arcadia group responsibilities report 2013
TRANSCRIPT
FASHIONING A BRIGHTER FUTURE
RESPONSIBILITYREPORT
2013
This year The Dorothy Perkins nine year chariTy parTnership
wiTh BreasT cancer care exceeded £3 million
in donaTions
we recycLed 33 MiLLion hanGers
£164,000donated through
workplace Giving
o v e r
750 eMpLoyees received
eThicaL TradinG
WE ComplEtEd thE REsponsiblE and aCCountablE GaRmEnt sECtoR (RaGs) pRojECt bEnEfittinG ovER 106,000 indian and banGladEshi WoRkERs
we increased recycLinG By 3% TakinG our overaLL recycLinG
raTe To 85%
£1.5m the total amount we
raised for charity
we saved around
500 Tonnes oF excess
packaGinG FroM suppLiers
we siGned up To The susTainaBLe cLoThinG acTion pLan (scap) 2020 coMMiTMenT
since 2008 we have saved over 24,000 Tonnes oF co2
eMissions ThrouGh reducTions in enerGy use
2,938 faCtoRy
EthiCal audits
FACTS
ANDFIGURES 2013
WoRkinG houRs WERE donatEd thRouGh thE
EmployEE voluntEERinG
pilot pRoGRammE
4,000tills were replaced with more
energy efficient models
94% of the energy used in stores in the uk and ireland is from renewable sources
735 tonnes of food waste from bhs were recycled
We reduced our transport Co2 emissions by 5%
The percenTaGe reducTion in our
carrier BaG usaGe
11%
WE REviEWEd
T r a i n i n G
04 WELCOME
05 ABOUT ARCADIA
07 ABOUT FASHION FOOTPRINT
08 FASHION FOOTPRINT GOVERNANCE
11 OUR PRODUCTS
12 ETHICAL TRADING
19 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF PRODUCTS
21 ANIMAL WELFARE
23 OUR ENVIRONMENT
25 ENERGY EFFICIENCY
25 RECYCLING AND WASTE
26 TRANSPORT AND LOGIST ICS
30 OUR EMPLOYEES
31 RETAI L ENGAGEMENT
31 EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING
32 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
32 FASHION FOOTPRINT ADVISORY PANEL
32 WORKPLACE DIVERSITY
33 HEALTH AND SAFETY
34 ACCESSIB I L ITY
36 OUR COMMUNIT IES
37 FASHION RETAI L ACADEMY
37 YOUNG FASHION TALENT
38 CHARIT IES
41-43 TARGETS AND PROGRESS
CONTENTS
Our Fashion Footprint programme is now in its seventh year and continues to lead our focus on responsible retailing. The last twelve months have seen many achievements in our Fashion Footprint programme, which this report will cover.
We hope you find this progress update informative and interesting. It is available for download via our website at www.arcadiagroup.co.uk/fashionfootprint
As in previous years, this report highlights the progress we have made and outlines the challenges and next steps. We have published a summary version again this year, which we intend to circulate to our employees and we hope will also prove useful for those stakeholders looking for the highlights of our achievements.
As ever, we are keen to hear what you have to say about this work and any activities of our Fashion Footprint programme. You can share your views by emailing them to [email protected]
We continue to expect all our suppliers’ factories to meet the working conditions outlined in our Code of Conduct. Every factory must demonstrate this through an independent, ethical audit which we grade internally. This year we graded almost 3,000 of these audits. Where factories need improvements, our Code of Conduct Guidebook provides guidance.
This year saw the conclusion of the Responsible and Accountable Garment Sector (RAGS) Benefits for Business and Workers project, the two-year programme funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and retailers. The programme made good inroads into improving the day-to-day lives of garment factory workers. We are proud to have been part of it and keen to maintain momentum, more details of which can be found on page 14 of this report.
Sadly, the year has also involved solemn reminders of the need to keep our responsibilities at the forefront of the business’s priorities. We were shocked and saddened by events in Bangladesh – first by the factory fire in November 2012 and then by the building collapse in April 2013 – that brought with them such terrible consequences.
We signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which will work towards improving worker safety, and we take this commitment very seriously.
Another project got underway this year, with Arcadia signing up to SCAP, the Sustainable Clothing Action
Plan. This involves committing to help reduce carbon, waste and water impacts. More on this new programme can be read on page 19.
We are pleased to report that this year we have managed to reduce our absolute CO2 emissions through energy usage by over 5,000 tonnes, bringing our total CO2 emissions saved since 2008 to over 24,000 tonnes. This is equivalent to taking approximately 120,000 cars off the road for a year!
Our Fashion Footprint charity has also changed this year. We successfully completed our three-year partnership with Tender Heart and forged a new association with Harmony House. This charity provides care and education to disadvantaged women and children in an area of Delhi that is home to many garment workers.
The refurbishment of our London head office, Colegrave House, is now underway. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring our headquarters up to best practice benchmarks in terms of energy consumption and environmental credentials. We are confident that we will all be proud of our new building.
Fashion Footprint Steering Group
WELCOME
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Ian GrabinerGroup Chief Executive
ABOUT ARCADIAArcadia Group is the UK’s largest privately owned clothing retailer with just over 2,500 outlets. We own eight of the high street’s best known fashion brands – BHS, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, TOPMAN, TOPSHOP and Wallis – as well as the shopping concept Outfit.
BHS and the Arcadia Group brands were integrated in
2009, although in some instances we report data
separately. Our brands are to be found on the UK’s high
streets and in major shopping centres as well as online.
Our eCommerce operation is significant and growing fast.
TOPSHOP and TOPMAN have added to the brands’
worldwide network of flagship stores this year, opening
in Los Angeles in February 2013 and Hong Kong in June
2013. These new stores complement their existing
counterparts in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas.
We also have over 570 international franchise
operations trading our brands in 38 countries and our
goods are sold online to 111 countries.
Please refer to our website www.arcadiagroup.co.uk for
more information on this year’s financial results.
We have more than 40,000 employees, who benefit
from the opportunity to develop their career by moving
between our brands, stores or head offices without
having to switch employers.
Our customers, meanwhile, look to us to ensure that the
products they purchase have been made lawfully, fairly,
without exploiting the people who made them, while
reducing their impact on the environment. We receive
communications from customers who are keen to learn
more about the products they buy from us. Those letters
and emails help us understand, anticipate and address
their concerns.
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OUR BRANDSBHS offers fashion for the whole family and home, for the price conscious shopper.
BURTON is one of the most successful mid-market menswear brands on the high street and has a proud heritage spanning more than a century.
DOROTHY PERKINS is one of the biggest fashion retailers in the UK, with over 700 stores within the UK and internationally. The brand provides customers with affordable, feminine fashion.
EVANS offers stylish, on trend clothing that has been especially designed and cut to fit, flatter and make you look fabulous. Evans is the UK’s leading plus size fashion retailer and has over 200 stores across the UK and Ireland, with an ever-growing international presence.
MISS SELFRIDGE is for young women who seek of the moment fashion with a gorgeous and glamorous edge. The brand offers versatile, affordable and accessible style with a day to night range for everything our customer needs for a full and fabulous wardrobe.
TOPMAN is the contemporary menswear brand from London - fashion forward, on trend, affordable and all-round amazing.
When we design we draw from everything around us - the heritage of Savile Row to the punk of the Sex Pistols, the street style of East London, the runway at London Collections: Men (of which we are a part) and our network of creatives and stores all around the world.
TOPSHOP is the fashion destination on the UK high street. With over 500 stores globally, the brand has become a fashion phenomenon and is synonymous with cutting edge fashion at affordable prices.
WALLIS has a long-established position as an aspirational premium brand on the high street, offering distinctive fashion handwriting for modern women in their 30s and 40s. It operates just under 550 stores in the UK and overseas.
OUTFIT is the ultimate out-of-town fashion destination. Located at easily accessible retail parks across the UK, Outfit carries a mix of all the Arcadia brands as well as other selected additional ranges. Outfit has 63 stores across the UK.
SHARED SERVIcES At the heart of our business there are more than 1,000 dedicated employees working in Shared Services. They work across all brands and are responsible for giving a range of centralised services to the business including Logistics, Finance, Human Resources, IT, PR, Property and Purchasing. Shared Services teams are responsible for essential activities from delivering product to 111 countries worldwide, to achieving award winning store designs and handling thousands of customer calls and emails each year. Shared Services offer efficiencies to the brands by providing centralised resources and competitive synergies to the group.
Fashion Footprint is Arcadia Group’s programme to monitor and manage the social and environmental impacts of our business. It provides our ethical activities with a focus and framework, underpinning our objective to be a responsible retailer.
Now in its seventh year, Fashion Footprint reinforces our commitment to sustainability; a commitment that we believe makes just as much sense from a business perspective as it does from an ethical one.
Our Fashion Footprint vision provides us with a mission statement that we can all get behind: to produce fashionable products in an ethical way and demonstrate a responsible attitude towards people and the environment.
The activities and reporting of our Fashion Footprint programme are divided into four key pillars – Our Products, Our Environment, Our Employees and Our Communities.
This report continues to provide tangible and anecdotal testimony of the progress we have made in the year ending August 31 2013 along with insights into the challenges we have faced and our plans for the coming 12 months. These outputs are summarised at the end of the report.
We have published a summary version of this report again this year. This shorter document was conceived last year and recognises that stakeholder communication is evolving. It will focus on this year’s key developments. Created with our employees in mind, it is also aimed at
those stakeholders who would welcome a shorter version of this full report.
ABOUT FASHIONFOOTPRINT
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Harness employees’ potential and commitment
OUr EMPlOyEES
Develop our environmental performance and use resources responsibly
OUr ENvIrONMENT
Support charities and communities
OUr COMMUNITIES
Improve the social and environmental impacts of the products that we sell
OUr PrODUCTS
Heather Pinder Group HR Director
Stephen Boyce Head of Property
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FASHION FOOTPRINT GOVERNANCE
Colin CampbellGroup Head of Risk Management
Alda AndreottiGroup Supply Chain Director
Wesley TaylorBrand Director – Burton
Carole SimpsonWallis Retail Operations Director
Tania Foster-BrownGroup PR and Communications Director
Martin WorsleyEvans Head of Finance
Paul ForrestGroup Senior Employee Relations Manager
Siobhan ForeyChief Operating Offi cer – HR and Operations
Paul Goddard Spectrum for Arcadia – Operations Director
David ShepherdChief Operating Offi cer – Trading
Ian PoultonGroup Head of Purchasing
Derek MackayGroup Head of Supplier Management
Jamie BeckGroup Supplier Management Controller
Andrew ClarkeGroup IT Director
A ll successful initiatives that bring together a diverse range of stakeholders require strong
leadership, and Fashion Footprint is no exception. This is the role fulfilled by the Fashion Footprint Steering Group (FFSG), which comprises senior members of our business.
The Steering Group continues to meet quarterly to provide governance, guidance and risk assessment across all our social and environmental responsibilities and to ensure that these activities remain integral to Arcadia’s strategy.
Endorsed by Group Chief Executive Ian Grabiner, the Steering Group is chaired by Alda Andreotti, Group Supply Chain Director. Activity is divided across a series of working groups, each of which is aligned with one of the four key pillars and has a Steering Group member as their sponsor to oversee progress towards monthly key performance indicators (KPIs). The day-to-day running of the Fashion Footprint programme is the responsibility of the Ethical Trading Team.
FASHION FOOTPRINT ADVISORY PANEL (FFAP)It is four years since we launched our Fashion Footprint Advisory Panel that acts as the voice of our employees. FFAP members represent brands and functions across our business.
This year the panel continued to provide feedback on the Fashion Footprint initiatives proposed by the Steering Group and submit proposals and suggestions of their own. For more details, see Our Employees.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENTStakeholder engagement is a vital element of all four of our key pillars. It plays a strategic role in the success of our workstreams and how they feed into the pillars as well as how we communicate progress.
