MS Foods Plan A Quarterly Newsletter February 2016
1. Welcome
Which actions apply to you?
food newsletter
february 2016 issue
Welcome to the first Foods Plan A newsletter of 2016! It has been a busy and productive start
to the year as you can see with this jam-packed edition, which is full of information and resources
for suppliers to embrace sustainability and become fit for the future.
We have included lots of practical articles to help fast
track embedding sustainability in your business, from
dates in your diaries for the next Seeing Is Believing
visits, to opportunities to get involved in the Emerging
Leaders Programme. We have a hearty section on our
Silver programme including important changes to the
validation process and a number of articles which
capture the value of the programme through the eyes
of suppliers and M&S employees. We have included an
important section on modern slavery in Ethical Updates,
where you can read over the results of our supplier
survey on Modern Slavery. It’s essential for all of our
UK suppliers to book on to a Stronger Together
workshop, as evidence is clear it will equip your business
with the knowledge and resources to prevent and
tackle modern slavery. Dates can be found on page 11.
Last year more than 60 sites in the UK took part in the
Wellbeing Week Campaign in March and 40 sites got
involved in Environment Week in June. This year we are
striving for even more engagement with both campaigns.
Read more about how to get involved in the Ethical
Updates and Environmental Updates sections.
There are also a number of articles for wider interest
which we hope you enjoy, including:
• 10 Reflections on Davos 2016, from Director of
Plan A, Mike Barry
• Steve McLean, Head of Agriculture Fisheries,
outlines key themes for agriculture in 2016
• The ingredients for a resilient supply chain in a water
stressed world
We always welcome your feedback on this edition
and ideas for future articles. Get in touch with us at
foods.plana@marks-and-spencer.com
Louise Nicholls,
Head of Responsible Sourcing, Packaging and Plan A
Action Page
R
Is your business ready for UK legislation on Modern Slavery? 14
Book in to a Stronger Together workshop 11
Take part in Environment Week and Wellbeing Week 9, 11
If you’re a Fresh supplier, nominate your farmers to get involved in our Cool Farm Tool project 9
Pilot Emerging Leaders programme in the UK 12
Book into a Seeing is Believing visit 8
Register to the Supplier Exchange and book on the next environmental, ethical or lean exchange 5
2. Contents
Silver beyond
Attributes 1
Silver Sites 1
MS Buyers Engaged in Silver Validation 1
Silver Validation – New Process 2
Help Getting to Silver 3
Lean Exchange Update 3
Ethical Supplier Exchange Update 4
Environmental Exchange Update 5
Supplier Exchange Top Tips 5
The Village Bakery: An integrated Approach to Silver 6
Seeing Gold in Action at Cucina Sano 7
Ethical Seeing is Believing Visits 8
Seeing Is Believing Dates 8
Webinar Dates 8
environmental updates
The Return of Environment Week 9
Newsflash: 2 New Plan A Attributes for Produce 9
The Ingredients for a Supply Chain Ready to Deal
with a Water Stressed World 10
ethical updates
Latest Stronger Together Dates 11
Wellbeing Week 11
Wanted – Organisations looking to pilot Emerging Leaders
in the UK 12
Poultry Chain Supply Ethical Code of Practice 13
Modern Slavery 14
Sedex Conference 15
Movement to Work 15
Buying in to Fairtrade 16
Fairtrade Fortnight 16
raw materials
Packaging Materials Strategy 17
news
Health Trends 18
What are the Key Themes for Agriculture in 2016? 18
10 Reflections on Davos 2016 19
MS and Neighbourly Food Redistribution Scheme Update 20
Is Your Site Redistributing Surplus Food? 20
Spark Something Good 21
3. silver beyond
The plans are based on ensuring the
key environmental social hotspots
for each product are taken into
account, and also include a pipeline
of sites achieving Silver on the
sustainability frameworks. Once all the
roadmaps have been completed and
rolled out by the end of March, your
category teams will be in touch about
what that means for your site and the
products you manufacture for MS.
This could mean a new attribute needs
to be developed where we don’t
currently have one that mitigates
a key impact. Or it could mean that
you may be required to achieve Silver
by a certain date, which you will need
to agree with your MS category team.
The roadmaps will provide you and
the MS categories with a plan to
work towards for 2020 to ensure that
all the products we sell have at least
1 sustainability quality.
“Before even joining the business,
I had heard about Plan A and its
importance to Marks and Spencer.
