Communities

As a Group, we have more than 700 stores, warehouses and regional and head offices across 10 European countries and we are committed to working with the many communities this represents. We work in partnership with outside organisations to address a number of long-standing social issues and we support a range of different charities on a regional basis.

Darty France has a long-standing reputation for helping the disadvantaged. Through the ENVIE programme over 6,000 previously long-term unemployed have been trained in the repair of electrical products. During a two-year programme, trainees practice on end-of-life products collected from customers. Once repaired, these are then sold from ENVIE stores at heavily discounted prices. Darty France annually donates €38,000 to the Fondation Pasteur Weizman for medical research and €70,000 to Telemaque, which helps young people from disadvantaged homes pursue their education.

Comet in the UK supported “Race on Line” which is a project to help 50,000 socially excluded people to get online by 2012, offering a combination of products and in-store training, and following a staff vote, Cancer Research UK was selected as Comet’s new charity partner.

BCC in Holland signed a three-year contract in 2008 with the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) for a total of €450,000. In return for supplying necessary funds for the foundation, we use the WWF logo to promote energy-efficient products in its stores.

Vanden Borre and Darty France raise funds through the sale of toy models of their after- sales service vans.

Datart in the Czech Republic and Slovakia has planted a “forest of trees” and has been working closely with insurers to help those affected by the 2010 floods. Datart has also been working with charity ADRA to send six pallets of first aid kits to Kenya.