The following six groups represent our principal stakeholders and the dialogue and interaction we have with them is a continuous theme of this report.
1. OUR EMPLOYEESOur people are vital stakeholders and we have dedicated a specific pillar to them; we recognise that they play an important role in helping us achieve our Fashion Footprint vision. Our retail colleagues relished the opportunity to join Fashion Footprint and have already launched successful initiatives. Meanwhile, Wallis is piloting an employee-volunteering scheme in response to feedback from employee surveys. The success of our charity fundraising each year also rests on their enthusiasm and commitment.
2. SUPPLIERS, THEIR FAcTORIES AND FAcTORY WORKERS
This group of stakeholders is particularly vital to our activities within the Our Products pillar. Many of our ethical trading projects rely on their transparency and willingness to work together to achieve tangible progress and improvements for workers in our supply chain.
3. cUSTOMERSKnowing that the topics we cover in Fashion Footprint are important to our customers is one of the key drivers for this work. We want our customers to be confident we trade ethically and with consideration for our environmental impacts. Contact from customers – usually via email – ensures we can reflect their interests and concerns when we are carrying out Fashion Footprint initiatives.
4. TRADE UNIONS, GOVERNMENTS, NGOs, cAMPAIGNING GROUPS AND STUDENTS
This is the most diverse group of stakeholders we work with and can be broadly seen as civil society and government. All input and feedback from this group has a significant impact on our work. This year, again, we have been busy working with various members of this group. For example, the TOPSHOP and TOPMAN Joint Turkey Project has benefited from collaboration with global workers’ union IndustriALL, and a local non-governmental organisation (NGO), Social Development and Gender Equality Center (SOGEP). In addition, senior Arcadia representatives met with
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representatives of the Department for International Development (DFID) during the year in London and Dhaka, Bangladesh.
5. OTHER RETAILERS AND BRANDSWe regularly collaborate with other high street retailers on a wide variety of projects and initiatives. Examples of this are RAGS (see page 14), our involvement in the Joint Turkey Project (see page 15) and the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (see page 19, a new project to drive increased sustainability for the lifecycle of clothing.
6. THIRD PARTY SERVIcE PROVIDERSWe work with many third party service providers, whether it is to test our products or audit our suppliers’ factories. These companies work in partnership with our own teams, providing valuable specific expertise to support our programmes.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Policies and procedures are also an important part of how we work and we have a comprehensive list of business policies in place that are appropriate to an organisation the size of Arcadia Group.
In terms of Fashion Footprint, there are a number of policies, for example:
• Workplace Diversity;
• Health and Safety Policy;
• Dignity at Work Policy; and
• Anti-Corruption Policy.
These are in addition to our Code of Conduct and its Guidebook, our Migrant Workers’ Guidelines, Home Workers’ Guidelines, Contract Labour Guiding Principles and our Animal Welfare Policy.
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This pillar focuses on understanding and reducing the impacts that
manufacturing our products may have on people and planet.
OUR PRODUCTS
W here and how we make our products offer us diverse opportunities to
make a difference and demonstrate how seriously we
take our responsibilities.
Just as our products are essential to our business, the Our
Products pillar is pivotal to the success of Fashion
Footprint. Rightly, we are judged on the social and
environmental impacts of creating and commissioning
our products and the work we do to improve these.
We have ongoing initiatives, whether it is supporting our
suppliers to improve working conditions or trialling the
use of waste materials to create new ranges.
Reporting within this pillar falls into three key areas:
• Ethical Trading;
• Environmental Impacts of Products; and
• Animal Welfare.
Fostering a socially and environmentally sound approach
to doing business also makes good business sense, as
our experience is that driving improvements in these
areas enhances performance across the board.
We continue to receive and grade ethical audits of
suppliers’ factories, an activity that is supported by our
Code of Conduct Guidebook. This year we have
set even stricter targets on audit grading, targeting
out-of-date and orange audits, working towards achieving
all factories operating with a green or yellow rating.
Working with other stakeholders continues to be an
essential component of this pillar. Our joint endeavours
with other retailers pool expertise and resources. Non-
governmental organisations (NGOs) and consultants
also play a role in our efforts.
There are a number of policies and guidelines relevant to
this key pillar, several of which are referred to throughout
this section.
ETHICAL TRADINGOur ethical trading work is wide ranging, multi-layered
and involves many different stakeholders. We have a
number of areas of activity which have seen progress
this year.
1. Ethical Audit Programme
2. Country Risk Assessments
3. RAGS – the Responsible and Accountable Garment
Sector Project
4. Joint Turkey Project
5. Strategic Labour Priorities
6. Code of Conduct Guidebook
7. Management Systems
8. Sumangali
9. Prohibited Activities
1. ETHIcAL AUDIT PROGRAMMEWe do not own or operate factories and Arcadia Group
is rarely dominant in an individual factory. We have
strong working relationships with our network of
international suppliers, 51% of which have been with us
for three years or more. Arcadia goods are manufactured
in approximately 1,040 factories through 700 suppliers.
The top 20 suppliers provide 44% of our goods.
This year Arcadia products were made in 44 countries
worldwide, although our top ten sourcing countries
accounted for 91% and the top five for 73% of the goods
we sold. These top five countries remain as China,
Turkey, Romania, Mauritius and India. Our support of UK
manufacturing continues with 54 factories producing our
goods.
In terms of the BHS supply chain, the departments work
with approximately 520 suppliers, and the top 20 supply
35% of their goods.
This year BHS products were made in a similar number
of countries to Arcadia and the top five accounted for
75% of the goods sold. These countries were China, UK,
Bangladesh, India and Vietnam.
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Under our ethical audit programme our brands must submit a third-party factory ethical audit (see audit process below) no older than a year to receive a grading for a new factory set-up. In order to help reduce audit fatigue we accept audit reports from the majority of recognised audit bodies as long as they are independent and non-modifiable.
We grade these audits on a scale of red, orange, yellow and green. If the audit is graded red, we will not allow the brand to use this factory until the issues have been resolved, irrespective of whether it is a new or current factory. ‘Red flags’ include serious breaches of our Code of Conduct and local laws, such as non-payment of minimum wage or locked fire exits.
We anticipate that our Code of Conduct Guidebook will continue to be useful in accelerating the resolution of
problems identified during audits. Last year we introduced
a new monthly update of audit statistics, which is sent to
Brand and Buying Directors. The report continues to
focus on out-of-date audits and orange audits as well as
the proportion graded green.
This year we increased our targets to work towards
fewer factories with out-of-date audits and 100% of our
factories operating with a green or yellow rating. At the
year-end, 80% of our factories were graded green or
yellow and next year we need to do more to target
orange grades.
Overall this year we reviewed 1,124 ethical audits for all
brands except BHS (see BHS update below), which is a
similar number to last year and affects approximately
286,000 workers.
Since our current audit programme began in 2007, of
the audit reports and evidence reviewed, 1,420, or
approximately 30% were follow-up audits. Of those
40% improved, 41% stayed the same and a further 19%
deteriorated (in which case we expect the supplier to
progress their corrective action plan).
Overall this year for BHS we reviewed 1,814 ethical
audits. Of those, 430 were follow-up audits. 32%
improved, 39% stayed the same and 29% deteriorated
in which case we work with the supplier to progress their
corrective action plan.
Although this work is the foundation of our ethical trading
programme, we acknowledge that this is not enough to
drive long-term change. This is why we work on the
projects outlined below.
We have also begun to introduce a new ethical audit
database called Valid8, developed to give us much
tighter control over out-of-date audits and easier
management of non-compliance closure, evidence
review and feedback for suppliers and factories.
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People sitting around table having a meeting
Some documents
Factory
Interview
People sitting around table having a meeting
Some documents
Factory
Interview
People sitting around table having a meeting
Some documents
Factory
Interview
People sitting around table having a meeting
Some documents
Factory
Interview
People sitting around table having a meeting
Some documents
Factory
Interview
OPENING MEETINGIntroduction with management and worker
representatives to explain the audit aims and process
FAcILITY TOURAll buildings, including dormitories if relevant,
are visited
DOcUMENT REVIEWThis includes legal requirements,
working hours, conditions and wages
EMPLOYEE INTERVIEWSWorkers are selected by the auditors and interviews are
carried out in private both in groups and individually
cLOSING MEETINGFindings and requirements are presented and
timescales for improvements are agreed
REMEDIATIONArcadia grades the audit, ensures the follow up audit
timings are acceptable and provides support to close off non-compliances
ETHICAl AUDIT PrOCESS
Valid8 improves efficiencies via:
• online factory set-up;
• automatic triggering and grading of audits;
• continuous validation of suppliers and factories;
• live reporting; and
• instant communication with suppliers.
The database is now in use centrally with the ethical
trading team and will be rolled out gradually to each
brand and their suppliers.
2. cOUNTRY RISK ASSESSMENTSThere have been some terrible reminders over the last 12
months that some countries continue to present a higher
risk than others in the sphere of ethical trading.
We were deeply saddened by the events suffered by
garment workers in Bangladesh over the last year, first
with the fire in November 2012 and then by the building
collapse in April 2013. We signed the Accord on Fire
and Building Safety in Bangladesh in September 2013
and take this commitment very seriously. We will continue
to work locally to help bring greater protection for textile
workers there.
Two senior members of the Ethical Trading team visited
Bangladesh again in June as part of standard ethical
trading factory visits. However, this provided us with an
opportunity to underline efforts already in progress to
work with factories on building stability and fire safety.
Although there are ongoing challenges around getting
the right expertise there and ensuring the validation of
paperwork, we have visited some factories accompanied
by a civil engineer to review structural safety.
We recognise the benefits of joint efforts and so we are
working with other retailers on joint information and
encouragement of factories to improve.
While Bangladesh is not a dominant sourcing location
for our brands, we have once again reviewed our
Bangladesh supplier and factory set-up process, which
we last revisited in 2010. A new four-point plan involves
even stricter set-up criteria to add the supplier or factory
to our roster. All factories must meet these new criteria.
As terrible as the Bangladesh tragedies have been, we remain mindful of the need to carefully prioritise, monitor and respond to issues in all sourcing countries.
3. RAGS
This year saw the completion of both phases of the Benefits for Business and Workers (BBW) project, part of the Responsible and Accountable Garment Sector (RAGS) Challenge Fund, set up by the Department for International Development (DFID), the UK agency for international aid.
Arcadia was one of six initial retailers (others were Marks & Spencer, Mothercare, New Look, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, subsequently joined by Ralph Lauren and Varner Group), that part-funded the project, which focused on improving the management systems of garment manufacturers and ‘for responsible and ethical production to become the norm in the garment manufacturing sector supplying the UK’.
Led by industry consultants Impactt, the aim was to improve the business practices of garment manufacturers as well as the day-to-day lives of their workers.
Working with factories in Bangladesh and India, the project aimed to demonstrate the business benefits of providing better jobs through:
• establishing a more stable and satisfied workforce;
• enhancing workers’ pay;
• avoiding excessive hours worked; and
• improving productivity and quality in the longer term.
73 factories took part in the programme including nine Arcadia Group factories and the results have been promising, benefitting over 106,000 workers. While there was wide variation in the pace at which factories adopted the new approaches, those where there were both high levels of buy-in from business owners and stable industrial engineering saw the greatest benefits.
Bangladesh results:
• efficiency improved by 18%;
• cut to ship ratio improved, meaning that factories saved £40,000 during the 6 month course, a return on their initial investment (ROI) of over 21;
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• worker absenteeism reduced by 34% on average, indicating that workers were more motivated to come to work each day;
• worker turnover reduced on average across all factories by 52%. This means that fewer than half the number of workers were leaving every month than at the start of the programme;
• overall, factories saw an increase in average take-home pay of 491 taka per month or 8% - equivalent to an increase in annual pay of £3.4 million across the workers employed by participating factories;
• workers’ quality of life was also improved by significant reductions in working hours, with the percentage of workers working more than 60 hours per week falling by 43%; and
• factories performed strongly on hourly pay, increasing this by 12% against a target of 5%.