As a buyer, I am encouraged to drive
my supply base to work on their
Plan A credentials, so I felt that a
day observing a silver audit would be
time well spent. I not only developed
an understanding of how MS
evaluates and classifies a Silver Plan
A supplier, but also the great deal
of work, time and cultural change
required from my suppliers to adopt
Plan A best practices.
I found the day beneficial for a
number of reasons:
Firstly, it is rare that we take time
out of the day job to understand
our key suppliers’ business strategies.
To have the opportunity to meet key
team members and disciplines that I
would have previously had no direct
dealings with, like the Operational
Teams, HR Teams and Site Facilities
management, was invaluable. It is
important that MS and our
Suppliers’ strategies are aligned in
order to operate sustainable business
models to serve our mutual customers.
Secondly, I learnt from the validators
in terms of sharing best practice and
recommendations for future
development. The sustainability team
at Mack have been working closely
together with our own Plan A team
over a number of years to put in
place these more sustainable
business practices.
Finally, the visit highlighted the
impact that our decisions and
systems have on the day to day
operations of our supply base; my
greatest learning is that Plan A as
not just a framework, but a culture,
and its success and longevity is
reliant on the collaborative working
of both businesses.
Following the visit, I aim to spend time
with the operational departments
at all my key suppliers in order to
understand the real impact of our
actions, and help deliver sustainable
manufacturing practices.”
Attributes
Over the last few months, the Plan A team and MS category
teams have been busy preparing roadmaps for each category
as to how they might achieve 100% of their products having
a Plan A attribute by 2020.
1
2 more sites have achieved
silver factory status on the
Sustainability Scorecard
since November.
At the recent Silver validation visit to Fresca Mack, the Plan A validation team were joined by one of
the produce buyers, Sally Sharp. Read about her experience and what she thought of the visit below.
Silver
Sites
MS buyers engaged
in Silver validation
This means that 45% of our
volume is now coming from one
of our silver or gold factories.
Congratulations to the following
sites on achieving silver:
• Village Bakery
• Fresca Mack
If your site is working towards
silver validation, all the information
you require to help you on your
way can be found on the
Supplier Exchange website.
4. silver beyond
2
Silver validation
– NEW PROCESS
At last year’s Plan A briefing, you heard that our aspiration is for all MS supplying sites to achieve
Silver on the sustainability scorecard by 2020.
In order to meet this target, we are
changing the current validation
process to ensure that it’s fit for the
future and can increase the throughput
of Silver sites over the next 5 years.
The new process with involve 100%
sites being validated through an
evidence based phone call, with 15%
receiving an additional lean and
environment visit and 100% receiving
an ethical visit. Sites will also be
expected to demonstrate continuous
improvement on an annual basis
through regular completion of KPIs
and a short assessment questionnaire.
Why are we changing the process?
The silver standard will increasingly
become an ‘essential requirement’ for
all businesses. In fact, we want to
encourage many of you to be Gold.
We have already trialled a combination
of ‘remote’ validation phone calls and
visits, and found we can accurately
reach same result in both cases, so
this new process will help to increase
the number of sites that can achieve
Silver each year. In addition, sustainability
needs to be embedded throughout
the business. Achieving Silver isn’t about
meeting the requirements for 1 day
(a validation visit) – it should be about
every day (how you do business) and
so suppliers will need to demonstrate
‘continuous improvement’ to ensure
they don’t fall back to Bronze.
N.B. Gold validations will continue
to be run using the current process
– with a pre-validation call and a site
visit. However, evidence uploaded to
Credit360 will still be expected.
What does the new process look like?
1. MS will agree a timeline for your
Silver validation in conjunction with
you your MS category teams
within the next few months.
2. Sites are expected to fully engage in
the sustainability framework process
through supplier exchanges,
webinars visits (look out for key
dates in the newsletter or on the
supplier exchange website).
3. Sites must complete the 3 frameworks
and 2 KPI forms, and attach relevant
evidence to questions / sections
on Credit360.
4. Validation calls will be scheduled up to
3 months in advance and will take place
over the phone using the evidence
uploaded to Credit360, as well as a
summary slide pack – it’s vital that
all the key people are on these calls.
5. MS will hold monthly governance
meetings to review the outcome of
the calls and agree whether the site
can be awarded Silver.
6. MS will also agree whether a visit
will be scheduled for that site (due
diligence visits will be carried out
on 15% of sites for lean and
environment and 100% on ethical).
7. On an annual basis, Silver sites will be
required to demonstrate continuous
improvement against the frameworks
through their KPI’s as well as a short
assessment questionnaire.
