Stakeholder engagement

We engage actively with our stakeholders at all levels of our business, which we believe is critical to the success of the Group.

At a Board level, all members are encouraged to engage with our stakeholders directly, for example through meeting with individual associates and customers during site visits or through investor meetings, such as those to obtain Remuneration Policy feedback or through attendance at the Annual General Meeting. In addition, the Board is advised of stakeholder views on a regular basis in a number of ways including through Board reports and investor feedback reports. For further information see page 66.

Associates

• Existing and prospective associates, including apprentices and trainees • Our associates want to work for a company that values them, provides ongoing development, treats them fairly and remunerates them appropriately • Investing in our associates ensures we maintain our culture by having the right people and enables us to deliver on our strategic goals

Customers

• National and large accounts • Small and midsized contractors • Individuals • Our customers want to have confidence in the availability of our offering and tailored advice to deliver their projects, so they are better because they worked with Ferguson

Why relevant?

Suppliers

• Branded manufacturers • Outsourced third party manufacturers for own brand • Working with our suppliers in a collaborative manner ensures that we have access to the products our customers need when they need them and enables us to deliver new innovations to the market • In turn we give our suppliers an attractive path to market and provide feedback on customer needs

Section 172 statement

Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 requires the Directors to take into consideration the interests of the stakeholders in their decision-making. The Directors have regard to the interests of the Company’s employees and other stakeholders, including its impact on the community, the environment and its reputation, when making their decisions. The Directors consider what is likely to promote the success of the Company for its members in the long term in all their decision-making. This statement should be read in conjunction with the corporate governance report on pages 61 to 70, the sustainability section on pages 48 to 52, the risk section on pages 53 to 59 and the stakeholder engagement section above and right.

Communities

• Local communities to our operations • Families of associates • We want to make a positive contribution to the communities in which we operate • Establishing the right relationships with our communities also helps us to attract the best talent into our business • Supporting the families of our associates is just the right thing to do

Investors

• Shareholders (institutional) • Shareholders (private) • Financial institutions e.g. lending banks • Our investors want to understand how we are managing the business to generate sustainable returns through the economic cycle and to promote the long-term success of the Group • Specific engagement on important corporate matters e.g. remuneration, listing location

Nature of engagement

• Employee Engagement Director, Alan Murray engages regularly with associates and reports back to the Board • Regular engagement and town hall meetings • Associate engagement surveys • Regional conferences and other associate events • First in Safety engagement program with dedicated training (see page 49) • Training and apprentice programs • Ferguson Cares relief program (see pages 49 and 50) • Further details are provided on pages 20 to 22

Our response to engagement

• Associate reward and benefit structure which recognizes the contribution our associates make to the success of the business • Associate policies which ensure our people are treated fairly • Ensuring health and safety remains a cornerstone of our culture

Relevant metrics

• Associate engagement survey scores • Safety performance metrics (see page 49) • Employee retention metrics

• Allocated sales managers • Customer feedback mechanisms (including net promoter score and satisfaction scores) • Branch-level staff with local customer relationships • Customer-centric technology to facilitate customer engagement • Customer-focused websites and online tools • Service level agreements measuring

Ferguson’s performance • Addressing problem areas/actions as a result of satisfaction surveys • New service offerings e.g. curbside pick-up, geo-positioning software • National pricing strategy for our trade customers • Sales center call routing • Local inventory needs and adjustments • COVID-19 response and preparedness • Customer net promoter (see page 17) and overall satisfaction scores • Level of repeat business • Customer spend per account • Churn analysis • Receivable days

• Dedicated account managers for major suppliers • Central procurement teams manage supplier relationships • Regular meetings with specialist functions e.g. supply chain, marketing, product data and category management teams • Field and regional meetings to reinforce local relationship • Regular meetings with key suppliers to assist in management of production cycles e.g. capacity issues, disruption • Policies in place in relation to working with our suppliers to ensure fair and high ethical standards • Differences in sales channels between retail, wholesale and e-commerce • Product fill-rate • Payable days

• Nationwide programs in addition to local community initiatives entered into by individual locations • Responding to community needs for emergency relief, e.g. COVID-19 • Ferguson Cares program (see pages 49 and 50) • Executives serve on boards of charities, both at our regional headquarters and locally • Community engagement part of College of Ferguson induction for trainees • Further details are provided on pages 49 and 50 • Community building activities • Disaster response when required • Financial support at times of crisis

• Investor conferences • One-to-one meetings • Annual Report and other communications • Results presentations and bondholder calls • Reporting to financial lending institutions • Annual General Meeting • Investor relations website • Communication of business model and strategic plan • Application of stated capital allocation priorities • Maintain compliance with stated financial objectives e.g. leverage range, etc. • Charitable donations • Employee time contributed to community initiatives (see pages 49 and 50)

• Returns to shareholders (see page 28) • Qualitative shareholder feedback following key interactions e.g. postresults meetings • See KPIs on pages 16 and 17