India results:
• efficiency improved by 26%;
• cut to ship ratio improved enabling Indian factories to realise £25,000 of savings, a 6-month ROI of 13;
• absenteeism reduced by 27%;
• worker turnover was down by 26%;
• average take-home pay increased by 265 rupees or 5%. This would be equivalent to an increase in annual pay of £614,000 across all the workers employed by participating factories; and
• factories also performed well on hourly pay, increasing this by 8%.
Participants told us:
“On the first day, I was thinking why do I, a production
planning manager, need to attend an HR module?
After attending I realize this is very important for
production people to understand workers and their
feelings. I learn how to talk to them and what makes
them worried and what helps them to do quality work.
Listening to others and working as a team is very
important.” Production Manager.
“I feel lots of change in this factory in the last six months
– there is less absenteeism, because of the attendance
bonus. I am saving the extra money for my daughter’s
future and using it for buying new things for the house.
It is helping me through all my life.” Pilot line worker.
The tools and learnings from this project are now ours
to share with factories and we intend to put these to
good use.
4. JOINT TURKEY PROJEcTTOPSHOP and TOPMAN’s Assessment, Remediation, and
Capacity building (ARC) programme is designed to move
beyond the traditional auditing model while achieving
compliance with retailers’ codes of compliance. It seeks to
empower factory owners, managers and workers to create
a fair working environment while reducing audit fatigue
(repeated auditing of factories by numerous brands and
retailers).
Last year we established a collaborative project called the
Joint Turkey Project (JTP) with two other major high street
retailers. Together we share the common goals of establishing
mature systems of industrial relations and building the
factories’ productivity to support a wage ladder.
This inaugural phase included training for worker
representatives, enabling them to lead participatory
discussions with all workers.
Scoping work has taken place among the three partners
– to shape the programme and define key performance
indicators as well as baseline assessments in these
core areas.
The three partners define the JTP as follows:
‘To develop and implement a strategic and holistic
programme that will improve factory productivity,
workers’ conditions, working hours, earnings and
worker management dialogue. This will utilise proven
processes of communication, training and industrial
and other forms of engineering. The programme will
benefit the workers, suppliers, factories, and retailers.’
Guiding KPIs have been identified to support effective
worker/management dialogue, enhanced productivity
and effective management systems.
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A four-strong team seconded from the three partners has
been established on the ground to run the project day-to-
day. They have already completed baseline assessments
on HR management systems in all three factories.
External stakeholders have also been put in place this
year and the programme is working alongside the
Geneva-based global union IndustriALL, its partner
Accademic and Turkish non-Governmental organisation
Social Development and Gender Equality Center
(SOGEP). This group has completed worker/
management dialogue baseline assessments and
the election of worker representatives began during
August 2013.
The third phase of the programme is productivity and
efficiency. An industrial engineering partner, REFA has
been appointed and brings considerable expertise in
this area and will deliver training to employees and
senior management in factories.
Meanwhile, a half way programme review will also be
held in September 2013 to measure success and gather
learnings from the project to date.
5. STRATEGIc LABOUR PRIORITIESa. Living wage
b. Freedom of association
c. Purchasing practices
d. Vulnerable workers
a) LIVING WAGE
Our major focus in this area over the last year has been
as part of RAGS (see above). Our overall position on the
living wage has not changed. Arcadia supports the
position that all workers in our supply chain, including
piece rate, subcontracted, informal, home and migrant
workers, should always receive sufficient wages to meet
their needs for nutritious food, clean water and other
needs (shelter, transport etc) as well as a discretionary
income, which is now a generally well accepted
definition of a living wage.
The work of campaigning groups such as Labour Behind
the Label (LBL) and the Asia Floor Wage Campaign
influence our activities. Indeed, TOPSHOP and
TOPMAN’s JTP (see above) has been developed around
LBL’s four pillars: collaboration; worker organising and
freedom of association; purchasing practices and
developing a route map to a living wage.
There is no universal definition of a living wage and there
are many practical difficulties to agreeing and
implementing a living wage, which are common to all
retailers. We believe the most effective solution would be
for governments to increase the minimum wage, which
would create a level playing field for all parties. Despite
this, we have been pleased at the impact the RAGS
project made in general to wages. We are keen to work
with other retailers to use these learnings to encourage
other factories to implement the techniques which worked
and which can make a difference to workers’ wages.
b) FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION
We believe worker representation and dialogue with
management is fundamental to empowering workers to
improve their working conditions and wages.
Ensuring freedom of association is guaranteed continues
to be a significant challenge, with a small percentage of
the factories our suppliers use known to have trade
union presence.
However, we continue to communicate with suppliers
and factories about the benefits of freedom of association
and as a minimum we expect our suppliers to ensure that
factories give workers the right to organise.
We have produced a ‘Right to Organise Guarantee’
(RTO) template, drafted with the help of the International
Textiles Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation
(ITGLWF), now IndustriALL. This is included in our Code
of Conduct Guidebook (Part 4, pages 258-9:
www.arcadiagroup.co.uk/fashionfootprint/code-of-
conduct-and-guidebook/Guidebook-part-4.pdf)
This year we have had the RTO translated into Bangla,
Hindi, Romanian, Turkish and Urdu, to add to our Chinese
version, and have sent these to all relevant suppliers.
These are also made available on our website and the
extranet that we use to communicate with suppliers.
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We have asked suppliers for the RTO to be posted on
notice boards, explained and given to all workers twice
yearly with a pay slip. When visiting factories we request
to see this and when speaking with workers we ask them
if they have had this guarantee communicated to them.
Freedom of Association is an important part of worker/
management communications within the HR
Management Systems Portfolio we have produced (see
our section on Management Systems) and of the Joint
Turkey Project (see above).
c) PURCHASING PRACTICES
We believe that by improving the way we design and
buy goods and by raising awareness amongst our teams
of the potential effects on factory workers, we can have
a positive impact on how suppliers’ factories manage
their people, their production and their working
environments.
An important element in this area is the development of
training for all appropriate staff (everyone in design,
buying and merchandising). Last year we had started this
training and had hoped to finalise it by the end of 2012.
We did not meet this target and the project has been
delayed further this year by other projects.
However, the training has been updated recently to
include new buying procedures and new policies such
as that relating to Bangladesh. We have also been in
discussion with a key supplier across a number of product
lines and brands who would be willing to trial a joint
project to better understand our buying impacts from a
supplier perspective and, as such, we expect to refresh
this training in the coming year.
d) VULNERABLE WORKERS
Our work in this area comprises:
(i) home workers;
(ii) migrant workers; and
(iii) contract workers.
(i) Home workers
Home working involves carrying out tasks on products at
home. When managed properly this provides a way for
individuals to balance their work and home life and we
support factories that provide this option.
However, the lack of visibility of home workers, combined
with their complicated employment status, has made them
a vulnerable worker group. This is why we have been
working on improving our understanding of the incidence
of, and conditions for, home workers in our supply chain.
This year TOPSHOP and TOPMAN continued work on
engaging with home workers by establishing guidelines
and a toolkit. We have, however, faced challenges with
the implementation and use of the toolkit. It has been
particularly difficult to ensure engagement of middle
management within the factories where the processes
and procedures have been introduced.
In response, we have scaled back the scope of the
project. By limiting our work to two suppliers, we hope to
make it more manageable and focused so that the
benefits can be assessed more effectively.
Regular feedback from contractors in this area has
enabled us to focus on:
• encouraging contractors to work with an NGO,
raising awareness of the importance of using the
toolkit and ensuring home workers are paid correctly
and on time;
• raising awareness with the contractors and home
workers of membership schemes providing access to
free medicine and advice on general health and
hygiene; and
• raising awareness of the value of passbooks and
purchase orders to home workers when dealing with
contractors and factories.
In order to gain transparency on wages for home workers
we have selected limited locations and suppliers. We
hope this will help us gain traction and start to drive
change and improve conditions for home workers.
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(ii) Migrant Workers
In recent years Arcadia Group has been active in the area of improving the recruitment and working conditions of migrant workers who travel from one country to another for employment. This migration is generally beneficial but the people involved can be in a vulnerable situation, and can be exploited by unscrupulous agents, for example.
This is why we developed our Migrant Workers’ Guidelines which are available in Part 4 of our Code of Conduct Guidebook (www.arcadiagroup.co.uk/fashionfootprint/code-of-conduct-andguidebook/ Guidebook-part-4.pdf).
This year, we will be going back to those suppliers to verify that the best practice standards remain in place, what challenges remain and what further work we need to do to in the recruitment process as this is the first key step that migrant workers take.
iii) Contract Workers
TOPSHOP and TOPMAN’s work in the area of contract workers continues in partnership with two other high street retailers. We feel the work carried out to date has provided us with valuable awareness of the priorities and the challenges faced by contract workers.
We have learnt about the recruiting practices used by factories and contractors and by working with both parties we have been able to establish the root cause behind those practices and the resultant problems. The output is a set of guiding principles on recruitment practices.
We have pinpointed a small number of factories with which to work on implementing the guiding principles and raising awareness of the business case for factories to hire employees directly and not on contracts.
6. cODE OF cONDUcT GUIDEBOOKOur Code of Conduct Guidebook extends practical guidance to suppliers and factories on how to improve labour standards based on our Code of Conduct.
Key suppliers producing in the UK and China have been issued with a copy in either English and/or Chinese. We had planned to extend the different language versions to
include Hindi, however, while this is still something we would like to do, it has not been possible this year.
This year we have taken the decision to review Part 3 of the Guidebook: ‘Health & Safety and the Environment’. We have shared its contents with external experts in order to conduct a review of our position on fire safety.
Our Code of Conduct Guidebook can be found at: www.arcadiagroup.co.uk/fashionfootprint/code-of-conduct-and-guidebook
7. MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS We continue to build on our Code of Conduct Guidebook by further developing Part Four: Human Resources Management Systems. Last year we expanded this to cover all areas of traditional and strategic Human Resources Management Systems.
This involves:
1. The link between worker engagement and a successful business;
2. How to reach these benefits;
3. The role of the HR department; and
4. Examples and templates of practical tools and how to implement them.
Management systems are often in place for production but can be inadequate for areas such as employment and worker welfare. A simple example is a proper contract for employees. Part Four of the Guidebook includes examples of practical tools such as training slides and trainer notes, policy statements and template contracts and handbooks, so that factories can use these as a guide to creating their own versions.
Underpinning all areas are the following fundamental drivers of worker engagement, which all organisations should develop:
1. leadership that clearly transmits vision and values – this means being transparent and including workers in leadership’s goals;
2. ‘engaging managers’, i.e. managers who facilitate and empower rather than control and restrict their staff, showing appreciation, respect and commitment to developing and rewarding capabilities;
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3. workers voices: an effective way for workers to
voice their views and concerns; and
4. behaviour throughout the organisation that is consistent
with stated values leading to trust and integrity. The
Portfolio has been written and tested in two factories
(one in Bangladesh and one in India). It is now an
extension of Part Four of the Code of Conduct
Guidebook while the templates within it will be used
as part of ARC/Joint Turkey Project (see above).
The Portfolio will be published for all suppliers once
testing within factories has been completed.
8. SUMANGALISumangali schemes involve young female migrant
workers in poor rural areas of Southern India in particular,
who become at risk of exploitation when they take up
residential contracts to work in a garment factory or
cotton mill.
Under a Sumangali scheme workers are attracted by the
prospect of paid work, safe accommodation and a final
lump sum payment (often used to pay for a dowry,
which remains general practice despite being prohibited
in India). NGOs have reported that some of these
schemes involve excessive working hours for minimal
pay, pressure to stay on to the end of the contract period
and withholding of the lump sum payment at the end.
Arcadia was among the international retailers represented
at a conference hosted by the Ethical Trading Initiative
(ETI) in India in March 2012 to discuss these issues with
local communities.
