Marks and Spencer 2004 Annual Report Download - page 28

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Marks and Spencer Group plc
Directors’ report continued
Directors and their interests
The current directors are listed on page 18 of the Annual
Review and Summary Financial Statement.
Maurice Helfgott and Mark McKeon were appointed
executive directors of the Company on 19 November 2003
and 5 April 2004 respectively. Justin King and David
Norgrove retired as executive directors of the Company on
19 November 2003 and 31 March 2004 respectively. Barbara
Cassani was appointed non-executive director on
1 October 2003 and retired on 30 April 2004.
The beneficial interests of the directors and connected
persons in the shares of the Company and its subsidiaries
are given on page 24.
Employee involvement
We have maintained our commitment to employee
involvement throughout the business.
Employees are kept well informed of the performance and
objectives of the Group through personal briefings, regular
meetings and e-mail. These are supplemented by our
employee publication, On Your Marks, and video
presentations. Business Involvement Groups in stores,
distribution centres and head office represent employees
in two-way communication and are involved in the delivery
of change and driving business improvement.
The ninth meeting of the European Council took place last
July. This council provides an additional forum for
communicating with employee representatives from the
countries in the European Community.
Directors and senior management regularly visit stores and
discuss, with employees, matters of current interest and
concern to the business.
We continue to support employee share ownership through
long-established employee share schemes, membership of
which is service-related, details of which are given on pages
37 to 39.
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 uses 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’s (Marks and Spencer plc) policy
concerning the payment of its trade creditors is 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 3 April 2004 were 12.3 days, or 8.3 working days
(last year 12.7 days, or 8.7 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.
Charitable and political donations
During the year, £7.2m (last year £6.5m) was spent in the
UK in support of the community. Within this figure, direct
donations to charitable organisations amounted to £4.1m
(last year £4.9m).
At the Annual General Meeting in July 2002, shareholders
authorised the Company, Marks and Spencer plc and Marks
and Spencer Financial Services plc to make donations to EU
political organisations and to incur EU political expenditure,
under the provisions of the Political Parties, Elections and
Referendums Act 2000, of up to £100,000 in aggregate for
each company in each year until 10 July 2006.
It is our policy not to make donations to political parties and
accordingly no political payments were made. However, we
have a long tradition of supporting the community and the
Group may support individuals in a number of ways for civic
duties, which we shall continue to do.
Auditors
A resolution to re-appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as
auditors of the Company will be proposed at the Annual
General Meeting.
Annual General Meeting
The Notice of the Annual General Meeting to be held on
14 July 2004 is given, together with explanatory notes, in the
booklet which accompanies this report.
By order of the Board
Graham Oakley, Group Secretary
London
24 May 2004