Please note: The ethical framework
will still require a visit and this
will be carried out as part of the
wider ethical integrity assessment
– more details of which will be
communicated at the earliest
opportunity.
What are the main differences with
the new process?
• Sites are expected to use the tools,
guides help available to ensure
they are confident of meeting the
Silver requirements ahead of their
validation call.
• Pre-agreed evidence will be required
upfront PRIOR to a silver validation call.
• Updated completion of KPIs
frameworks is an essential requirement
for a Silver validation (sites cannot
go through the silver validation
process without these completed).
• The validation calls will be more
extensive than the current pre-validation
calls and will cover most of the
evidence previously seen on a visit.
• Majority of sites will not receive a
visit for enthronement and lean.
• Silver sites will need to demonstrate
continuous improvement each year
until they achieve Gold.
Full details on all the above and
what will be required by each site
will be communicated shortly.
SILVER
BEYOND
PLANA HOW WE DO BUSINESS
5. silver beyond
3
Show Me The Money – Save Millions of £ Using CI
With over 45 representatives from
MS supplier companies gathered
at Waterside for the Lean Exchange
event focused on lean tools and
techniques, speakers made
presentations and then engaged
the audience in group activities.
Click here for a write-up on the
Lean exchange including a
presentation deck from the day.
The next lean exchange is scheduled
for the 4th May 2016. There is also a
Seeing Is Believing visit to Worldwide
Fruits on 9th March. S A Partners
are also offering free half day health
checks on Silver status for a limited
number of suppliers – contact
Donna Samuel at donna.samuel@
sapartners.com if you are interested.
Lean Exchange update
• Supplier exchange website –
this website holds all the resources
you might need to achieve Silver
(videos, toolkits, help guides), lists all
the up-coming events which you can
sign up to and provides case studies
of sites that have already reached
Silver level.
• Supplier exchange meetings –
these are held every few months at
Waterside House and are split by
framework. At these events you can
meet other suppliers, hear from
experts and get a greater
understanding of what it takes to
meet Silver or Gold level on each of
the frameworks. You can sign up to
these events on the website.
• Seeing Is Believing visits –
these are invaluable visits to
sites that have already achieved
Silver or Gold. These sites have
offered to open their doors to
non-competitive MS suppliers to
allow you to hear and see first-hand
what it takes to meet the Silver or Gold
level. Details of future visits can be
found on page 8 and you can sign up
on the supplier exchange website.
Attendance is subject to approval
from the host site, in case of conflict
of interest.
• Webinars – we will be holding regular
webinars for suppliers on a variety
of topics across all 3 frameworks.
The ‘Getting to Bronze’
webinars we ran in 2015
were heard by over 400
people so we plan to run
these again, as well as ‘Getting
to Silver’ webinars and some
topic-specific and category-
specific webinars.
Further details on the webinars before
April can be found on page 8. Please
sign up to them on the
supplier exchange and
details will be sent to you
nearer the time.
Help getting to Silver
We are increasing our support for suppliers to progress on the framework:
6. 4
silver beyond
During the morning we had an updates
on Sedex Advance, Wellbeing Week,
Movement to Work (see Ethical
Section), and the Disability Confident
scheme. After the coffee break we
discussed a new ethical assessment
for supply chain governance, and
minor updates to the Ethical
framework, as well as the new Global
Labour Provider Policy. Ahead of lunch,
Fergus Morgan of 2 Sisters Food Group
presented on the story behind the new
Poultry Chain Supply Ethical Code of
Practice (see Ethical Section).
The afternoon was dedicated to the
topic of Modern Slavery . We had an
introduction from Andrew Wallis CBE,
CEO of the charity Unseen, which
rehabilitates victims of Modern Slavery.
Andrew gave the group a moving
perspective of the victims of Modern
Slavery. Following Andrew, Steve
Gibbons of Ergon Associates delivered
a supplier workshop on Modern
Slavery. Steve shared results from our
recent supplier Modern Slavery survey,
and led suppliers through a process
of a Modern Slavery risk assessment,
thinking where their risks might lie,
what due diligence is already in place,
as well as policies they might want to
create, and what training they might
want to deliver.
