Double Materiality 2.0 – A strategy-led approach at Johnson Service Group

A focused, decision‑oriented double materiality assessment aligned with the revised ESRS—methodologically robust and delivering direct inputs for JSG’s sustainability strategy.

Why a double materiality assessment?

Johnson Service Group (JSG) is a UK-based textile services provider that rents, launders, and delivers textiles to clients in sectors such as hospitality and healthcare. At the time of the project, JSG did not face strong legal pressure to act on sustainability. Still, several developments created a growing sense of urgency:

The UK is moving towards mandatory sustainability reporting (UK Sustainability Reporting Standards);
As a listed company, JSG faces growing scrutiny from investors and market authorities;
Clients increasingly expect action on issues such as climate, packaging, and social value;
Competitors are raising their sustainability ambitions, with some already reporting under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).

In this context, JSG saw a Double Materiality Assessment (DMA) as a logical step towards a more ambitious sustainability strategy. A DMA helps a company identify the sustainability topics that matter most—either because the company has significant impacts on a topic (e.g., climate, biodiversity, or the well-being of employees), or because a topic creates financial risks or opportunities. These material topics should form the core of the company’s sustainability strategy and reporting.

Strategic challenge: avoiding a box-ticking exercise

While the value of a DMA was clear, JSG remained cautious. Many companies subject to the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) had experienced DMA processes as overly technical, time-consuming, and disconnected from strategic decision-making. Typical approaches involve identifying dozens of impacts, risks, and opportunities and asking stakeholders to score them across multiple parameters—often with limited strategic insight as a result.

The challenge, therefore, was to design a DMA approach that combined methodological rigour with real strategic relevance.

Working with Mobius on our DMA was a genuinely positive and collaborative experience. Their expertise, responsiveness and pragmatic approach helped us navigate a complex process with confidence, and the resulting assessment has directly informed and strengthened our sustainability strategy, clarifying our long-term direction and sharpening our key priority focus areas for the future.

Alexandra Brennan Group Sustainability Manager

Approach: DMA 2.0

From the outset, JSG and Möbius decided not to follow a “standard” DMA process. Shortly after the project started, a draft revision of the ESRS was published, explicitly aiming to make DMA processes more focused and decision-oriented. This aligned closely with our ambition.

Our approach was built on three key principles:

1. Combining a top-down and bottom-up logic

Instead of relying only on a detailed bottom-up identification of impacts, risks, and opportunities, we began with a top-down scoping exercise with the management team. Some topics were clearly material (e.g. water use in industrial laundry), while others were clearly not (e.g. animal welfare). Recognising these “obvious cases” early allowed us to focus resources on topics where materiality required deeper analysis.

2. Selective and expert-led scoring:

Traditional DMA processes often rely heavily on stakeholder scoring, which can lead to abstract or inconsistent results. In this project, qualitative analysis played a central role, and scoring was used only when necessary to support decisions. Scoring was carried out by Möbius experts, based on objective evidence.

3. More open and focused stakeholder engagement

Rather than large-scale surveys covering all topics, stakeholder engagement consisted of targeted, in-depth conversations with internal and external stakeholders. Discussions focused on key uncertainties and on topics where stakeholders had real expertise. This enabled more substantive input and avoided asking stakeholders to assess issues beyond their knowledge.

Results

Compared to traditional DMA exercises, the DMA 2.0 approach was widely perceived as intuitive, focused, and respectful of stakeholders’ time and expertise.

Internally—from the sustainability team to the CEO—the DMA was seen as a strategic exercise rather than a compliance burden. The results helped JSG to:

Refine existing priorities (e.g. circularity and workforce data);
Identify new strategic priorities (e.g. water stewardship and social value);
Strengthen the link between sustainability reporting and business strategy.

At the same time, methodological rigour was preserved. Key assumptions, methodological choices, and expert judgments were carefully documented, and the robustness of the approach was recognised in discussions with JSG’s auditor.

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