We remain committed to the elimination of such labour
rights abuses despite incidents of these being very
difficult to identify due to them relating more to mills than
garment factories. We have communicated these
expectations to suppliers and expect any workers in our
suppliers’ factories in Southern India or anywhere else, to
apply our Code of Conduct.
9. PROHIBITED AcTIVITIESThere are a number of activities which Arcadia prohibits.
This list includes policies to protect animal welfare, the
sandblasting technique, the use of Uzbek cotton and
mulesing of sheep. All these bans remain in place and
our new ethical audit database (Valid8) will improve our
verification process to ensure that factories comply.
Sandblasting – a process used to give denim a worn or
faded look – was banned in 2011 due to the potential
health hazards faced by workers if they breathe in the
fine silica particles used. Uzbek cotton was banned in
2008 due to concerns about forced and child labour in
Uzbekistan during cotton harvesting. Mulesing refers to a
sheep husbandry practice used in the Australian wool
industry to remove skin from sheep (often without
anaesthetic) to prevent flystrike.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF PRODUCTSWe made a commitment last year to review the
environmental impacts of our key suppliers’ factories. This
project has involved an assessment of the environmental
processes for several key suppliers and action taken in
response to the findings.
Some of the progressive environmental initiatives in place
at our factories include rainwater harvesting for dyeing
processes, dryers equipped with heat recovery units for
energy efficiency and energy-efficient lighting.
Work will continue to advance our suppliers’
environmental credentials as part of a new initiative we
have joined this year. We are one of the early signatories
to the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) 2020
commitment, which aims to improve the UK clothing
industry’s environmental footprint.
SUSTAINABLE cLOTHING AcTION PLAN SCAP’s ambition is to improve the sustainability of
clothing across its lifecycle. It will bring together the
clothing industry, government and other stakeholders to
take action to reduce the carbon, water and waste
footprint, along with providing support, tools
and guidance.
SCAP’s 2020 commitment will see us measure and
reduce our overall carbon, water and waste footprints
across all our brands. Using SCAP’s footprint calculator,
we will measure and report the total impacts of the
clothes we sell in the UK on an annual basis.
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Signatories are committed to playing their part in reducing
their UK carbon, water and waste footprints via a seven-
point action plan:
1. Use a common assessment tool to measure baseline
position and track changes in footprint over time.
2. Reduce the environmental footprint of clothing
through fibre and fabric selection.
3. Over the longer term, work with supply chain
partners to reduce the environmental footprint of
their processes.
4. Extend the useful life of clothes and reduce the
environmental impact of clothing in use through
product design and services.
5. Develop effective messaging to influence consumer
behaviours, which will reduce the environmental
footprint of clothing.
6. Increase re-use and recycling to recover maximum
value from used clothing.
7. Develop actions that help keep clothes out of landfill.
cARE LABELLINGWe continue to extend our advice to customers to wash
at lower temperatures. Washing clothing at lower
temperatures can save up to 40% of the energy used to
heat water. All our brands are working to influence our
customers’ wash care habits. For example, last year,
90% of BHS womenswear garments featured the
wording, ‘save energy, wash at 30 degrees’. Only 1%
of BHS womenswear clothes are dry clean only and
include the messaging ‘be green when you dry clean’.
For Dorothy Perkins 94% of garments carry ‘wash at 30
degrees’ labelling and only 3.5% of garments are dry
clean only. Wallis continues to promote the ‘Green Earth’
option for all dry clean only garments, rather than the
traditional ‘perc’ (perchloroethylene) process.
PAcKAGINGOur packaging standards for suppliers have been in
place for a number of years and they already save the
business approximately 500 tonnes of excess packaging
a year. This year we have not been able to roll this out
to BHS as much as we would have liked and we will
need to review the best way to achieve some
quick wins.
This year we have extended a cardboard carton re-use
process at three of our distribution centres. This involves
re-using cartons from suppliers to send stock to our
franchise partners overseas, instead of recycling them.
We estimate this will save approximately 300,000
cartons per year.
SUSTAINSustain is TOPSHOP’s initiative that aims to deliver
sustainability into the brand’s ranges via a mix of local
sourcing, reclamation and environmentally friendly
processes.
Now into their third year, these projects continue to grow
and provide valuable insight into the appetite for and
challenges of creating products that reduce environmental
impact and waste, support communities in need and
raise awareness of sustainability.
reclaim to Wear, our range of up-cycled clothing
(created from fabric that would otherwise be treated as
waste) continues to grow, both in terms of scale and
worldwide availability.
Following on from last year’s introduction of the range in
partnership with From Somewhere, summer 2013 saw
the launch of a second collection as part of the unveiling
of TOPSHOP’s new flagship store in Hong Kong. Similar
launches followed in the brand’s global flagships,
marking its extension beyond the online-only sales
channel.
The second range offers an increased selection of styles
and has also been produced in greater volumes,
reflecting demand identified when last year’s collection
sold out in a matter of days.
The range has been entirely produced in the UK and a
great deal of the fabric used was garnered from previous
TOPSHOP Unique collections.
Customer response has, once again, been hugely
enthusiastic, encouraging us to further develop the range
and tap into the growing profile of upcycling. Plans are
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already in place for another full-scale collection for spring/summer 2014.
Our ‘Made in the UK’ project goes from strength to strength, reflecting a wider trend of sourcing some products closer to home.
We are developing significant UK sourcing for outerwear and jersey and in particular for our TOPSHOP Boutique range. This brings commercial benefits as it helps us to react to trends much faster and improve sustainability as we have greater insights into the product’s provenance.
We continue to work with Izzy Lane, with a new coat collection planned for autumn/winter 2013, made from the wool she produces on her farm in Yorkshire, from sheep rescued from slaughterhouses.
ANIMAL WELFAREAll our suppliers are required to sign up to our animal welfare declaration as part of their factory set up. Our internet-based test report system automatically reminds suppliers of our animal welfare policy when they are asked to supply goods made from animal sources. In addition, further confirmations will be put in place by our new ethical audit database (Valid8). This will include reinforcing our ban on wool from producers that use mulesing as part of their animal husbandry techniques.
Our existing policy also states that Arcadia Group expects suppliers to adhere to the following sourcing standards:
• leathers, skins and feathers must only be obtained as a by-product and not be the sole purpose of the slaughter of an animal;
• no products in full or part are to be sourced from endangered species from the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) or IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) lists;
• real fur or pelts are not to be used on any products supplied to Arcadia Group;
• leathers should not be obtained while an animal is alive;
• feathers should not be plucked from live animals; and
• Arcadia Group branded cosmetics, and their ingredients, must not be tested on animals.
TOPSHOP provided a clear public reminder of our
position on the use of exotic animal skins this year when
it teamed up with animal rights group PETA (People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to launch a campaigning
window in the Oxford Circus flagship store.
Urging customers to ‘Keep Wildlife out of your Wardrobe’
by signing a PETA pledge, the window display reinforced
the message that exotic animal skins such as crocodile,
python and lizard are often gathered using painful and
unethical methods.
cHALLENGES
Understandably, the arena of ethical trading has been
dominated this year by the shocking events in Bangladesh
with one of the worst factory fires followed by yet more
loss of life when a factory building collapsed.
While our sourcing from the country sits outside our top
sourcing locations, we have recognised the need to
draw together with our buyers, suppliers and other
retailers to step up our commitment to tackling the issues
on the ground.
Having considered seriously the proposals of the Accord
on Fire and Building Safety, we have signed the
agreement as the best opportunity to work with others to
progress safety for Bangladeshi workers. However, that
will only be achieved with the input of the Bangladeshi
government. Without their commitment and support there
is a risk that all our efforts may fail to achieve traction and
improve the day-to-day lives of garment workers there.
NEXT STEPSEthical Trading • Continue to progress our ethical audit programme
for the Group including BHS and increase business through green graded, in-date factories.
• Work to ensure our criteria for Bangladesh is met by all factories and suppliers.
• Review the lessons learnt from the RAGS project and maintain momentum with the Arcadia factories involved.
• Carry out the third phase of the Joint Turkey Project with our industrial engineering partner.
• Trial a joint project with a key supplier and brand to understand our buying impacts and refresh our purchasing practices training.
• Progress our work with suppliers on adopting the home worker guidelines and toolkit.
• Roll out the contract labour guidelines after testing the guiding principles with key suppliers.
• Publish the Management Systems Portfolio online after feedback from the Joint Turkey Project.
Environmental Impacts of Products• Continue to reduce our carbon, water and waste
footprint through participation in the SCAP programme.
• Create a Reclaim to Wear collection for spring/summer 2014.
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A key part of being a responsible retailer is to minimise
our environmental impacts in the areas of energy, waste and transport.
OUR ENVIRONMENT
A key part of being a responsible retailer is to minimise our environmental impacts. In the
process of bringing our goods to market we need to be
mindful of the potential impacts our business can have.
Once made, our products need to be transported, sold in
stores that require lighting and a comfortable environment,
all of which is supported by our teams in our head offices.
In this section we focus specifically on energy, waste
and transport. Our working groups in these areas liaise
internally with Property, Purchasing and Logistics and
with external consultants who assist us with tracking
progress against our targets.
Our long-term commitments continue to be to:
• lower our energy consumption (and reduce CO2
emissions);
• identify waste streams and work to reduce these;
• reduce our consumption of other valuable resources
such as water; and
• transport our products while reducing impact on the
environment.
Since the launch of Fashion Footprint we have been
committed to making improvements in all these areas.
Our initiatives are moving into a more mature phase and
outputs have become incremental rather than substantial.
For the fifth consecutive year we have managed to
reduce our absolute CO2 emissions, bringing our total
CO2 saved since 2008 to over 24,000 tonnes.
This is equivalent to taking approximately 120,000 cars
off the road for a year!
Work has now started on a major two-year refurbishment
of our central London head office, Colegrave House. It
will be the first fundamental upgrading of the building in
more than 30 years and will deliver a 21st century, state-of-the-art workplace.
In every sense of the word, the work will see the building transformed. We are optimistic that we can achieve a rating of ‘very good’ from BREEAM, the world’s leading design and assessment tool for sustainable buildings. If achieved, this would be the highest accolade we could hope to secure for a building of this age.
All aspects of the building are being designed to best practice standards, including energy efficiency, smart metering, lighting, heating and air-conditioning. A modern building management system will allow us remote access to control some functions such as heating and air-conditioning.
New external cladding and roof insulation will be installed and all fixtures and fittings such as carpets, timber products and bathroom ceramics will be sourced sustainably. Water consumption will be addressed via dual flush toilets and we will take full control of the building’s waste management to ensure recycling is maximised. Use of cycles by staff will be encouraged with enhanced storage areas and showers.
Our performance during the refurbishment is also front-of-mind. So far we have been able to re-use hundreds of chairs and workstations, our contractors will be part of the considerate building scheme and we intend to monitor our energy consumption throughout the project.
cARBON TRUST Last year we reported that we had achieved the Carbon Trust Standard. This means that we have been recognised by a third party for our efforts in reducing carbon emissions and for our commitment to further these reductions. The Carbon Trust Standard is widely considered as the world’s leading certifier of organisational carbon footprint reduction.
To achieve the Carbon Trust Standard, Arcadia had to:
1. Provide an accurate footprint measurement including all required emission sources;
2. Demonstrate an absolute reduction of footprint or equivalent relative efficiency improvement; and
Tonnes of CO² emissions saved through energy reductions since 2008
2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
10,720 3,091 2,257 3,054 5,018
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3. Demonstrate good carbon management including governance, accounting, reduction methods and targets.
This year we have continued to focus on these key areas of environmental impacts and we are keen to improve this even further.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CO2 EMISSIONSAlthough our total combined energy usage (electricity and gas) has slightly increased, we have achieved our target to further reduce CO2 emissions by 3% this year. While we achieved our reduction targets on electricity with a 4% reduction, our gas consumption has increased by 29% compared to last year.