Also as part of the Modern Slavery
session, Gillian Haythornthwaite, on
behalf of David Camp, gave an update
on the huge amount of activity
associated with the Stronger Together
programme, including the latest
revised toolkit, the latest training
dates, a multi-lingual confidential
helpline, a schools liaison initiative,
a victim reintegration scheme, new
online e-learning for recruiters and
supervisors, and a proto-type workshop
for tackling slavery in supply chains,
as well as a reminder that companies
can sign the Business Partner
commitment and display the Stronger
Together logo on their website and
other materials. In addition, there was
an update on the new ALP Complyer
Tool, and Labour Provider social
compliance audit. During the
afternoon we also had practical
supplier case studies – Shayne Tyler
described what Manor Fresh were
doing to meet the new Modern Slavery
legislation, and Caron Brooks and
Alison Savage from Bakkavor Newark
shared how they handled a suspected
case of Modern Slavery on site.
Many thanks to all the suppliers who
attended and participated in the day.
The next Ethical Exchange will be on
the 10th of May.
We had one of our busiest ever Ethical Exchanges on 28th January, with over 70 suppliers
attending, including many who are new to the Exchange.
Ethical Supplier Exchange
update
7. 5
silver beyond
After a general Plan A update, Jo Bowen
went on to present the new process
for Silver validation and as part of that
session, each table spent some time
identifying the different pieces of
evidence that would be required to meet
the Silver criteria on the framework.
Charlotte Jackson then discussed the
subject of food waste with the group,
and took suppliers through some of
the potential changes we plan to ask
them in terms of measuring their food
waste. Continuing the waste theme,
Takestock, a company that provides an
online platform for food companies to
sell surplus ingredients to others, then
presented to the group.
After lunch, Mike Barry, Director of
Plan A for MS, talked to the group about
what he saw as the main outputs from
COP21 in relation to the food industry.
He also spoke about the key areas
that foods need to focus on over the
coming years: Resilience, Renewables,
Refrigeration, Food Waste, Deforestation,
Collaborations Measurement.
Carmel McQuaid spoke to the group
about what MS has been doing about
the circular economy and challenged
suppliers to think about where there may
be opportunities within their business.
Simon Thorpe and Ashley Dawson from
Village Bakery then presented to the
group about how they achieved Silver
on the framework – you can read more
about this below.
Finally, Ann Andrews took the group
through a proposed toolkit on what
gold level looks like. With more and
more sites looking to achieve Silver,
this toolkit helps those sites move
on the next level and help them
demonstrate leading standards within
the MS supply base. A similar toolkit
for Silver will now be developed to
reinforce the messages in the current,
topic-specific toolkits that are already
available on the website.
Thanks to everyone that presented
on the day. More detail about all of
the above can be found in the minutes
on the supplier exchange website.
The next Environmental Exchange will
be on the 11th of May.
Environmental Exchange
update
Supplier Exchange
Top Tips
1 If you haven’t already, register to the new supplier exchange here.
2 Sign up to internal and external events – from supplier exchanges
to conferences.
3 Browse our resources section – packed with all of the tools and knowledge
you need on your sustainability journey
4 Take inspiration from our case studies section, where suppliers share their
challenges and learnings from the projects they have implemented.
The last environmental exchange was held on 14th January
and was attended by 60 suppliers.
8. How can we bring the framework to
life and make it meaningful for our
businesses- especially if we aren’t
‘’lean’’ or ‘’environmental’’ specialists?
It’s an enormous task with challenges:
from buy-in; making people understand
what it means to them and illustrating
the benefits; finding the financial
resource; working it in to your day job
and the framework complexity itself!
Here are 3 top tips from my experience
so far with The Village Bakery:
• Getting it right 1st time. Much like
other businesses, we didn’t have the
luxury of being able to afford to
make mistakes. Getting it right from
the start was really important and
sped up our journey to silver. This
starts with a crystal clear vision and
strategy which you can then cascade.
• Ensuring that the framework
means something to your business
and that it’s not just a tick-boxing
exercise. This begins with being able
to articulate the framework clearly to
others and linking in your general
business strategy. We also reduced
the requirements in each pillar to
around 10 key areas which were
going to deliver the biggest impact
and were able to assign actions to
these areas. It’s an iterative process
– ask yourself if these actions will
meet the criteria in the framework
• Linking the pillars to eliminate
duplication of work. Understanding
how the criteria in each pillar fits
together was crucial to saving us
time and made our silver strategy
more robust. For example, Village
Bakery’s dashboards are an
important mechanism for lean
manufacturing, but also deliver
communications value which relates
to the ethical pillar and holds key
KPIs relating to the environmental
pillar. A more holistic approach can
improve your systems, for example
we have one business improvement
plan integrating ethical, environmental
and lean – rather than having separate
ones that don’t speak to each other.
You can learn a lot from
other businesses working to
Silver and Beyond, read case
studies here and make sure
to sign up to upcoming
Supplier Exchange events.
