Groupe Millet

Groupe Millet is a family owned and operated custom door and window manufacturer with 650 employees and five sites in the Bretingnolles region of France. In 2005, motivated by a personal commitment to sustainable development and a desire to integrate sustainable development into the business strategy, the CEO contacted TNS France. He wanted his company to become ‘the Interface of France’.

Initially, TNS helped engage employees and the board of directors to see the benefits of sustainable development from a business perspective, as well as to integrate employee participation in the process.

Meaningful change is rippling throughout the organisation. There is cross-departmental integration of sustainability strategies, the implementation of hundreds of concrete measures moving operations toward sustainability, the sustainability director is also the procurement director and departments are working together in more integrated ways. Groupe Millet is becoming a learning organization.

The company’s progress is also benefiting other businesses in the region. For example, Groupe Millet was looking for a sustainable cleaning product and found a cosmetics company 15 km away that produces natural cleaning products. This created demand for a local product and as a result the cosmetics company has expanded.

Groupe Millet has received prestigious awards for their progress toward sustainable development including; the 2007 Quality of Life at Work award and Business and the Environment award in 2006.

This summary was written Karen Miller, a 2008 graduate of the Master’s in Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability Program in April of 2008.