Paul Foulkes, Country Manager at Theben Automation, discusses the brand’s sustainability journey which started more than 100 years ago.
Sustainability in the electrical industry can sometimes feel like something that happens ‘somewhere else’ – in tender documents, environmental, social and governance (ESG) scorecards and corporate reports. Meanwhile, on site, the realities are far more basic: you want kit that works, turns up on time, lasts, and doesn’t create a mountain of waste to haul back to the van.
But the gap between those two worlds is closing. More projects now ask not only what a product does but how it’s made, what it’s made from, and what happens at end of life. That’s why it’s worth looking at sustainability through a lens that actually matches how the trade works: the product lifecycle.
At Theben, we’ve been thinking in those terms for a long time. Our story begins in 1921, when precision engineer Paul Schwenk started developing time switches. A time switch is a simple idea, but it carries a bigger message: buildings don’t need to run at full tilt all the time. They can be controlled, timed and made more efficient, long before ‘ESG’ was a common phrase.
Sustainability as a mindset, not a manifesto
There’s a temptation in corporate sustainability to drown people in technical detail.
Certifications, acronyms, scorecards. Those things have their place, but they don’t always land with the people who specify, stock and install electrical products.
What matters more is the simple principle we lean on: if we want to reduce impact, we can’t just tweak one thing. We have to look at the full story – where materials come from, how products are made and shipped, how they’re packaged and what happens at the end. That’s why we talk about the product lifecycle and everything that goes with it.
That ‘product lifecycle’ perspective can sound formal, but it’s really just common sense. If something is unreliable, hard to fit, over-packaged or replaced too soon, it creates waste, in materials and in man-hours. If it lasts, performs consistently and arrives without unnecessary rubbish, it reduces waste without anyone needing to make a big speech about it.
The long-term view
Looking back over 100 years, you can see that environmental thinking showed up decades ago in practical ways. For example, our history notes that in 1964 we installed a modern detoxification system to remove harmful substances from wastewater, alongside planted green spaces around the site. That isn’t a modern ESG campaign. It’s a snapshot of Theben making tangible operational choices – the kind that don’t get applause, but do change impact over time.
We’ve also linked comfort and efficiency for decades. In the 1960s, our heating controls were described as “comfort plus economy,” including night setback to help reduce fuel consumption. Different era, same aim: better control, less waste, better outcomes for the people using the building.
And when we talk about design, something we’ve invested in since working with
recognised designers in the 1970s, it’s not only about aesthetics. Good design supports usability and longevity. It helps create products people don’t want to replace simply because they feel dated or awkward.
Making it easier to do the right thing
Sustainability becomes real when it removes friction for the people doing the work. That’s why we focus on the unglamorous areas where decisions stack up: how products move through the supply chain, how they’re produced, how they’re packaged and how they can be handled responsibly at end-of-life.
On the packaging side, for example, our direction is to reduce unnecessary packaging and cut down plastic where we can, replacing it with cardboard or paper where it makes sense. It’s not the flashiest part of sustainability, but it’s one of the most visible to installers because it affects van waste, site housekeeping and disposal.
We also talk about the end of the lifecycle because it’s increasingly part of how products are judged. It’s not just “can it be recycled?” but “what happens next?”
That’s why our sustainability work includes how products can be returned into material cycles and how we look at more circular approaches over time.
One for all – all for one
Policies help, but culture decides whether anything changes. That’s why we’re open about the fact that sustainability only works if everyone owns it. Our “One for all – all for one” message puts it simply: sustainability, climate change and ecological diversity concern all of us – from apprentices to the board – and every contribution counts. We try to bring that to life in practical ways, whether that’s encouraging ideas that reduce day-to-day waste, supporting biodiversity initiatives, or looking for small changes that add up across a year.
What this means for the wholesale channel
The questions customers are asking are getting broader. It’s no longer only “does it meet the spec?” but also “does it meet the expectation?” That expectation now includes sustainability, not always in detail, but in credibility.
From a wholesale perspective, the value is in backing brands that can tell a consistent story: long-term thinking, practical improvements and a culture that treats sustainability as day-to-day responsibility, not a once-a-year announcement.
If we can keep sustainability grounded – less waste, better durability and more transparency across the lifecycle – then we’re not just responding to ESG trends. We’re continuing what we started back in 1921: helping buildings behave more intelligently, and helping the people who build them deliver better outcomes with less waste along the way.
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