As someone who led Park Cake’s Lean journey to Silver,
Ops Director Simon Thorpe was well placed to get The Village
Bakery in Wrexham validated too. But, Village Bakery brought
both familiar and fresh challenges, for example the company’s
speedy and significant growth – which required further honing
to his teams’ approach to Silver. He shares his top tips…
The Village Bakery:
An integrated
approach to Silver
silver beyond
6
Sustainability strategic Map (HWDB)
AreasofFocus
Economic / Lean
79 actions – 10 Areas
Environmental / Plan A
74 Actions – 10 Areas
Ethical
121 Actions – 8 Areas
Strategy
Budget
Dashboards / Visual
Bakery
Bakery Improvement
Plan
Mapping
Personal Objectives
and Development
Training and SOPs
Workplace
Organisation
Lean Tools
Deployment
Supplier Management
Legal Compliance
Audits
KPI Display
EMS
Policy
Bakery Improvement
Plan
Waste Stream Mapping
Environmental Due
Diligence
Supplier Challenge
Bio Diversity
Communication at all
Levels
Training
Health and Safety
Working Practices and
Policy Deployment
Legal Compliance
KPIs
Comittee
Objectives and Review
9. Bakkavor Cucina Sano are a dedicated MS supplier in
Lincolnshire, manufacturing ready meals and deli products.
They achieved Silver on the sustainability frameworks back
in 2013 and quickly progressed to Gold in March 2015. They
hosted a Seeing Is Believing visit in January.
“When we embarked on the whole HWDB journey we decided
very early that this was something we wanted to embrace and
make a part of not only our business strategy but our business
culture. By taking the Silver and Gold path we have seen a
substantial improvement in employee engagement and
empowerment to do what’s right”, said Ben Cooper,
Manufacturing Manager.
The biggest achievement on our site would be staff engagement.
We have a really strong “Green team” and they are the ones
driving change with the support of the leadership teams. The
other significant achievement is the water recycling plant and
its reuse of 85% of the site’s water. This is a real step change
for us and targets one of our biggest hotspots.
We decided to host the visit as we believe in the “Plan A goal”.
If we can help anyone reach silver or gold while improving the
environment then we see that as a success. Plan A is a
common goal and we are proud to support it. We are always
proud to “show off” what good looks like, as this empowers
the team to carry on pushing the barriers for further
improvement. I hope others saw that this is a journey that
will make a difference to any company and not just a tick
box exercise for MS.
My top tips for getting to Silver or Gold?
1: Lead from the top but influence from the bottom up.
2: Ensure you have full site buy in.
3: Have a clear set plan and agenda for the year.
However don’t be afraid to revisit this and amend
as your business changes.
Rebecca Dilks, Environmental Manager from Thorntons went
on the visit to Cucina: “I think that the ‘Seeing Is Believing’
visits are invaluable to demonstrate what silver or gold actually
look like when you put it into practice and a company is living
and breathing it – it’s the difference between the frameworks
being a tick box exercise and being ‘HWDB.’ The site tours
really give you a flavour for seeing silver/gold in action.
Following this visit and others, I have been able to gauge how we
are progressing and what areas we need to focus on in order to
achieve silver through sustainable and embedded ways of working.”
For the next Seeing Is Believing dates, see below.
The Seeing Is Believing visits held by our silver and gold sites are a great opportunity not only for
those sites who are on the journey to silver but also for the host sites themselves. Hear from the hosts
of our first environmental visit (Cucina Sano) and one of the lucky suppliers who got a chance to visit.
Seeing Gold
in action at
Cucina Sano
silver beyond
7
10. silver beyond
8
Exchange Date Venue
Environmental
Thurs 21st April 2 Sisters Carlisle (non-prepared food suppliers only)
Thurs 26th May Tulip Bodmin (non-protein suppliers only)
Lean
Wed 9th Mar Worldwide Fruits Limited
Tues 13th Sept Bakkavor Tilmanstone
TBC Greencore Northampton
Ethical
Tues 23rd February, 10 spaces Kinnerton Sherburn (near York), Silver Supplier (confectionery)
Tues 5th April Kinnerton Fakenham, Silver Supplier (confectionery)
Wed 13th April Manor Fresh, Silver Supplier (potatoes)
Further dates for Greencore Northampton and Cucina Sano, two of our Gold suppliers, will be
provided in due course. The visit will take place in April or May 2016.
