Marks and Spencer 2006 Annual Report Download - page 20

18 www.marksandspencer.com/responsibleretailing2006 Marks and Spencer Group plc
We became the first major UK retailer to start selling
clothing made from Fairtrade certified cotton.
In a year of significant achievement, a
number of initiatives stood out.
We became the only major UK retailer to
sell only Fairtrade coffee, both in our 200
‘Café Revive’ coffee shops and our Food
Halls. The Fairtrade Foundation estimates
that this commitment will lift UK Fairtrade
coffee sales by 18%.
We also announced that by the end of 2006
all our tea will be Fairtrade-only. In March,
we also became the first major UK retailer
to offer a range of Fairtrade cotton t-shirts
and socks.
Healthy eating is increasingly important to
our customers. Our healthy foods, identified
by the ‘Eat Well’ sunflower, now make up
20% of our entire food catalogue. During
the year, we were the first major UK retailer
to commit to removing hydrogenated fats
from virtually all our food and we are
reducing salt ahead of industry and
Government targets.
We take animal welfare seriously in the
manufacture of all our products. The
RSPCA recognised this when they gave
us their 2005 Alternative Award for Fashion
Retail for our policies on animal welfare.
On fish sourcing, Greenpeace, the Marine
Conservation Society and the Seafood
Choices Alliance named us the leading
retailer in the protection of endangered fish
species. This applies across our offer from
fresh fillets to fish in sandwiches and pies.
Our customers have asked us to develop
packaging that is more environmentally
friendly. This year, we used around 1,500
tonnes of recycled plastic in our packaging
and tested in-store recycling schemes.
These efforts won us the Best Retail
Recycling Initiative in the 2005 National
Recycling Awards and the 2005 Institute of
Grocery Distributors/Tetra Pak
Environmental Award.
During the year, we invested heavily in our
staff. You can read more about ‘Our People’
on page 17 and also in our Corporate
Social Responsibility Report which is
available to download from our website
www.marksandspencer.com/csrreport2006.
We also continued to support the
communities in which we operate and
invested a total of £9.3m, in cash and in
kind, in community initiatives.
Through ‘Marks & Start’, the biggest of
these initiatives, we provided 2,635 people
with work experience placements. 40% of
adult participants, drawn from groups such
as the disabled and homeless, went on to
find work.
Finally, we worked closely with Care
International and communities in Sri Lanka
to re-build 80 homes destroyed by the 2004
tsunami. In addition, we helped the affected
villagers set up their own businesses and
provided them with training.
We recognise that climate change is a
serious issue and have stepped up efforts
to address it. Improved efficiencies together
with our use of greener electricity meant
that last year we produced 9% less carbon
dioxide pollution than in 2002/03.
LOOK BEHIND
THE LABEL
In January 2006, we launched
‘Look behind the label’, a
campaign about the way our
products are sourced and
made. We want our
customers to know about
the lengths we go to to give
them responsible and ethical
choices – we want them
to know what sets us apart
from our peers.
The campaign covered areas
such as animal welfare,
Fairtrade, responsible fish
sourcing, responsible use of
chemicals, free-range eggs,
non-GM foods, removing
hydrogenated fats from
virtually all our foods and
leading the industry on salt
reduction.
Responsible retailing
For many years we have applied strict
ethical standards so our customers
can make responsible choices.