Wickes

How ethical is Wickes?

Wickes is a home improvement retailer which has fallen below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark on our Ethical Garden Suppliers Ratings Table. Wickes’ below-benchmark performance is driven by poor ratings for peat free status and packaging.

What does Wickes do?

Wickes Group plc is the UK’s second-largest home improvement retailer, listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in Watford. The company operates approximately 228 stores across the UK, serving local trade customers, DIY retail consumers, and design and installation clients. Garden products form part of its broader home improvement offer, alongside building materials, kitchens, bathrooms, and tools. Wickes demerged from Travis Perkins plc in April 2021 and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Why does Wickes fall below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s benchmark?

Wickes’ below-benchmark performance is driven by two poor ratings. The poor rating for peat free status is a concern for a retailer that stocks compost and growing media as part of its garden product range. The UK government has committed to phasing out peat compost sales to amateur gardeners, and a FTSE 250-listed retailer of Wickes’ scale is well placed to lead its supply chain in this transition. Ensuring that peat-free alternatives are available and prioritised across its garden product range would address this gap.

Wickes also receives a poor rating for packaging. For a retailer operating at significant scale across hundreds of stores and digital channels, strengthening packaging standards across its product range would bring this rating in line with the better performance demonstrated elsewhere. The environmental report rating is acceptable rather than good — Wickes publishes some reporting, but further progress in transparency and disclosure would strengthen this criterion and the brand’s overall environmental credibility.

Wickes does perform well across several criteria, achieving good ratings for fossil fuels, animal welfare, armaments, irresponsible marketing, and political donations, with no documented public record criticisms. These reflect solid ethical conduct across governance criteria. However, the peat free and packaging poor ratings mean that Wickes falls below the benchmark required by The GOOD Shopping Guide.

Consumers seeking garden suppliers that meet The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark are encouraged to consult our Ethical Garden Suppliers Ratings Table and our guide to ethical garden suppliers, and seek out brands that hold The GOOD Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation. Our how we rate page explains the criteria used to assess all brands in this sector.