Exchange Date Venue
Lean Fri 11th March 10:30 am Waterside House
Ethical Wed 16th March 11am Waterside House
Environmental Thurs 24th March 12pm Waterside House
Seeing Is Believing Dates
Dates for ‘Getting to Silver on …’
webinars below:
This was a great day, and gave suppliers the opportunity
to understand the fantastic HR best practice which led to
Dawnfresh being one of our first silver sites, back in 2012,
as well as winning our 2016 Plan A People Award. Amongst
topics discussed was the approach by Dawnfresh to people
management and engagement. Read more about their work
in this case study.
We have more visit opportunities coming up – but act
fast as we need to ensure we have enough demand
before fully confirming the day. Please get in touch with
helen.mctaggart@marksandspencer.com to book your place.
Please note that sites will not be able to accommodate
guests who are from ‘competitor sites’.
Many thanks to Dawnfresh who hosted our first
Ethical Seeing Is Believing visit.
Ethical Seeing is
Believing Visits
11. 9
Environmental Updates
The return of
Environment Week
Following the success of Environment Week last summer, we are encouraging our suppliers to run
another campaign in June 2016, to coincide with World Environment Day on 5th June.
Last year, the campaign reached over 40 sites and 25,000
workers. This year to want to get even more sites to run
Environment Week (or even just a day).
We are currently loading the materials onto the Supplier
Exchange and will shortly be sending out the first newsletter
of the campaign. In the meantime, if you want to register your
interest now, please email mstoolkits@averygoodcompany.org
We look forward to another great campaign!
NEWSFLASH: 2 new Plan A
attributes for Produce
Here’s a tool to help you address your energy
hotspot...
Great effort from Dawn Meats during Environmental Week in 2015
At the last Food Attribute Board meeting, we confirmed LEAF
Marque and SAI Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) Silver
level as two key produce attributes for growers which address
multiple hotspot areas. More details on these attributes will
be sent out in the next newsletter. Energy has been identified
as a key hotspot area for produce growers and the Cool Farm
Tool is another great tool to help growers understand where
their biggest energy impacts are and how best to address
them, which ultimately compliments both LEAF and SAI. The
Cool Farm Tool is a smart and intuitive calculator which
enables growers and food companies to quickly and easily
measure the potential for agricultural practises to mitigate
greenhouse gas emissions. The benefits can be measured
both in terms of sustainability and productivity, e.g. lower
CO2 emissions and cost reductions. Learn more about the
tool here: https://www.coolfarmtool.org/
We are looking to put this tool into action on farms to see
if we can help our growers reduce their CO2 emissions.
Would you or your growers like to get involved? We’d like to
hear from you – contact foods.plana@marks-and-spencer.com
12. 10
Environmental Updates
Together agriculture and industry use about 80-90% of global freshwater resources yet it is predicted
that globally water demand will exceed supply by 50% by 2025. Rising populations, changing
consumption habits and climate change are all contributing to world where water resources are under
more pressure than ever before – and the food industry is often one of the first to feel this pressure.
At MS we have been doing a lot of work recently on water
and would like to share what we feel are some of the key
ingredients required to build a business ready for this water
stressed world.
1. Know where your main water risks are and developing
mitigation plans – the raw material growing stage tends
to use the most water and represent the greatest risk in a
product’s lifecycle. Therefore, in order to understand your
risks it is crucial to know where your raw materials are
coming from. Generally, the more commoditised a
product the less inherent the water risk. Water risks are
also very geographically specific so it is useful to map
where the producers growers are in your supply chain
(if you supply direct from farm) onto one of the different
water risk mapping tools available (see WWF WRF or WR
Aqueduct). From there it is important to ask some tough
questions. If a drought were to hit your producers in a key
sourcing country what would that mean for your
business? Do you have mitigation or adaptation plans in
place to cope?
We will be running 2 webinars on how to identify water
risks in your supply chain and what to do about it from
10-11am on 2nd March and from 3-4pm on 30th March.
Please go here on Supplier Exchange to sign up.
2. Getting your house and your supply chain in order
– another key step to addressing water risk is to ensure
your own house and those of key businesses in your
supply chain, are doing all they can to reduce water
impacts. Achieving silver and gold on the How We Do
Business framework is the best place to start at factory
level. Producers should be Global G.A.P, LEAF Marque
certified or at SAI FSA Silver level, or better yet for those
in water stressed areas be practicing more advanced
water stewardship. For further guidance on water
stewardship click here.
3. Acting on water governance where appropriate –
the governance of water can vary significantly from
country to country and even region to region. Do you
know what the governance is like in countries your
producers are based in? Strong governance = less risk.
