Marks and Spencer 2007 Annual Report Download - page 13

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 13 of the 2007 Marks and Spencer annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 104

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104

We set ourselves very high quality and ethical standards.
Last year, we used our ‘Look behind the label’ campaign to
describe the lengths we go to to ensure everything we sell is
produced responsibly.
But customers and staff wanted to understand our overall
approach and our plan for the future.
The result was Plan A, our five-year, £200m ‘eco plan’ launched
in January 2007.
We’ve made 100 commitments across the five areas, including
becoming carbon neutral, sending no waste to landfill, cutting
our packaging by a quarter and only using fish and wood from
sustainable sources. As well as addressing the wider issues,
we continue to work closely with local communities through
our ‘Marks & Start’ work experience programme, for example.
All of these commitments are described in our ‘How we
do business’ report, published alongside this document at
www.marksandspencer.com/howwedobusinessreport2007.
Each year we will report on how far we have got in
achieving them.
To make sure Plan A is a success it is being completely
integrated into our day-to-day operations. It will change how we
operate forever.
The impact will be felt widely. We are taking action across
35,000 product lines, involving more than 2,000 factories,
10,000 farms and 250,000 workers around the world. We will
also involve customers and co-operate with governments,
environmental agencies and like-minded organisations.
One of our aims is to help customers and employees live
healthier and more sustainable lives. We’ve trained 1,500
assistants to give our customers advice on nutrition and we
continued to expand our ‘Eat Well’ ranges. Later this year, we
will start selling ‘green home’ products from energy-saving
light bulbs to composters. As well as committing to reduce
the amount of food we import by air, we have also started to
introduce an aeroplane symbol on ‘flown’ food. And we’ll be
making it easier for customers to recycle our packaging.
Plan A is deliberately ambitious. We don’t have all the answers
yet. But responsible retailing has always been at the heart of
our approach, so we have a strong starting point.
I’m convinced we have no alternative but to make Plan A work.
Doing nothing is not an option. Businesses can no longer
ignore the challenges facing the world.
www.marksandspencer.com/annualreport2007 MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP PLC 11
SUSTAINABLE RAW MATERIALS
Over 90% of our new collection of
timber garden furniture will be Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.
By 2012 all of our products that
are made using wood will carry FSC
certification so that our customers
can be confident that our products
meet independent environmental
management standards which aim
to protect our forests.
HEALTH
1, 5 0 0
We now have 1,500 trained
Healthy Eating Assistants in our
stores to advise our customers
on healthy options. We will train
all our food hall teams in
nutrition within three years.
FAIR PARTNER
We are committed to helping
disadvantaged groups like the disabled
and homeless get into jobs via work
placements in our stores and supplier
factories. Since it launched in 2004,
over 9,000 people have taken part in
our ‘Marks & Start’ programme. This
work was recognised in March 2007
when we won the Prince’s Trust
Partnership & Innovation Award.
WASTE
10 0 %
Almost all the carrier bags we use in
our clothing and home departments
are now made from 100% recycled
material. Our ‘Bag for Life’, which has
been reduced in price from 15p to 10p,
is also 100% recycled.
Executive Team Your Board Financial
Review Governance Financials
Shareholder
Information