Our Impact People and Planet
Doing the right thing. Since 1953.
“When choosing a Woodmansterne card, you know that your messages of love, care and encouragement are wrapped in a card produced by a company that looks after the environment, cares for its staff, and contributes to the community, to an exceptional degree.” Paul Woodmansterne, Chairman.
Thoughtfully made. Carefully run.
Care has always been a constant at Woodmansterne. Three generations, one thread, and a thoughtfulness that still runs through everything we do today.
From the materials we use to make our products and the suppliers we choose, to the artists we champion, the people we work with, and the communities we support, we’ve always chosen a path to be proud of. Quietly going about it.
While we don’t claim to be perfect, we believe it’s right to acknowledge where we are, set meaningful next steps to do better and keep improving over time. Learning, evolving and stepping up as part of a wider collective.
Couldn’t B happier
Woodmansterne is proud to be a certified B Corporation™, part of a global community of businesses meeting and committed to high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
Independently assessed by B Lab, we achieved a B Corp score of 95.5 (which is above the 80 points required to obtain the certification).
For us, B Corp certification isn’t just a badge we add to our website, it reflects a long history of quiet but thoughtful decisions across the business. And most importantly, it gives us a framework to keep improving.
Our impact in action
We want our retail partners to feel confident they are working with a trusted, responsible supplier offering products made thoughtfully. One that supports their own Environmental, Social and Governance goals. And continues to give customers a choice of carefully produced cards, where quality, materials and impact have been intentionally considered.
Impact on the planet
Nearly zero-waste in every card and gift packaging item
The materials we use matter. Not just for the finished product, but for the impact they leave behind.
In 1998, we moved to Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) paper for our greeting cards, the gold standard in sustainable forestry and we’ve held to it ever since.
We also developed our Smart Seal in 2019: a simple alternative to the traditional plastic sleeve that keeps card and envelope together without unnecessary single-use plastic. In the first year of implementation, 55 tonnes of single use plastic was removed from the supply chain and is now widely adopted across the UK card industry.
Today, all Woodmansterne cards are printed using vegetable-based inks, we do not use glitter on our cards and our envelopes are made from 100% recycled paper, making our cards fully recyclable after use.
Our commitment extends beyond cards too. 100% of Woodmansterne gift packaging is produced using responsibly sourced paper and is fully recyclable – right down to the gift bag’s handles made of paper.
Smarter operations at Magna Park
By bringing printing, warehousing and distribution together under one roof (at our Magna Park site in Milton Keynes), we’ve reduced unnecessary transport while improving operational efficiency across the business.
Rated ‘Excellent’ by BREEAM, our Magna Park facility in Milton Keynes has been designed to reduce environmental impact through smarter operations.
To reduce our emissions, we had to know our emissions
In our first year of Planet Mark certification (2024), we established our carbon footprint baseline: 99.2 tCO2e (tonnes of CO2 emissions) from our Milton Keynes office. So, we could track what happened going forward. In Year 2 (2025), we reduced our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 22.6% - recognised by Planet Mark for continuous improvement. With our Scope 3 baseline now in place, we’re ready to set meaningful targets across all three scopes.
Impact on people
We look after one another
Treating our staff well has always been more than a policy. It’s fundamental to our company values. That includes creating a positive working environment, encouraging feedback, supporting wellbeing and ensuring employees are fairly rewarded and supported.
We support emerging creative talent
Our commitment extends to the creative community we work with. Woodmansterne has always championed artists and illustrators, building relationships based on respect, transparency and long-term collaboration. Through our artist submission programme and partnerships, we continue to discover and support creative talent across the UK.
We choose responsible suppliers
As a Sedex Active Member, we’re recognised as one of a global network committed to building ethical and sustainable supply chains that benefit people and the environment. Day-to-day, that means carefully vetting who we work with and auditing how they operate, because responsibility doesn’t stop at our own door.
Our impact on communities
Supporting causes that matter
We’ve always understood that a business with roots in community has a responsibility to give back to it. Each year, we support charity partners through volunteering, fundraising and dedicated charity card ranges and boxes, raising over £207,000 in 2025 alone. We also make a point of fundraising for MIND, a cause close to our hearts.
Encouraging next generation talent
We also invest in the next generation of creative talent. Working with Norwich University of the Arts, our studio briefed third-year students to design greeting cards:
• 80 students took part
• 53 designs were submitted
• 3 students saw their work published
Preserving artistic heritage
Since 1995, we’ve supported the preservation of heritage art through the Woodmansterne Conservation Awards. To date, more than £450,000 in grants have been awarded to help conserve pre-20th-century oil paintings. We also sponsor two annual £5,000 postgraduate scholarships at The Hamilton Kerr Institute, Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge) and The Courtauld Institute of Art (London), investing in the conservators who will keep art alive for future generations.
Collaborating with industry groups
Working closely with the Greeting Card Association keeps us connected to the wider industry, sharing what we know, learning from others, and helping to raise standards across the board.
What’s next
Certification is the foundation, not the finish line.
With our emissions baseline now established across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, we’re building our climate action plan with clear initiatives and measurable targets to guide our progress and keep us accountable.
We’ll continue to share our progress openly: the wins, the challenges, and the areas where we still need to improve. Because transparency is part of the commitment.
Three generations have built Woodmansterne on the belief that doing things responsibly and building a successful business are not mutually exclusive.
We’ve been doing the right thing quietly since the 1950s. Now, we’re choosing to be more intentional about measuring it, improving it and talking about it openly.