However, where strong governance is lacking there may
be opportunities to initiate or get involved with existing
water stewardship initiatives. The Water Action Hub is
good place to start looking.
Taking the actions above can’t guarantee that it will rain but are
a good place to start building resilience to a more water stressed
world. We are keen to provide guidance to our suppliers on
water and to hear your thoughts on the ingredients above:
email us at Foods.plana@marks-and-spencer.com
The ingredients for a supply chain ready
to deal with a water stressed world
REMINDER – 22nd March
is World Water Day 2016
13. Ethical updates
11
We require all our supplier sites to book onto a workshop below, and we also ask
that you dessiminate Stronger Together dates and information within your UK
supply chains. Please also ask your labour provider to attend.
For further details and to book a place on the workshops below, please visit
http://stronger2gether.org/training/
Undertaking Stronger Together is one of the ways that suppliers
can equip themselves with the knowledge and resources to prevent
and tackle modern slavery at their sites and in their supply chain.
Latest Stronger Together dates
Date Venue Status
22 March 2016 Manchester Confirmed - spaces
19 April 2016 Devon Confirmed - spaces
21 April 2016 Coventry Confirmed - spaces
24 May 2016 Norwich Confirmed - spaces
07 June 2016 Scotland Confirmed - spaces
14 June 2016 Northampton Confirmed - spaces
28 June 2016 Hull Confirmed - spaces
We are once again supporting our suppliers to run
Wellbeing Weeks, helping them to promote physical,
mental, and financial health awareness.
Last year, we worked with suppliers
to create a Wellbeing Toolkit to give
suppliers content and inspiration for
running wellbeing week. The toolkit
covers six topics: nutrition and
hydration, mental health and
mindfulness, physical health and
fitness, women’s and men’s health,
careers and skills development, and
savings, pensions and financial
management. The toolkit includes over
50 activities and related resources, and
highlights potential partners that sites
can work with to bring topics to life, for
example Company Shop, Love Food
Hate Waste and Dementia Friends.
From previous years, popular topics
have included promote mental and
physical health through sporting
and fitness classes/challenges;
promoting good nutrition and
hydration through provision of healthy
alternatives, competitions and cooking
competitions; and enabling employees
to make appropriate decisions about
their financial health through
information sessions, provision of
leaflets and advice stands.
You can use the Toolkit to run wellbeing
activities at any time of the year but
we are hoping that many of you will
choose to run in during our peak
campaign period in March. If you are
running a Wellbeing Week this year
please make sure you email
mstoolkits@averygoodcompany.org
to receive more information and so
that we know you are taking part.
Find the toolkits here.
Meanwhile, here at MS we are
running our own wWellbeing Challenge,
asking MS employees to sign up
across three categories: Eat Well;
Energy; and Resilience. The builds on
previous years when we have run
Weight Loss Challenges, and reflects
our increased focus on Mental Health
and good Nutrition, alongside physical
health. The Challenge has proved
a great success, with over 1,500
employees signed up.
Wellbeing Week
14. WhathappenswhenLe
adership p
otentiaLisreleased?
reported that their
heaLth improved
Waking up to bad
unheaLthy habits
facing the truth
reaLising Where money
is going eg. smoking,
drinking
ready to act
suddenLy feeLing abLe to use training,
Like basic hygiene skiLLs, that they feLt
unabLe to adopt before
84% over
57%Were
environmentaL and
heaLth projects
33%started giving 1 hour more
to community
voLunteering
“i can make
a difference in
my community”
“
“
i don’t
need to
Wait --
i can
act
“We can get
ourselves back
to school”
85%reported
taking action
to improve their
famiLy’s education
benefitted
famiLy
reLationships
community
security
increased
“i’m ready to care
for myself now”
“i’m starting to
believe in my
potential”
75%reported signing up for
training
at Work
as they had greater motivation
to improve themseLves
“i’m noW the
Leader of my
oWn Life”
“i see myseLf
as a Leader
noW”
started
income82%
generating projects
161%increase in
househoLd savings
“We’re honest now
about where our
money goes”
“i now see what it
means to budget”
“i now have courage
to talk to my partner
about money”
seLf
esteem
increased
“i can see what our
community needs,
so i’ll get started --
i won’t wait”
set up
community
projects
to benefit their
community
65%
“i’m starting to
believe in my
potential”
www.emerging-leaders.net
Ethical updates
12
Our early pilots show that the Emerging Leaders programme in the UK is proving just as effective
for both business and people as the programmes we’ve run in South Africa and Kenya.
