Translations

DAMARTEX promotes soft transport

4. Environment

Sector Industry

Year 2020

Country France

Transmitter

Context

Founded around the Damart brand, the group's main brand born in 1953 from a textile innovation - the iconic Thermolactyl - Damartex is a young group born from an ambitious external growth strategy. The combination of these brands makes the Damartex group one of the leading European distributors of clothing and accessories for seniors (55+). Each brand has its own style and responds to different customer expectations. The Group currently has 3,300 employees and a turnover of 686 million euros.

Damartex has launched an ambitious transformation plan to achieve its mission by taking care of the planet and the Human being, wherever the Group is established. Convinced that business and sustainable development have become inseparable, the teams wish to place CSR at the heart of its model.

The main challenge of this approach is to reduce the Group's environmental footprint by favouring soft transport and to reduce its transport costs for comparable journey times.

Objectives

Encourage alternative, non-polluting means of transport
Save money on transport costs for comparable journey times
Reducing its carbon footprint

APPROACH

About inter-site travel: Damart's administrative facilities in France are located in the European Metropolis of Lille. Since 2010, Damart France has therefore decided to purchase 9 Electric Assistant Bicycles and to make them available within the 3 sites located in Roubaix and Hem for the 1,000 or so employees who work there. Rules for lending and managing the bikes have been defined (identification of the borrower, charging of batteries, lending of helmets, etc.) These bikes are still available on 2 sites and are available to employees who wish to use them.

About home-to-work journeys: Assistance with the purchase of bicycles, electric bicycles and scooters (new or second-hand) has been in place since September 2017 for DSB employees (support services of Damart and the Group). Employees who wish to participate sign a contract that stipulates the ownership, use and maintenance of the device, liability, cost sharing and image rights. They are then reimbursed for part of the cost of the bike/scooter, and can take advantage of the covered bike garage when they arrive on site if necessary.