heritage buildings, which was covered in the press online, and in print.

You can find out more in our Environmental Policy.

We are committed to empowering our employees, supporting our customers, and taking an active role in the wider community we’re part of.

Argyll has a deep affinity for London – where our business lives and thrives. We believe that there are great opportunities to use our passion and our skills to support the continuing prosperity of the capital, and the people who live there.

We’re striving to achieve this ambition by focussing on three key areas:

Customers

We create opportunities for our customers to support and get involved with the local community.

Employees

We foster a work culture that empowers, unifies and develops exceptional people, who collectively offer great talent, skills and passion to the capital.

Community & charity

We raise career aspirations and provide access to work experience opportunities for those in need – in particular, London’s young people.

We recognise the importance of creating and maintaining a strong and robust governance and reporting framework, that underpins our business and is essential to our success.

To help us do this, we have committed to these four key focus areas:

Talent & diversity

We create a strong culture of diversity and inclusion, encouraging and fostering diversity of thoughts and ideas, and ensuring we are the best we can be.

Health, safety & wellbeing

We recognise the importance of health, safety and wellbeing, and putting it at the core of our business operations.

A sustainable supplier base

We’ve developed a set of standards and values for our suppliers to align with, including ethical, labour, social value and environmental considerations.

Transparency

We continue to be transparent about the areas our customers and employees care about. We celebrate what we’re good at, and are honest about what we need to work on.

Our progress and future plans

2023

Launched our ESG mission, strategy and goals
Achieved improved EPC ratings on 6 owned properties
Moved away from single use bottles and switched to Belu filtration, saving 48,000 bottles per year
4 buildings moved from gas to environmentally-efficient VRF systems

2023

Replanted gardens with insect-friendly plants and replaced company diesel van with electric alternative
Ran fundraising initiatives and completed 168 volunteering hours for The Connection at St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Donated unwanted furniture to charities such as IRMO and METRO charity
Launched new policies around DEI, discrimination and menopause

2024

Signed Property Week’s Diversity in Property Pledge, an initiative designed to break down barriers and foster more diverse and inclusive workforces
Launching Carbon Literacy Training for all Argyll employees, aiming to achieve Silver standard by the end of the year
Partnering with 10,000 interns to offer 3 summer internships to minority groups
Offering mentorship opportunities to support women with their careers, through Women in Property