Much of this increase in gas consumption can be put down to the extremes of weather experienced this year. Another cold and very prolonged winter, followed by an unseasonably chilly spring and then a summer heatwave has required us to increase the heating and cooling of our stores in turn. Clearly customer comfort is of utmost importance to us so it is a compromise we have felt compelled to make.
Our reduced electricity consumption continues to be supported by our plans to replace less efficient lamps in our store lighting systems with energy efficient LED replacements.
We achieved our goal this year to replace the lighting along the escalators at our TOPSHOP Oxford Circus flagship store and to convert all incandescent lamps to LEDs in BHS lighting departments.
TOPSHOP Oxford Circus has illuminated graphics next to the main bank of escalators that were lit by 35-watt ceramic metal halide (CMH) lamps that lasted on average less than 12 months each. Their LED replacements run at 26 watts and have an average lamp life of five years. This project alone has saved 31 tonnes of CO2 this year and over the course of five years will save approximately 155 tonnes of CO2.
Before joining the Fashion Footprint programme, BHS lighting departments had been using a wide range of energy inefficient lamps. Our project to convert the majority to LEDs this year has been successful with 71,500 lamps
replaced resulting in a CO2 saving of 307 tonnes.
We continue to review energy providers and switch to
renewable sources wherever possible. Last year 71% of
our energy across stores, head offices and distribution
centres was provided from renewables. This year we
have increased that position to 94%, working with UK-
based Smartest and Dublin-based Energia in Ireland.
The remaining 6% is made up of stores based in Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
As outlined in last year’s report, we identified an
aspiration to convert heaters in some of our stores that
currently use diesel oil to more efficient gas-fuelled
heaters. We have undertaken detailed surveys of these
stores this year but have taken the difficult decision not to
progress further due to the prohibitive costs required in
excavation, pipework and soil removal.
Our plan to replace our existing store IT systems with a
much more energy efficient centrally hosted infrastructure
was completed and has driven further energy savings of
over 306,000 kWh on an annualised basis. As part of
the roll out of the new Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS)
system, we also replaced over 4,000 tills with more
energy efficient models.
We continue to encourage our head office teams to use
video conferencing (VC) facilities and last year invested
in increased facilities to save on both domestic and
international travel. We have ensured that there will be
purpose built VC rooms as part of the head office
refurbishment programme.
RECYCLING AND WASTEWhile we have embarked on the refurbishment of our
London head office at Colegrave House, we are also
exploring improvements that can be implemented ahead
of, or alongside, the project. As part of this programme
we are taking the opportunity to review the use of paper
across the business. All printers that are capable of
printing double-sided have been made to do so by
default and relocated to areas where the most printing is
done. As each floor is refurbished in Colegrave House
we will look to replace desk-side printers and copiers
with networked multi-functional devices.
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Overall we anticipate that we will replace 270 desk-side
and small departmental printers, scanners and copiers
with 45 multi-functional devices.
A further reduction in paper usage will come about
through the roll out of Microsoft Office 365, in which
users are presented with an accurate print preview of
their reports before they commit them to a physical
printer. In pilot, this has shown a marked reduction in the
number of incorrectly formatted prints. The roll out of
Office 365 started in our financial year 2012/13 and
will complete in 2013/14.
We continue to make progress in the amount of waste
we recycle via our stores network. This year we achieved
our goal of increasing our total recycling rate by 3%,
taking our overall recycling rate to 85%.
In total, this year our offices have recycled 11,000
tonnes of waste out of a total of 13,000 tonnes
produced.
For stores in shopping centres, waste management is the
responsibility of the centre’s landlord. While this year we
had planned to continue to press for improved recycling
in these locations, little progress has been achieved and
we plan to pursue this again next year focusing on key
landlords.
We have engaged a leading oil recycling company to
recycle our used cooking oil across the BHS estate. Last
year alone we recycled 69,000 litres of used oil; this
has saved 123 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of
removing 629 Ford Fiestas from the road for a year.
Last year, 78 of our BHS stores recycled their food
waste; a total of 735 tonnes were diverted from landfill
and used to generate electricity through anaerobic
digestion. This has resulted in a total of 324,000 kWh
generated.
HANGERSLast year 33 million hangers were recycled across the
group. We have had a system in place to re-use hangers
up to seven times before they are broken down and
recycled.
cARRIER BAGS
We have seen an 11% reduction in the use of plastic
bags and have scaled down next year’s carrier bag
order accordingly. Paper bags usage has also reduced
this year by 35%.
TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICSThe movement of our products is an area that has seen
transformative plans put in place this year. Wherever
possible, we seek to minimise the impacts of transporting
products – especially as our global reach as a retailer
continues to grow.
We have a long-term aspiration in place to establish
international hubs that will support our global network
of stores.
The scoping work has taken place for new merchandising
software, a warehouse management system and supply
chain solutions that will enable the development of a
global network of hubs to optimise the efficient movement
of goods from their place of production to the point of sale.
We currently have two facilities in the USA - a warehouse
on the east coast to support our TOPSHOP and
TOPMAN stores in New York and Chicago and one on
the west coast supporting stores in Los Angeles and Las
Vegas.
New systems go hand-in-hand with developing the
functionality carried out in our USA warehouses,
including the ability to export goods.
In the longer-term, developing this network of international
hubs will reduce the miles travelled by our products, with
goods going direct to our partners, resulting in much
reduced freighting. Alongside these initiatives we
continue to examine taking trucks off the road from
continental Europe by moving product via more emission-
friendly ferry and rail links.
Meanwhile, back in the UK further improvements have
been achieved through the delivery of plans to update
our vehicle fleet, further consolidation of routes and
adherence to industry best practice.
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UK Distribution Network
BELLSHILLOUTBASE
ISLE OFMAN
NORTHERNIRELAND
EIRE
DUBLIN
BELFAST
EBBW VALEOUTBASE
AVONMOUTH OUTBASE
EXETEROUTBASE
CHANNELISLANDS
ISLE OF WIGHT
WOODLEY OUTBASE
THETFORDOUTBASE
EARLESTOWNOUTBASE
BILLINGHAMOUTBASE
BARKINGOUTBASE
TILBURYOUTBASE
HOLYHEAD
LEEDSDC
BELLSHILLOUTBASEOUTBASEOUTBASEOUTBASE
HOLYHEAD
MILTON KEYNES DC
ATHERSTONE DC
MONKSPATHDC
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Last year we pledged to increase the use of double
decked trailers on high volume routes, further consolidate
our network and reduce our CO2 emissions by 5%. All
of these targets have been achieved and we are on
track to replace our fleet in early 2014 to meet the latest
Euro 5 emissions standard.
This year we reduced our transport CO2 emissions by
5.4%. This is the sixth year in a row that we have
achieved such reductions.
2007-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13
10% 7% 5% 5% 10% 5%
During the year we received approval to complete the
replacement of our store delivery fleet. A pilot of six new
trucks bought in early 2012 to comply with the new London
Emission Zone indicated that there were benefits to be
gained, which encouraged us to roll out the new fleet.
We anticipate that all our fleet will be replaced by early
January 2014, slightly later than originally planned. By
early in the New Year, we will have 125 vehicles that are
fully ‘Euro 5’ emissions compliant.
In our current position with 82 compliant vehicles, we
have still managed to make good headway on miles
travelled and fuel consumed. This year has seen mileage
reduced by 6%, building on the 9% reduction achieved
last year. Our overall fuel consumption is down by 5%
and, in the first 12 weeks of using the new vehicles, our
like-for-like miles per gallon (MPG) improved by 11%.
Whilst the good weather helped, this is an encouraging
start and supports a target improvement of 5% in
emissions in 2013/14.
We continue to tighten delivery schedules, reducing
frequencies wherever possible and have achieved
further benefits from route consolidation this year.
Driver training using the SAFED (Safe and Fuel Efficient
Driving) programme and the Smith System defensive
driving programme is completely up to date, ensuring our
drivers are competent and considerate road users.
Forward facing cameras are being installed on all
vehicles at the start of January 2014. The video footage
will provide valuable evidence to review accidents and
also assist as a training aid for drivers.
Our efforts in the UK are mirrored by the commitments
made by our third party forwarders and carriers. The
long-term partnerships we have forged in this area
continue to reap benefits. By selecting best-in-class
partners we can be sure that they share our commitments
to reducing environmental impacts and CO2 emissions.
When we consider the relative impacts of the different
methods of moving our products, it is clear that moving
goods by ship has the least impact in terms of emissions
per kilometre travelled.
Transport Method cO2 emissions (grams) per metric
tonne of freight per km
Air 500-950
Road 60-150
Train 30-150
Ship 10-40
Our ocean freight partners are directing major emission-
reduction schemes in their businesses.
Maersk handles a third of our sea freight and made
significant strides in reducing its impact in recent years,
with its CO2 emissions now just a quarter of what they
were five years ago.
Another of our ocean freight partners is NYK (Nippon Yusen
Kaisha) Group. They recycle as much steel as possible and
have signed a three-year contract to plant trees in Japan as
part of a carbon offset programme. NOL (Neptune Orient
Lines), our primary carrier, have recently received the Green
Ships certificate for 14 vessels in its fleet from Singapore’s
Maritime and Port Authority.
Of course, as a fashion business, speed is sometimes
crucial and while we do not plan to use air freight across
our business we need to respond to trends. However,
we assess this need very carefully and air freight
represents just 3% of goods brought into the UK by
weight. Our air freight partner ACS (Allport Cargo
Services) has a number of emission-reduction
programmes and in January of this year won a British
International Freight Association (BIFA) service award for
its international hubs solution.
CHALLENGESWe are disappointed with our position this year on energy
consumption and we will focus on resuming our previously
unbroken track record of year-on-year improvements. That
said, it is impossible to predict short-term weather trends
and we need to keep customer comfort in mind.
We are also mindful that some aspects of this section have
stalled this year. We have made little progress on meeting
with landlords of shopping centres to support our aims to
increase recycling. We hope that increased government
pressure in this area will support our goals and we will
continue to lobby centre management on this issue.
NEXT STEPSEnergy Efficiency• Review upgrading our general store lighting to LEDs
across our Outfit stores and to our BHS stores.
• Carry out a full review of energy consumption in our
four distribution centres to explore saving opportunities
in these energy intensive sites.
• Trial Voltage Optimisation technology in suitable
locations.
• Explore lighting upgrade options in our BHS head
office in Marylebone.
• Optimise our Building Management Systems in
suitable BHS stores to ensure our energy demand is
in line with trading hours and improve comfort levels.
• Stores will pilot hand held till devices with new
software that enables paperless receipts.
• A further 750 PCs will be adapted to be more
energy efficient.
• 130 of our older laptop computers will be replaced
with newer, energy efficient models.
Recycling and waste
• Increase our food recycling.
• Carry out a full waste audit at our TOPSHOP Oxford
Circus flagship store.
• Review backhauling opportunities (optimising space
on all vehicles) in suitable locations.
• Roll out more waterless urinals.
Transport
• Establish the ability to ‘piggyback’ on our existing
logistics network for customers’ ‘click and collect’
online orders, negating the need for couriers.
• Complete the introduction of our new fleet of Euro 5
compliant vehicles.
• Target a further 5% reduction in CO2 emissions in
2014.
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Fashion Footprint is important to our employees and they can provide valuable insights to
shape our activities.
OUR EMPLOYEES
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Not only do we recognise the need to engage our people in support of our
Fashion Footprint programme, we also acknowledge
their expectations of us as their employer to demonstrate
our commitments.
We have taken a number of steps this year to reinforce
the two-way benefits of employee engagement. We
have adopted some of the ideas and recommendations
that have been driven out of the extension of Fashion
Footprint to our retail community, which now includes our
teams at BHS. We have completed an employee
volunteering pilot and put in place steps to take that
forward. We continue to value the feedback from our
Fashion Footprint Advisory Panel.
RETAIL ENGAGEMENTLast year’s widening of the Fashion Footprint programme
to embrace our store-based colleagues has proven to be
a springboard for further activity.
