Our approach to ESG – which we badge Plan A – underpins our vision and is our promise to always source and make our products with care, so customers can trust us to do the right thing.
It is also an integral enabler of our strategy to Reshape M&S for sustainable, profitable Growth so that we become a net zero business across our value chain by 2040 and conserve the precious resources our business relies on.
Delivery of our ESG strategy and Plan A is embedded across our nine strategic priorities and through our business-unit led operating model.
We utilize data, digital and technology solutions and innovation to support the delivery of our ESG strategy, and data aids ESG decision-making so we focus on the issues that are material to our business, and matter most to customers and wider stakeholders.
People are at the heart of our business. Their talent, commitment to our customers and pride in M&S are key to our long-term growth.
We create a workplace for all employees that is respectful, protects their health and safety, prioritises inclusion and diversity, and focuses on personal development.
We have always served our local communities and, as we emerge from the pandemic, we’re reflecting on the changing needs of our society and will be resetting our community programme.
ESG is core to the M&S brand and our ESG framework brings together the individual business strategies into a shared programme to engage our customers and enable us to track and report on performance at Group level. Our ESG Committee is chaired by Tamara Ingram, a non-executive director (NED), who brings experience from her long-standing leadership career in advertising, marketing and digital communications. Archie Norman, Stuart Machin and Victoria McKenzie-Gould are standing attendees at Committee meetings.
The ESG Committee provides additional rigour, support and challenge for the business, ensuring we continue to focus on delivery of our ESG programme, putting sustainability at the heart of our customer proposition, and to deliver the reinvigorated Plan A programme. It ensures that objectives, metrics and policies related to sustainability are appropriate, reported transparently, and reviewed regularly in line with all statutory requirements. The Committee also supports the Audit Committee in its review of emerging and existing risks relating to ESG.
M&S has a responsibility to ensure our products are responsibly sourced and uphold our Global Sourcing Principles. Ethical Trade and human rights are fundamental in allowing individuals to lead a dignified and independent life, free from abuse and violation.
We have a long history of respecting human rights in the UK and standing up for those values internationally. As both employer and buyer, our business was founded on the understanding that we are only as strong as the communities in which we trade. We strive to be a fair partner through our purchasing practices – paying a fair price to suppliers, supporting local communities and ensuring good working conditions for everyone working in our business and supply chains. This principle is still at the heart of how we do business today. That said, the evolving nature of the business and human rights agenda means we still have much to do and are still learning on this complex topic. These are issues which by their very nature are often hidden and the root causes extremely complex.
We’re committed to respecting internationally recognised human rights and the principles and guidance in the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as a basis for dialogue and action. We also support the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Our Global Sourcing Principles set out our minimum global supplier ethical and environmental standards, and were updated in 2022. These standards are contractual and apply across our entire business.
At M&S, quality is at the heart of everything we do – especially when it comes to sourcing and making our products. We know our customers want to do the right thing when they’re shopping, choosing products that are good for them, the planet and the people who make them. As an own-brand retailer, we are uniquely positioned to work in partnership with our trusted supplier partners to innovate to find new and better ways of doing things – whether that’s making choices that help reduce emissions, cut waste, improve workers’ lives, source more responsibly, or prioritise animal welfare.
