Charlotte Tilbury has been named the UK’s most environmentally friendly consumer brand in a new ranking of more than 25,000 global businesses, beating major brands including WH Smith, Ethical Superstore, and Vanquis Bank. The beauty giant topped Earthmark‘s inaugural UK consumer brand league table, which assesses companies’ environmental performance and compares them with peers in their sectors.
Beauty Brands Dominate UK Green Rankings
Charlotte Tilbury is the best-performing consumer brand in the UK, with an Earthmark score of 4.5 out of 5. They are closely followed by Penhaligon’s perfume, Experian, and Medik8 skincare, with beauty retailer Sephora coming in fifth ahead of WH Smith and Ethical Superstore.
Beauty brands dominate the top 10, with six of the highest-ranking consumer businesses coming from the sector. The scores are revealed as consumers increasingly scrutinise brands’ environmental credentials amid growing concerns about greenwashing and misleading sustainability claims.
Compiled using Earthmark’s AI-powered analysis of publicly available environmental data, the rankings draw on factors including carbon emissions, waste performance, sustainability disclosures, net-zero commitments, and third-party assessments, and benchmark companies against peers in their sector. Consumers can compare Earthmark environmental performance scores (1-5) across more than 25,000 brands worldwide through Earthmark’s free directory.
The scores are based on publicly available data and independent third-party assessments, rather than self-reported survey responses.
Other recognisable names that scored highly in the wider top 50 UK consumer brand list include Cotswold Outdoor (11), Virgin Wines (16), BBC (17), Toolstation (20), and Aston Martin (26). Digital bank Revolut secured a place in the top 50 overall, ranking 43rd.
Fruit and vegetable subscription services Oddbox and Abel & Cole rank 25th and 32nd, respectively. Tesco was found to be the only supermarket brand in the top 50 in position 21.
TOP 10 BEST ENVIRONMENTALLY PERFORMING CONSUMER BRANDS IN THE UK
1. Charlotte Tilbury (4.5)
2. Penhaligon’s (4.5)
3. Experian (4.5)
4. Medik8 (4.4)
5. Sephora (4.3)
6. WH Smith (4.2)
7. Ethical Superstore (4.2)
8. Vanquis Bank (4.2)
9. Cult Beauty (4.1)
10. Look Fantastic (4.1)
(Note: Where overall Earthmark scores are identical, rankings are determined using underlying scores calculated to two decimal places)
Sustainability Leads The Branding
Jack Linnett, Founder and CEO of Earthmark, said: “Charlotte Tilbury and Penhaligon’s scored highly because many beauty and cosmetics brands have invested more heavily in sustainability initiatives and reporting following growing industry scrutiny.
He added, “Brands owned by larger parent companies often have more established structures and investors, which can accelerate the measurement, management, and disclosure of environmental performance.”
Consumers can search Earthmark’s freely accessible directory when making buying decisions to see which companies take their climate impact seriously and are taking action to address it. With millions of consumers willing to pay a premium for sustainable brands, Earthmark is addressing a demand for authoritative information.
Earthmark
Jack Linnett added: “Greenwashing and greenhushing create huge amounts of consumer confusion. Most people want to make better choices when they shop, but working out which brands are genuinely taking action on the environment can be difficult.
“Consumers are faced with a huge amount of information, much of it inconsistent or hard to compare. Our aim is to make environmental performance as easy to understand as a product review or star rating.
“We hope Earthmark helps shoppers quickly identify businesses that are taking meaningful action, while also encouraging companies to be more transparent about their environmental impact.”
Businesses that already feature Earthmark scores on their sites have seen increased customer conversions and order values, such as VoucherCodes, Virgin Media O2, and Electrolux.