Our initial aims were twofold: to raise awareness of the
role our store community could play in helping us operate
more responsibly and to significantly reduce the
consumption of resources across our retail operations.
A working party hosted a series of meetings with the
retail teams to encourage engagement and identify
some simple goals that would galvanise store efforts. The
outputs were: a mission to reduce stationery consumption
in stores, and to challenge employees to come up with
their own Fashion Footprint pledges.
One year on, and we were pleased to be able to revisit
the teams and update them with our progress.
Stationery orders have reduced significantly and new
order forms have been adopted to focus attention on
business-critical materials. A stationery amnesty was
staged to help run down remaining stocks.
Stores have reduced paper consumption by switching
from printed documents to email briefings for all
operational actions. Any printing that does take place
now defaults to double-sided. This has lead to a
reduction in paper consumption of 18%.
Tickets used to reserve items for customers have been
laminated so they can be re-used and light bulbs that can
be switched to low-energy equivalents have been
identified.
Meanwhile, awareness has been achieved via the
pledge boards our store teams created last year.
Messages have ranged from switching off the lights
wherever possible to supporting local charities.
We recognise that maintaining this momentum requires
commitment, so we are planning a Fashion Footprint
Focus Week at the beginning of 2014. Each store team
will be given a pack of blank recycled stickers that they
can customise with their own messages to be shared
with colleagues.
Stores will bid to win a prize for the best ideas, slogans
and top tips highlighted by their stickers. Competition
winners will support the retail working party, using the
successful ideas to form the basis of future savings and
targets for next year’s programme.
EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERINGThe pilot to introduce an employee-volunteering scheme,
driven by our team at Wallis, is now complete.
Their initial target was to identify and deliver three
volunteering events at partner charities relating to causes
selected by our employees and located within easy
striking distance of our central London head office.
The first project was completed last year with a further
two realised this year. This year’s first event saw
employees help out at Providence Row, a drop-in centre
for the homeless in East London, while the second was a
makeover day for cancer patients at Paul’s Cancer
Support Centre in Battersea, south London.
The events have garnered enthusiastic support from the
team at Wallis head office with over 270 working hours
31
donated and 25% of the head office workforce getting
involved across the three events.
Employees welcomed the chance to become actively
involved in giving back and the charities have benefited
from a transfer of skills, one of the key learnings of the
pilot is the amount of time and resource that organising
these events has absorbed.
This insight has prompted us to seek a brokering partner
who are experts in the field and who can take control of
the organisational challenges. Outsourcing the
arrangement of our employee volunteering in this way
will also enable us to extend the pilot beyond Wallis and
across the rest of the business.
It will also provide the ability to market activities more
effectively internally and it will bring the additional
benefit of making our people’s investments more
measurable in terms of their impact.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENTWe have continued to ensure all new employees in
Buying, Merchandising, Design and Technical Services
attend our Introduction to Ethical Trading training session
at the beginning of their employment. The workshop is
mandatory and is managed by the brands as part of
their induction process. This year over 750 employees
have attended the workshops.
Our senior team members are reminded of their
responsibilities in the area of purchasing practices via our
Leadership Expectations framework.
FASHION FOOTPRINT ADVISORY PANEL (FFAP)The Fashion Footprint Advisory Panel currently has 13
members. The panel meets every two months and was
established as a sounding board, responding and
providing guidance on projects such as the employee-
volunteering pilot driven by Wallis.
The group is well briefed on the priorities supported by employees at head office via the employee surveys carried out in 2010 and again in 2012.
The group has been challenged to provide feedback on what our three-year targets should involve and has proposed the following to be considered by the Fashion Footprint Steering Group (FFSG):
• ensuring we use LED lamps in all new site developments and refurbishments in head office and stores in order to reduce our energy usage and carbon footprint;
• achieving zero waste to landfill from head office and store locations;
• increasing recycling, for example donating redundant store fittings to schools and charities;
• improving distribution of our product, reducing air, ship and road mileage; and
• rolling out employee volunteering across the whole group.
The FFSG will provide feedback on these in the coming months.
Part of the FFAP’s brief will be to take on board the work of the Green Champions. While there was initial enthusiasm for this initiative, as we acknowledged in the last report, maintaining commitment had been a challenge. We believe this work should now sit with the FFAP to ensure there is structure and process in place to drive it forward.
WORKPLACE DIVERSITYWe remain committed to the following policy on diversity:
‘Arcadia Group values the differences that a diverse workforce can bring to the Company and is fully committed to the elimination of unlawful and unfair discrimination in recruitment and in employment. To this end the Company will not discriminate on grounds of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, religion or belief, age, political affiliation, family status, membership of the
32
travelling community or any other relevant factor.Arcadia Group aims to build a culture that is supportive and inclusive, and one that values meritocracy, openness, fairness and transparency. By celebrating and integrating individual strengths, Arcadia Group will maximise efficiency and creativity, put customers first and deliver great customer value.’
Our age and gender statistics illustrate that Arcadia
Group is a young and predominately female organisation,
which is in keeping with the retail sector as a whole.
In our retail stores, 82% of our employees are female
while at head office 72% of the population is female.
In terms of age, 72% of the retail workforce is under 35
while at head office 63% of the workforce is under 35.
The most recent analysis of employee ethnic diversity in
the Arcadia Group was conducted in July 2013. Overall
the analysis indicated a correlation between ethnic
backgrounds of our employees with the ethnic make up
of Great Britain.
Ethnic representation in the workplace
HEALTH AND SAFETYThe health and safety of our employees, contractors and
customers remains a priority. We constantly investigate
and review risk and respond appropriately.
This year we have achieved our targets in all of the four
key areas highlighted in last year’s report. The areas
where we have seen progress are:
• reduce the number of accidents that take place in our
stores;
• review and improve training provided for our
customer care team;
• ensure all health and safety and access requirements
are included in plans for our head office refurbishment;
and
• review and update our Equality Act 2010 training
materials for employees.
Accidents in our stores are down by 13% year-on-year
and we are confident this trend will continue, due to
ongoing and new initiatives to reduce risks.
Summer 2013 saw the launch of a new ‘Consequences’
health and safety film that re-enacts hypothetical but
commonplace accidents in-store as if caught on CCTV,
demonstrating to employees what can happen if they fail
to follow procedures. We plan to use this DVD for all our
refresher training. We are confident that the strong visual
impact will ensure that employees remember the
consequences of failing to follow policies and
procedures.
We created a bespoke health and safety course for our
store design team to help them understand their
responsibilities under the Construction Design and
Management Regulations, the law relating to safe project
management. We are keen to ensure that in creating
exciting new stores, safe design is adopted at the earliest
opportunity.
33
* Based on 2001 figures – full data on ethnicity from 2011 Census not available until end of 2013
** July 2013 analysis of the Arcadia Workforce
Ethnic Group
GB %* Arcadia Retail %**
Arcadia HO %**
Arcadia All %**
White British 85.3% 82.9% 91.0% 87.0%
Irish 1.2% 2.7% 0.5% 1.6%
Other White 5.3% 1.4% 1.9% 1.6%
Mixed race 1.2% 1.7% 1.2% 1.5%
Asian 3.8% 3.0% 2.5% 2.7%
Black 2.0% 3.2% 1.3% 2.3%
chinese and Other Ethnic Groups
1.2% 2.2% 1.0% 1.6%
Prefer not to say
N/A 2.9% 0.6% 1.7%
Whilst no actions have been taken against the group in
regard to incidents relating to legionella, asbestos or
electricity, as a responsible retailer we take potential
major safety issues very seriously so we have put in
place training in these key areas for our teams this year.
In addition, a new system has been put in place to
assess planned designs for shop fixtures for their
suitability. The TOPMAN visual merchandising team is
piloting this new approach, ahead of a planned rollout
across the group.
The end of this reporting year will see the launch of the
first health and safety master class for retail teams whose
store is about to undergo modernisation works. This
training will brief management teams on what to expect,
the risks to look out for, cooperating and coordinating
with contractors, recording documentation and ensuring
compliance. These sessions will prepare managers and
support them through the process, minimising disruption
and reducing accidents.
The department has also provided input into the head
office refurbishment from inception and continues to do
so throughout the construction works.
STORE AND WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITYIt is now eight years since the Disability Discrimination
Act was enacted (now the Equality Act) and as we make
continual improvements to our retail estate, customers’
concerns about store accessibility have reached an all-
time low with just 35 issues referred to our team this year.
This includes BHS, which brings with it the challenges of
trading from larger footprint sites and the added risks
presented by operating in-store restaurants and cafes.
We take all customer concerns seriously. A good
example of this is a fashion blogger for the disabled who
has become a ‘critical friend’ of the business, working
with Dorothy Perkins and providing insight as part of their
focus groups.
CHALLENGESAs our approach to our responsibilities matures, we acknowledge that there should be a similar shift in the way our teams are encouraged to adopt ethical purchasing practices. We are in the process of introducing a new framework for Purchasing Practices training to add to our Introduction to Ethical Trading Training.
NEXT STEPSEmployee Engagement
• Select an employee-volunteering partner and roll out a scheme to other brands.
• Continue to find new opportunities for our retail teams to drive the Fashion Footprint vision.
• Support the Fashion Footprint Advisory Panel and ensure that as much as possible of their action plan is implemented.
• Roll out Purchasing Practices more consistently to the group.
Health and Safety (H&S) and Accessibility
• Drive further improvements in H&S compliance via the rollout of refresher training using the new ‘Consequences’ DVD.
• Roll out the H&S master class for store management teams ahead of retail modernisation projects.
• Trial the use of a compliance app on iPads in large TOPSHOP stores so H&S checks can be monitored remotely.
• Continue to drive down accidents in our stores via in-store assessments by our specialist team.
• Make documentation and procedures accessible to all colleagues, including the fully revised H&S manual and deliver the new fire safety manual.
34
35
Arcadia has a long-held tradition of support for a wide range of
communities. We give back at group level, via our brands and through the
individual efforts of our employees.
OUR COMMUNITIES
36
37
Arcadia has a long-held tradition of close involvement in a wide range of communities
worldwide. Activities range from charity donations made
at group level, work with cause-related partners selected
by each of our brands, through to the individual efforts of
our employees who continue to demonstrate their
appetite to give back to causes that matter to them.
As one of the largest employers within fashion retail, we
want to support causes that benefit those within the
industry. So it is perhaps no surprise that, once again this
year, we have chosen to support young fashion talent.
This is a dual strategy, working in partnership with
education via the Fashion Retail Academy and continuing
to support rising stars via London Fashion Week’s
NEWGEN programme (see below).
Further afield, our new Fashion Footprint charity is making
a difference to the lives of disadvantaged children and
women in India via the educational charity Harmony
House. Read on for more details of our planned work
with this inspiring organisation.
This year we continued to donate returned or surplus
stock to Newlife Trading, a social enterprise which
supports disabled and terminally ill children in the UK.
Newlife Trading ethically recycles or sells de-labelled
goods, returning the profits to their charity foundation.
This year Arcadia Group donated over 20,000 cartons
of stock, which raised £334,000 in total.
Our employees also donate via our Workplace Giving
Scheme; total donations this year were £164,000 with
2,400 employees taking part in the scheme.
This year we reviewed all the sample sales that have
taken place in our Skyline restaurant and we were
delighted to confirm that in total we have raised more
than £1 million from our weekly sales to head office
employees since 2000. The proceeds go to charity and
this year alone we have raised £101,000.
During the year our brands and head office activities
have raised a grand total of £1.5 million. A breakdown
of each brand’s activities can be found on pages 38-40.
FASHION RETAIL ACADEMYOur support of the Fashion Retail Academy (FRA) remains as strong as ever. Opened in 2006, the FRA prepares students for a career in fashion retail, training them in areas such as buying, merchandising, visual merchandising, styling, store management, marketing and PR, retail business and graphic design. The FRA offers a range of courses from entry level, requiring no formal qualifications, to a Foundation Degree in Fashion Retail Management.
