Marks and Spencer 2006 Annual Report Download - page 32

30 Marks and Spencer Group plc
Group directors’ report continued
Equal opportunities
The Group is committed to an active Equal Opportunities
Policy from recruitment and selection, through training and
development, appraisal and promotion to retirement. It is our
policy to promote an environment free from discrimination,
harassment and victimisation, where everyone will receive equal
treatment regardless of gender, colour, ethnic or national origin,
disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation or religion. All
decisions relating to employment practices will be objective,
free from bias and based solely upon work criteria and
individual merit.
The Group is responsive to the needs of its employees,
customers and the community at large and we are an
organisation that endeavours to use everyone’s talents and
abilities to the full.
Employees with disabilities
It is our policy that people with disabilities should have full and
fair consideration for all vacancies. During the year, we
continued to use the Government’s ‘two tick’ disability symbol
to demonstrate our commitment to interviewing those people
with disabilities who fulfil the minimum criteria, and endeavouring
to retain employees in the workforce if they become disabled
during employment. We will actively retrain and adjust their
environment where possible to allow them to maximise their
potential. We continue to work with external organisations to
provide workplace opportunities on the ‘Workstep Programme’.
Creditor payment policy
For all trade creditors, it is the Group’s policy to:
• agree the terms of payment at the start of business with that
supplier;
• ensure that suppliers are aware of the terms of payment;
and
• pay in accordance with its contractual and other legal
obligations.
The main trading company, Marks and Spencer plc, has a policy
concerning the payment of trade creditors as follows:
• general merchandise is automatically paid for 11 working
days from the end of the week of delivery;
• food is paid for 13 working days from the end of the week of
delivery (based on the timely receipt of an accurate invoice);
and
• distribution suppliers are paid monthly, for costs incurred in
that month, based on estimates, and payments are adjusted
quarterly to reflect any variations to estimate.
Trade creditor days for Marks and Spencer plc for the year
ended 1 April 2006 were 13.1 days, or 8.8 working days (last
year 12.0 days, or 8.0 working days), based on the ratio of
company trade creditors at the end of the year to the amounts
invoiced during the year by trade creditors.
Market value of properties
The last formal valuation of the Group’s properties was carried
out in July 2004. Taking into account movements in the Group’s
property portfolio since that date, the directors are of the opinion
that the market value of the Group’s properties, at 1 April 2006,
exceeded their net book value (including prepayments in respect
of leasehold land) by approximately £0.7bn.
Charitable donations
During the year, the Group made charitable donations to
support the community of £9.3m (last year £9.8m). These
principally consisted of cash donations of £3.4m (last year
£3.0m) which includes the cost of our flagship community
programme ‘Marks & Start’, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and
other charitable donations, £1.3m (last year £2.0m) of employee
time principally for the ‘Marks & Start’ programme and local
community projects, and stock donations of £4.2m (last year
£4.3m) to a variety of charities including Shelter, Fareshare,
Birth Defects Foundation as well as to the local community.
Political donations
Under the provisions of the Political Parties, Elections and
Referendums Act 2000, shareholder authority is required for
Political Donations to be made or Political Expenditure to be
incurred by the Company or any of its subsidiaries in the EU.
It is our policy not to make Donations to EU Political parties
or incur EU Political Expenditure and accordingly neither the
Company nor its subsidiaries made any Political Donations
or incurred Political Expenditure in 2005/06. However, the
legislation gives a wide definition of what constitutes Political
Donations and expenditure including sponsorship,
subscriptions, payment of expenses, paid leave for employees
fulfilling public duties and support for bodies representing the
business community in policy review or reform. To enable the
Company and its principal employing companies, (Marks and
Spencer plc, Marks & Spencer Outlet Limited, Marks and
Spencer Shared Services Limited, Marks and Spencer Simply
Foods Limited and Marks and Spencer (Ireland) Limited) to
continue supporting the community and such organisations
without inadvertently breaching the legislation, authority is being
sought at the Annual General Meeting on 11 July 2006 to make
Donations or incur Expenditure in the EU up to an aggregate
limit of £100,000 for each company until 11 July 2010.