Winners of the Sedex Best Example of Continuous Improvement Award 2017

M&S are an international multi-channel retailer that sell clothing, food, beauty and homewear products, with a turnover split between food (58%) and general merchandise (42%). M&S have always been at the forefront of the food business, offering their customers a range of high-quality, innovative products. Their food development teams who are responsible for identifying upcoming trends and creating M&S’s signature ranges is what sets them apart from their competition. In 2016/17, they introduced 1,600 new food lines, as well as introducing new foods to their customers – from the biancoli, a cross between the cauliflower and broccoli, to new dishes from South East Asia. Understanding their customers’ demands, M&S have made their foods healthier over the past few years – from removing artificial colourings and preservatives, to extending their Eat Well and Made Without ranges.

M&S Food has a complex supply chain, having direct contracts with around 400 suppliers producing products at over 800 sites in 44 countries. Raw materials and commodities are sourced from more than 70 countries, and M&S estimate around 30,000 farms are used globally. M&S have always placed their main emphasis on the quality of its food products, with industry experts constantly working to bring their customers the best products. The M&S buying teams work with their suppliers to source unusual and new ingredients, to bring something new and different to their customers. However, as their network continues to expand, in both home and international markets, customers are more concerned with where and how their products are being sourced, made, and delivered. This global nature of their business means M&S and their supply chain face a number of sustainability challenges. Their customers and employees are increasingly interested in all aspects of their products’ integrity, and expect M&S to engage with their suppliers to ensure fair working conditions and respect for human rights throughout the value chain.

M&S believes a successful business must also be environmentally and socially sustainable. Through their Plan A initiative, M&S promotes and rewards sustainable behaviour within their supply base. The How We Do Business Scorecard: M&S Food uses a supplier scorecard, with the ‘How We Do Business’ element of the scorecard supported by a sustainability framework that considers the environmental, ethical, and lean manufacturing elements which detail the building blocks to enable change in performance. This framework took 18 months to be developed and is based on: M&S’s Supplier Exchange meetings where suppliers can share their learning and experiences; and from speaking to industry experts from organisations such as the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and the Carbon Trust. Suppliers must complete their scorecards each year and since these are based on this overall framework, multiple sustainability indicators are factored into the overall rating. The supplier will then be assigned a rating of either Bronze, Silver, or Gold, which depicts their overall performance against the mandatory requirements M&S has given them. The Silver Validation: Even achieving a silver status is a difficult process that requires suppliers to implement changes that must have genuine positive impacts. It is not a rating that is easily given out and the changes these suppliers implement must have genuine positive impacts to their workings. Most of M&S’s suppliers are at Bronze level, and improving to Silver status shows they are performing above the norm in the industry. It takes a supplier an average of two years of continuous work on their environmental, ethical, and lean manufacturing elements to progress from Bronze to Silver status. Once a supplier has achieved Silver status on all three frameworks (environmental, ethical, and lean manufacturing), it shows M&S that their products are being made in a more sustainable factory. Therefore, all of that supplier’s products qualify for the Plan A certification, helping M&S achieve their improved sourcing and production aims. M&S’ Plan A team will validate the three elements of a supplier to ensure that sustainability is fully embedded within the site’s operations.

• Driven by the framework behind the Scorecard scheme, 60% of supplier sites now send no waste to landfill (last year: 48%) and on average show a 31% reduction of waste per tonne of product.
• 52% of M&S food suppliers have reduced both their water and energy usage per tonne of product compared to last year, and over 30% have improved energy efficiency by at least 20% on their baseline.
• On human resources, 72% of the most recent supplier employee surveys show a satisfaction rating of 65% or more.
• M&S’s net carbon emissions from their operations have been ‘zero’ for 4 consecutive years.
• Suppliers progressing on the frameworks have seen significant business benefit results, with sites achieving silver and gold growing their business with M&S twice as fast as those without.

• £10.6bn group revenue.
• 85,000 employees worldwide.
• 979 UK stores and over 450 International.
• 32 million customers.
• 2,100 global suppliers.