Its work as the UK’s first National Skills Academy has proved a resounding success, leading the way in employer engagement. This year the FRA secured 514 student work placements across 110 retail partners, with 83% of these retailers saying they would not hesitate to employ their work placement student.
The biggest event in the Fashion Retail Academy’s calendar is the Awards Ceremony, which celebrates the success of its graduating students each year and 2013 was no exception.
Sir Philip Green, the Academy’s founder, together with Marc Bolland (M&S), Jason Tarry (Tesco) and Christos Angelides (Next) form the principal patrons of the Academy. At the ceremony they joined a host of business leaders to congratulate the 490 students who are now ready to work in the fashion retail industry or to continue their studies. Special guest and singer Rita Ora presented the FRA Commitment Award to Naj Chowdhury for his exceptional work ethic, drive and dedication.
MENTORING YOUNG FASHION TALENT VIA NEWGENFollowing on from last year’s celebrations to mark TOPSHOP’s decade-long sponsorship of young British designers, this year has seen the partnership take an exciting new direction.
Nine NEWGEN designers were selected to receive support to help them showcase their talents as part of the British Fashion Council’s (BFC) London Fashion Week.
38
In addition, TOPSHOP joined forces with the BFC to develop
and broaden its support for the designers’ businesses. To
help this emerging talent to establish strong commercial
platforms, TOPSHOP has supported a programme of
mentoring, seminars and one-to-one workshops. The brand
has also provided the designers with access to its team’s vast
knowledge on all areas of business.
Previous recipients of TOPSHOP’s support have
included Alexander McQueen, Julien Macdonald and
Matthew Williamson.
CHARITIESFASHION FOOTPRINT cHARITY – HARMONY HOUSE, INDIAFollowing on from the success of our three-year
partnership with Indian educational charity Tender Heart,
we have selected the next cause to become our Fashion
Footprint charity.
Harmony House is a non-profit organisation based in
India that provides care and education to disadvantaged
women and children.
Our aim is to help Harmony House double the number
of spaces it can offer from 200 to 400. Attendees
benefit from:
• an educational scheme delivered by qualified
teachers;
• two in-house libraries;
• nutritious meals;
• free medical consultancy;
• vaccinations;
• pre-natal advice for local women;
• vocational classes; and
• shelter and cold weather supplies.
Further fundraising will be organised across our business,
via Fashion Footprint events and sample sales. We are
optimistic that the partnership will repeat the success of
our work with Tender Heart, which saw us achieve our
three-year goal of £50,000 earlier this year.
Our donations made visible improvements at Tender Heart, increasing the number of teachers, physiotherapists and speech therapists it employs. Improvements to the infrastructure have included a purpose-built drinking water tank and concrete roofing to replace the existing corrugated iron on all classrooms.
INDIVIDUAL cHARITY SPONSORSHIPAs a group, we are committed to matching funds raised by our employees up to the value of £500. This year we have donated £16,000 in support of our employees with the most favoured charity being Breast Cancer Care. Events ranged from marathons, sponsored walks, cycling and mountain climbing.
cHARITY UPDATE BY BRANDOur employees are passionate about raising money for charity. Each brand works in partnership with its selected charity to raise money through store initiatives, product sales and activities in head office.
BHSBHS supports NSPCC and Breast Cancer Care as well as collecting in stores for the Missing People Charity. The brand’s fundraising total for the year came to just over £425,000.
BHS has had a five year relationship with NSPCC, raising an outstanding £306,000 for the child protection charity this year alone through fundraising activities such as the sale of Father’s Day t-shirts, the Clothes Aid initiative, Bag For Life and staff fundraising.
Support for Breast Cancer Care, which BHS has partnered with for nine years, has been seen through the continuation of the BCC ‘Strawberry Tea’ campaign, along with the launch of the bra initiative.
BHS also supports Wellbeing of Women dresses. Emma Forbes endorsed four limited edition Occasion wear dresses sold in selected stores and online. A donation of £30,000 was made to the charity from the dresses sold.
BURTONThis year saw Burton continue to support Trekstock, a charity partnership established last year. Founded in 2006, Trekstock supports young people with cancer via funding research and helping them to make better-informed lifestyle choices. All profits are passed to
39
Cancer Research UK’s work around cancers that affect
young people.
It has been an action-packed year for Burton team
members across stores and head office. The key focus was
a Trekstock weekend in May. A team from Burton head
office walked from London to Brighton while others took
part in a skydiving event. Two employees trekked for six
days in the Alps to attend Trekstock’s Great Gig in the Sky.
In just four months, the brand sold 4,000 of its fundraising
badges and overall this year Burton raised £55,000.
DOROTHY PERKINS Dorothy Perkins has two long-term charity partners:
Breast Cancer Care (BCC) and Woodland Trust.
This year saw another major fundraising milestone
reached with BCC, with the figure hitting the £3 million
mark over the nine-year partnership. BCC celebrity
supporter Denise van Outen visited the teams at head
office to say thank you on behalf of the charity. Three of
our leading store fundraisers joined the celebrations,
helping us cut a cake in the shape of a 3.
Our stores have got behind a programme to host
strawberry tea parties this summer. We ran a Twitter
competition inviting followers to tell us where they would
hold their strawberry tea event, with the best five
suggestions winning a tea set to help their efforts.
Each October the brand encourages employees to take
part in Pink Fridays, where they wear, work or party in
pink to raise further funds. Customers are also encouraged
to take part via messages in cardholder statements and
online orders.
August saw the launch of new Love bracelets before the
return of the traditional pin badges. All of this activity has
helped Dorothy Perkins to raise £69,000 for Breast
Cancer Care this year.
The brand has taken the decision this year to conclude
its work with Woodland Trust after raising a total of
£19,000 this year, £1.1m over six years and planting
over 192,000 trees. While the partnership has been
very successful in recent years, the brand has decided to
focus efforts on BCC. The final activity with Woodland
Trust was a campaign this summer called Love It or Lose
It, encouraging customers to share their favourite forest-
related memories.
Our Irish stores support the Marie Keating Foundation
and this May sold pearl bracelets in stores to support
Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. Total donations
have reached £14,500.
EVANS
Evans has continued to support Breakthrough Breast
Cancer through the sale of pink ribbon pins and pink
products, raising a total of £6,000.
We also continue to support Smart Works, a charity
previously known as Dress for Success, which helps
unemployed women. We donate work wear pieces,
helping women feel confident when interviewing and
going back in to work. Since the partnership began over
two years ago, Evans has donated £26,000 worth of
clothing.
MISS SELFRIDGE
Miss Selfridge supports the Lavender Trust, a charity
offering support and information to younger women
affected by Breast Cancer in the UK. This year the brand
raised £11,500, through selling charity pins and hosting
a variety of store fund-raising events.
OUTFIT The partnership between Alzheimer’s Society has been
a great success and the contract was extended to run
until June 2013.
Employees throughout the partnership have been hugely
supportive and have thrown themselves into a mix of
activities, including parachute jumps and marathons,
Halloween events, Go Blue days and continued the
enthusiasm for in-store fundraising events. The stores have
been selling jewel keyrings and button mirrors – with a
suggested donation between £1.50 - £2 each.
Outfit over the past year have raised over £124,000
and raised an impressive £424,000 throughout the
successful partnership for the Alzheimer’s Society.
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TOPMAN
Limited edition wristbands were launched this summer in support of Teenage Cancer Trust, which provides specialist services for young people with cancer. Sold in the top 60 TOPMAN stores and online, the wristbands cost £2 with all revenues going directly to the charity.
The wristbands are the latest in a series of fundraising products for TOPMAN’s support of Teenage Cancer Trust and raised just under £50,000.
TOPSHOP
A significant new partnership was formed this year, with Indian-based Women’s Interlink Foundation’s Key to Freedom project.
Key to Freedom launched in 2012 following a visit to India by the Duke of York as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Women’s Interlink Foundation (WIF) provides refuge for women and girls in India whose lives have been blighted by human trafficking, enforced prostitution and domestic abuse.
At WIF, the young women are encouraged and supported to develop new life skills such as textile dyeing and printing. These skills are being put to use creating a range of four sarong designs that are currently being sold through three London TOPSHOP flagship stores and online. Since their launch in July 2013, the sarongs have raised £4,000 for the charity.
Each sarong is signed by its maker, who receives an upfront payment for her garment. Then all funds raised from the sale of the sarongs go back to WIF via the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust (PACT). The proceeds are used are rescued more girls and, in the longer term, build more homes.
Following a visit by the TOPSHOP team to the Key to Freedom project in Kolkata earlier this year, plans are in place to work with the women to develop a wider range of products that will match the project’s growing capacity as more girls are rescued.
This spring saw TOPSHOP stage its annual support for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer. A range of t-shirts, skirts and keyrings were sold online and in stores, supported by a window display at the Oxford Circus flagship store,
in-store graphics and a social media campaign. Sales
from the range raised £50,000.
Throughout the year, TOPSHOP has also been selling
charm bracelets in support of Shelterbox. ShelterBox
provides emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for
families around the world who are affected by disasters.
In the 11 years since the charity was founded, they have
responded to almost 200 disasters and provided
lifesaving aid for over one million people. In total, sales
of the charm bracelets raised over £26,000.
WALLIS
The main focus at Wallis this year has been the support
for our employee-volunteering pilot (see page 31), which
has involved 25% of our head office team. Other
activities included raising funds for a Red Nose Day
cake sale and £3,500 in a pub quiz and raffle for Great
Ormond Street Hospital.
NEXT STEPS• Work towards our target to double places available
at new Fashion Footprint charity Harmony House.
• Continue to develop innovative campaigns with
charity partners at a brand and group level through
fundraising activities and product sales.
• Maintain and strengthen relationships with the
Fashion Retail Academy.
• Continue to sponsor NEWGEN at London Fashion
Week and invest in and nurture future talent.
• Encourage and support staff in their own fundraising
activities.
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eerin
g pa
rtner
.•
Tria
l a jo
int p
roje
ct w
ith a
key
sup
plie
r and
bra
nd to
un
ders
tand
our
buy
ing
impa
cts
and
refre
sh o
ur
purc
hasi
ng p
ract
ices
trai
ning
. •
Prog
ress
our
wor
k w
ith s
uppl
iers
on
adop
ting
the
hom
e w
orke
r gui
delin
es a
nd to
olki
t.•
roll
out t
he c
ontra
ct la
bour
gui
delin
es a
fter t
estin
g th
e gu
idin
g pr
inci
ples
with
key
sup
plie
rs.
• Pu
blis
h th
e M
anag
emen
t Sys
tem
s Po
rtfol
io o
nlin
e af
ter
feed
back
from
the
Join
t Tur
key
Proj
ect.
ENVI
RON
MEN
TAL
IMPA
cTS
OF
PRO
DU
cTS
•
Con
tinue
to re
duce
our
car
bon,
wat
er a
nd w
aste
fo
otpr
int t
hrou
gh p
artic
ipat
ion
in th
e SC
AP
prog
ram
me.
•
Cre
ate
a re
clai
m to
Wea
r col
lect
ion
for s
prin
g/su
mm
er
2014
.
Wor
k w
ith Im
pact
t to
supp
ort o
ur s
uppl
iers
’ fac
torie
s in
ye
ar tw
o of
rA
GS.
Publ
ish
and
roll
out t
he C
ode
of C
ondu
ct G
uide
book
Pa
rt Fo
ur: H
r M
anag
emen
t Sys
tem
s to
our
top
twen
ty
supp
liers
.
Con
tinue
the
mom
entu
m o
f ArC
by
rolli
ng o
ut th
e co
llabo
rativ
e pr
ojec
t on
wor
ker t
rain
ing
and
prod
uctiv
ity in
col
labo
ratio
n w
ith tw
o ot
her m
ajor
hig
h st
reet
reta
ilers
.
Ensu
re th
e si
x su
pplie
rs w
e ar
e w
orki
ng w
ith fu
lly
adop
t the
hom
e w
orke
r gui
delin
es a
nd fe
ed b
ack
on
thei
r pra
ctic
ality
.
