Better Health for All

The company's principal products, which include greeting cards, gifts, and related items, are inherently neutral and do not have a significant positive or negative health impact. Similarly, these products do not have direct safety implications for physical or mental health. Card Factory supports the mental well-being of its 9,800 colleagues through an Employee Assistance Programme

, a network of Mental Health First Aiders , and an innovative tool called FIKA for mental fitness .

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

The company's median gender pay gap was 1% in April 2023, indicating women's median hourly pay was 99% of men's.

However, the mean gender pay gap was 19%, and the mean and median gender bonus gaps were 60% and 33% respectively. The company publishes annual gender pay gap reports and aims to ensure equity of reward. It received a two-star "Outstanding to work for" accreditation in September 2023 and was recognized as the "5th Best Big Company to Work For" in 2023. 90% of colleagues responded to their annual engagement survey, and "fair deal" ratings (reflecting pay and benefits) increased by 10%. Overall colleague turnover ended the year at 33.3% against a target of 35%. , and the attrition rate was 29.1% against a target of 35.1%. Turnover for seasonal store colleagues was reduced to 11% from 20% in FY24. No substantiated labor law or human rights violations were mentioned. The company implements a "no audit no order" policy for non-UK/EU factories, refuses products from suppliers failing re-audits until remediation, de-lists non-compliant suppliers, and conducts ethical audits (SA8000, BSCI, SMETA). Approximately 6,000 temporary employees are hired during peak trading periods, in addition to more than 7,000 permanent employees, representing about 46.15% of the peak workforce.

Honest & Fair Business

The company ensures compliance with Anti Bribery and Corruption laws and regulations as part of its supplier onboarding process

, indicating a policy exists, but specific guidance on aspects like facilitation payments or gift thresholds is not detailed. A whistleblowing line and policy are in place , designed to encourage colleagues to report situations without fear of repercussions for good faith actions; however, there is no evidence of independent investigation processes for these reports. Additionally, all Non-Executive Directors are considered independent, with the exception of one , and the Remuneration Committee is composed of independent non-executive directors.

Kind to Animals

No specific, concrete evidence was found in the provided articles to assess Card Factory PLC against the 'Kind to Animals' ethical value. The articles do not contain information regarding cruelty-free certifications, animal testing policies or volumes, humane certifications for operations, ethical sourcing of animal-derived inputs, cage-free sourcing, investment in animal-free alternatives, animal agriculture ethics, or engagement in animal welfare policy. While a partnership with the Woodland Trust for tree planting was mentioned, the evidence provided (number of trees planted and CO2 removal) did not align with the specific quantitative thresholds of the rubric for wildlife conservation impact, which requires metrics related to species recovery, habitat restoration, or a percentage of revenue. General ethical supplier audits were mentioned, but not specifically for animal welfare compliance or for animal-related suppliers. The document mentions ethical audit requirements for suppliers.

We maintain a steadfast ‘no audit, no order’ policy, meaning suppliers must have completed the onboarding processes and received satisfactory ethical and technical audits before an order is placed.

Planet-Friendly Business

Card Factory's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions were 6,788 tCO2e in FY24, representing a 91.1% reduction from 76,700 tCO2e in FY22.

The company is committed to Net Zero by 2050 and has defined science-based near-term targets to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 54.6% by 2033 (from a 2022 base year) and Scope 3 emissions by 61.1% by 2033 on an economic intensity basis (from a 2022 base year) , though these targets are not explicitly stated as SBTi-validated. All cards and gift wrap are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified , and more than 60% of paper party products are also FSC-certified. Climate-related disclosures align with TCFD recommendations , but the company is not yet in full compliance regarding its strategy for climate-related scenarios. It is also not yet in a position to fully report on its resilience to specific quantified climate scenarios , though a more rigorous assessment is planned.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

No specific, concrete evidence was found in the provided articles to assess Card Factory PLC against the defined Key Performance Indicators for 'Respect for Cultures & Communities'. The articles primarily detail commercial partnerships

, financial performance , general charitable donations , and internal employee policies , , rather than specific engagements with indigenous or local community groups, cultural impact assessments, community-specific grievance mechanisms, or cultural preservation investments.

Safe & Smart Tech

Card Factory has not had any documented data breaches or unauthorized data use incidents in the past five years; the last reported incident of publicly accessible customer photos occurred in October 2018.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) has been implemented across the majority of the company's systems. The company uses AI technologies within its Customer Services Team and maintains agreements with providers to ensure personal data is securely handled and not used solely to improve AI systems. Users are provided with rights including access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, objection to processing, and data portability. The company practices data minimization, retaining personal data only as long as needed and deleting Live Chat transcripts within six months unless legally required. Card Factory is committed to complying with UK GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018, and PECR, is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and updated its privacy policy in January 2026. There is no evidence of a current bug bounty program; a historical incident in 2018 involved ignoring a reported vulnerability and threatening the researcher.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

All new cards sold from April 2022 are 100% recyclable

, and 100% of UK and Far East manufactured cards are recyclable and plastic-free . The company has implemented several waste reduction initiatives, including an 80.3% reduction in bubble wrap use at its Printcraft facility since FY22 , a 50% reduction in in-store point-of-sale poster volume materials , the elimination of cellophane wrap from all own-label roll wrap , a new donation scheme for discontinued stock , and the implementation of in-store printing for basic materials . For recycled content, all 10p plastic bags are manufactured using a minimum of 30% consumer waste . Regarding customer waste education, 'Remove attachments first' wording has been added to all new cards to facilitate the recycling process .