​Pentland Group launches centre for sustainability with Lancaster University

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Nov 20, 2015

Pentland Group, the majority owner of JD Sports fashion and owner of brands such as Speedo and Canterbury, has partnered with Lancaster University to launch a Centre for Sustainability in Business.

The centre aims to find more sustainable ways of working that can be applied and scaled by business, and will focus on six areas of research within corporate sustainability: ethical supply chains; scaling up business solutions; sustainable soils and land use; food, energy and water issues; ecosystems risk; and, sustainable lifestyles and cities.

The University of Lancaster is home to one of the leading environmental research centres in Europe. Stephen Rubin, Chairman of Pentland Group, said: “It’s vital that we have the brightest minds in business and science working closely in a field that’s so important for businesses to act on. I hope the Pentland Centre will inspire business leaders of today, as well as the next generation.”

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The institution will be led by Professor Gail Whitemann as Rubin Chair for Sustainability in Business.  

The family-owned group Pentland has a large portfolio of sports, outdoor and fashion brands, including KangaROOS, Berghaus and Mitre. It also holds the global licensee for Lacoste Chaussures and Ted Baker footwear, and shares in other companies such as Hunter Boot, Butterfly Twists, Heidi Klein and Tracksmith.