Wor
k w
ith k
ey s
uppl
iers
to e
nsur
e th
at th
e co
ntra
ct
labo
ur g
uide
lines
are
pra
ctic
al a
nd a
chie
vabl
e be
fore
pu
blis
hing
.
Supp
ort t
he E
TI’s
wor
k on
elim
inat
ing
wor
ker r
ight
s ab
uses
invo
lved
in th
e Su
man
gali
sche
me.
oPr
oduc
e of
ficia
l ver
sion
s of
the
righ
t to
Org
anis
e G
uara
ntee
in th
e la
ngua
ges
of o
ur to
p so
urci
ng
coun
tries
.
Envi
ronm
enta
l Im
pact
s of
Pr
oduc
ts
revi
ew th
e en
viro
nmen
tal c
rede
ntia
ls of
our
key
su
pplie
rs’ f
acto
ries.
Expa
nd T
OPS
HO
P’s
recl
aim
to W
ear c
olle
ctio
n fo
r sp
ring/
sum
mer
201
3.
42
Key
Pilla
rW
orks
tream
Targ
ets
for 2
012/
13A
chie
ved
In p
rogr
ess
Still
to d
oTa
rget
s fo
r 201
3/14
OU
r EN
vIrO
NM
ENT
Ener
gy
Effic
ienc
yre
duce
ene
rgy
usag
e by
a fu
rther
3%
.
ENER
GY
EFFI
cIE
Nc
Y •
revi
ew u
pgra
ding
our
gen
eral
sto
re li
ghtin
g to
lED
s ac
ross
our
Out
fit s
tore
s an
d to
our
BH
S st
ores
.•
Car
ry o
ut a
full
revi
ew o
f ene
rgy
cons
umpt
ion
in o
ur
four
dis
tribu
tion
cent
res
to e
xplo
re s
avin
g op
portu
nitie
s in
thes
e en
ergy
inte
nsiv
e si
tes.
• Tr
ial v
olta
ge O
ptim
isat
ion
tech
nolo
gy in
sui
tabl
e lo
catio
ns.
• Ex
plor
e lig
htin
g up
grad
e op
tions
in o
ur B
HS
head
offi
ce
in M
aryl
ebon
e.•
Opt
imis
e ou
r Bui
ldin
g M
anag
emen
t Sys
tem
s in
sui
tabl
e BH
S st
ores
to e
nsur
e ou
r ene
rgy
dem
and
is in
line
with
tra
ding
hou
rs a
nd im
prov
e co
mfo
rt le
vels.
• St
ores
will
pilo
t han
d he
ld ti
ll de
vice
s w
ith n
ew s
oftw
are
that
ena
bles
pap
erle
ss re
ceip
ts.
• A
furth
er 7
50 P
Cs
will
be
adap
ted
to b
e m
ore
en
ergy
effi
cien
t. •
130
of o
ur o
lder
lapt
op c
ompu
ters
will
be
repl
aced
with
ne
wer
, ene
rgy
effic
ient
mod
els.
REc
YcLIN
G A
ND
WA
STE
• In
crea
se o
ur fo
od re
cycl
ing.
• C
arry
out
a fu
ll w
aste
aud
it at
our
TO
PSH
OP
Oxf
ord
Circ
us fl
agsh
ip s
tore
.
• re
view
bac
khau
ling
(opt
imis
ing
spac
e on
all
vehi
cles
) op
portu
nitie
s in
sui
tabl
e lo
catio
ns.
• ro
ll ou
t mor
e w
ater
less
urin
als.
TrA
NSP
OrT
• Es
tabl
ish
the
abili
ty to
‘pig
gyba
ck’ o
n ou
r exi
stin
g lo
gist
ics
netw
ork
for c
usto
mer
s’ ‘c
lick
and
colle
ct’ o
nlin
e or
ders
, neg
atin
g th
e ne
ed fo
r cou
riers
. •
Com
plet
e th
e in
trodu
ctio
n of
our
new
flee
t of E
uro
5 co
mpl
iant
veh
icle
s.•
Targ
et a
furth
er 5
% re
duct
ion
in C
O2
emis
sion
s in
201
4.
repl
ace
all l
ight
ing
abov
e es
cala
tors
at T
OPS
HO
P O
xfor
d C
ircus
and
all
light
ing
in B
HS
light
ing
depa
rtmen
ts w
ith l
EDs.
roll
out M
ulti-
Func
tiona
l Dev
ices
as
part
of o
ur h
ead
offic
e re
furb
ishm
ent.
C
arry
out
an
audi
t to
revi
ew th
e op
portu
nitie
s to
co
nver
t 13
BHS
stor
es c
urre
ntly
usi
ng d
iese
l oil
for
heat
ing
to g
as.
revi
ew re
plac
ing
the
rem
aini
ng h
ead
offic
e PC
s w
ith
‘thin
clie
nts’.
re
plac
e ap
prox
imat
ely
1500
sto
re-b
ased
ser
vers
with
ce
ntra
l ser
ver i
nfra
stru
ctur
e, re
duci
ng th
eir t
otal
car
bon
foot
prin
t by
80%
.
recy
clin
g
and
Was
teIn
crea
se to
tal r
ecyc
ling
rate
by
3%.
Intro
duce
a fu
rther
100
wat
erle
ss u
rinal
s in
sto
res.
o
Get
con
firm
atio
n fro
m 4
50 s
tore
s in
cen
tres
that
they
re
cycl
e at
leas
t 65%
of t
heir
was
te.
o
redu
ce th
e us
e of
pla
stic
bag
s by
10
%.
Tran
spor
tIn
crea
se th
e us
e of
dou
ble
deck
ed tr
aile
rs fo
r hig
h vo
lum
e ro
utes
.
Furth
er c
onso
lidat
e th
e BH
S/A
rcad
ia n
etw
ork.
Targ
et a
furth
er 5
% re
duct
ion
in C
O2
emis
sion
s.
By th
e en
d of
201
3, 1
00%
of t
he fl
eet t
o ha
ve b
een
repl
aced
with
veh
icle
s th
at m
eet t
he la
test
Euro
5
emis
sion
s st
anda
rd.
43
key
pilla
rW
orks
tream
targ
ets
for 2
012/
13a
chie
ved
in p
rogr
ess
still
to d
ota
rget
s fo
r 201
3/14
ou
R Em
plo
yEEs
Empl
oyee
En
gage
men
tC
ontin
ue to
offe
r int
rodu
ctio
n to
Eth
ical
tra
ding
tr
aini
ng a
nd e
xpan
d th
e ro
ll ou
t of p
urch
asin
g pr
actic
es.
Em
plo
yEE
EnG
aG
EmEn
t•
sele
ct a
n em
ploy
ee-v
olun
teer
ing
partn
er a
nd ro
ll ou
t a
sche
me
to o
ther
bra
nds.
• C
ontin
ue to
find
new
opp
ortu
nitie
s fo
r our
reta
il te
ams
to d
rive
the
fash
ion
foot
prin
t vis
ion.
• su
ppor
t the
fas
hion
foo
tprin
t adv
isor
y pa
nel a
nd
ensu
re th
at a
s m
uch
as p
ossi
ble
of th
eir a
ctio
n pl
an is
im
plem
ente
d.•
Roll
out p
urch
asin
g pr
actic
es m
ore
cons
iste
ntly
to th
e gr
oup.
hEa
lth
an
d s
afE
ty (h
&s)
an
d a
CC
Essi
bilit
y•
driv
e fu
rther
impr
ovem
ents
in h
&s
com
plia
nce
via
the
rollo
ut o
f ref
resh
er tr
aini
ng u
sing
the
new
‘C
onse
quen
ces’
dvd
.•
Roll
out t
he h
&s
mas
ter c
lass
for s
tore
man
agem
ent
team
s ah
ead
of re
tail
mod
erni
satio
n pr
ojec
ts.
• tr
ial t
he u
se o
f a c
ompl
ianc
e ap
p on
ipad
s in
larg
e to
psh
op
stor
es s
o h
&s
chec
ks c
an b
e m
onito
red
rem
otel
y.•
Con
tinue
to d
rive
dow
n ac
cide
nts
in o
ur s
tore
s vi
a in
-stor
e as
sess
men
ts b
y ou
r spe
cial
ist t
eam
.•
mak
e do
cum
enta
tion
and
proc
edur
es a
cces
sibl
e to
all
colle
ague
s, in
clud
ing
the
fully
revi
sed
h&
s m
anua
l and
de
liver
the
new
fire
saf
ety
man
ual.
ch
ari
Ties
an
d c
oM
Mu
niT
y•
Wor
k to
war
ds o
ur ta
rget
to d
oubl
e pl
aces
ava
ilabl
e at
ne
w f
ashi
on f
ootp
rint c
harit
y h
arm
ony
hou
se.
• C
ontin
ue to
dev
elop
inno
vativ
e ca
mpa
igns
with
cha
rity
partn
ers
at a
bra
nd a
nd g
roup
leve
l thr
ough
fund
rais
ing
activ
ities
and
pro
duct
sal
es.
• m
aint
ain
and
stre
ngth
en re
latio
nshi
ps w
ith th
e fa
shio
n Re
tail
aca
dem
y.•
Con
tinue
to s
pons
or n
EWG
En a
t lon
don
fash
ion
Wee
k an
d in
vest
in a
nd n
urtu
re fu
ture
tale
nt.
• En
cour
age
and
supp
ort s
taff
in th
eir o
wn
fund
rais
ing
activ
ities
.
Com
plet
e th
e Em
ploy
ee v
olun
teer
ing
pilo
t in
Wal
lis
and
cons
ider
opp
ortu
nitie
s to
ext
end
acro
ss th
e w
hole
of
arc
adia
.
Re-la
unch
the
ffa
p w
ith th
e ne
w m
embe
rs fo
r 201
3.
Con
tinue
rollo
ut o
f fas
hion
foo
tprin
t to
uk
stor
es a
nd
bhs
head
offi
ce.
in
crea
se th
e st
ore
stat
ione
ry re
duct
ion
targ
ets.
h
ealth
and
sa
fety
and
a
cces
sibi
lity
Ensu
re a
ll he
alth
and
saf
ety
and
acce
ss re
quire
men
ts
are
incl
uded
in th
e pl
anne
d re
furb
ishm
ent o
f our
mai
n h
ead
offi
ce in
lon
don.
Redu
ce th
e nu
mbe
r of a
ccid
ents
whi
ch o
ccur
in o
ur
stor
es.
Revi
ew th
e tra
inin
g gi
ven
to c
usto
mer
car
e em
ploy
ees
and
intro
duce
impr
ovem
ents
as
appr
opria
te.
Revi
ew E
qual
ity a
ct 2
010
empl
oyee
trai
ning
mat
eria
ls an
d up
date
as
nece
ssar
y.
ou
R C
om
mu
nit
iEs
Cha
ritie
s an
d C
omm
unity
Con
tinue
to d
evel
op in
nova
tive
cam
paig
ns w
ith c
harit
y pa
rtner
s at
a b
rand
and
gro
up le
vel t
hrou
gh
fund
rais
ing
activ
ities
and
pro
duct
sal
es.
mai
ntai
n an
d st
reng
then
rela
tions
hips
with
the
fash
ion
Reta
il a
cade
my.
Con
tinue
to s
pons
or th
e n
ew G
ener
atio
n at
lon
don
fash
ion
Wee
k an
d in
vest
in a
nd n
urtu
re fu
ture
tale
nt.
sele
ct a
new
fas
hion
foo
tprin
t cha
rity
and
begi
n a
new
fund
rais
ing
cam
paig
n.
Enco
urag
e an
d su
ppor
t sta
ff in
thei
r ow
n fu
ndra
isin
g ac
tiviti
es.
Rais
e £1
mill
ion
for c
harit
y ac
ross
all
initi
ativ
es.
This report is printed on 100% recycled paperCBP00010510911111542