Businesses are noticing a marked difference in individual’s
lives and how that is impacting their work lives for the better.
The below infographic highlights some of the biggest impacts.
We now need more businesses in the UK to look into running
one of the Emerging Leaders’ programmes so that Emerging
Leaders will be able to run an effective ‘Train the Trainer’
course later this year.
Learn about the impacts of the Emerging Leaders
programmes from MMUK, one of the businesses that has
pioneered the ‘Leadership for Life’ programme in the UK.
“MM Flowers is delighted to have piloted LFL – it has provided
a platform for some of our shop floor staff with tools and
techniques that should enable them to lead their life both
professionally and personally. The feedback has been great
and we look forward to developing the programme further”
Andrew Wright MMUK.
Some of the benefits felt by MMUK staff:
Sharon - has taken more responsibility in the accounts
department and as a result been given promotion overseeing
both Ice-cream and juice accounts.
Elena - When the manager isn’t present Elena now steps in
more and as a result team are going to her for advice and
help. More responsibilities are now being handed to her.
Jackie - was a self confessed ‘chicken’ and was quite happy
being one prior to the training. She has changed more than
anyone. Staff were really surprised with the transformation: she
dresses more vibrantly, she engages in conversations, and today
told Senior colleagues that everyone at Munoz should do the
EL Training from the shop floor to the CEO because there’s
so much to gain from it. She has taken more responsibility at
work and is more open minded about trying new things, for
example taking up running – something she wouldn’t have
done before because she was scared to go out in the dark.
Please email steve@emerging-leaders.net or hazel.culley@marksandspencer.com for more details.
WANTED –
Organisations looking to pilot
Emerging Leaders in the UK
15. At the recent Ethical Exchange, Fergus Morgan from 2 Sisters presented on the new
Poultry Chain Supply Ethical Code of Practice. We believe this is a useful case study
from which other sectors can learn.
Poultry Chain Supply
Ethical Code of Practice
Ethical updates
13
Approximately four years ago, 2 Sisters
initiated a review of ethical standards
in the poultry supply chain, prompted
in part by MS requirements. The
poultry supply chain employs relatively
few people directly, but a large number
of contractors, such as catchers and
cleaners. This initial investigation
highlighted deficiencies in ethical
management and a cultural of operating
based on trust and informality, with
limited understanding of requirements
such as GLA licensing.
As a result of this initial work, a wide-
reaching change programme was
launched with contractors. This included
Sedex registration, risk assessments,
contractor inspections, independent
audits and capacity building sessions.
A number of improvements were seen,
however some contractors were slow
to accept the increased ethical
requirements, in part because the
message was not being given across
the industry.
As a result, 2 Sisters sought to gain
GLA support, and support from other
industry members within the British
Poultry Council. This led to an
agreement to create and publish an
industry ‘Code of Practice’, developed
by a working group including 2 Sisters,
PD Hook, Bernard Matthews, and
others, aiming to raise awareness and
promote a common model of best
practice. The Code of Practice will
be published next month and
includes a supporting statement
written by the GLA, a statement of
commitment from the industry,
guidance on ethical standards
which apply in the supply chain,
training, tips on getting it right,
advice on measuring progress,
and signposts to other
resources. A launch event for
the new Code will take place on
1st March, supported by the GLA.
Please reflect on this case study and
consider whether your industry could
benefit from a similar approach. Please
get in touch with helen.mctaggart@
marksandspencer.com if you would
like to discuss in more detail how your
sector could be more proactive in this
area. We would also be happy to put
you in touch with a member of the
poultry working group to share their
experiences in more detail.
16. Ethical updates
Modern Slavery
14
We recently undertook a survey of suppliers to discern their
understanding of Modern Slavery risk, and their readiness
in responding to the legislation. We had 140 respondents,
and found that:
• The vast majority of suppliers report that they are familiar
with the legislation.
• Many have already carried out reviews in relation to direct
staff and agencies; fewer have done so yet in relation to
contractors and the supply chain.
• Direct employees are considered to be a low risk. Higher
risks relate to agency workers, and supply chain is
considered to be the highest risk.
• The highest risk is identified in the UK. This is followed by
China, Asia and to a lesser extent Eastern Europe.
• In terms of actions carried out to date, or planned to be
carried out, the most cited activity was a review of business
practices, followed by training of staff, review of contracts
and procurement, and collaboration with others.
• Specific activities cited included:
- “We have reviewed the current training given to all staff and
have identified key areas where development is required.”
- “We have moved to one Agency supplier – with a strict
SLA and independent auditing. We have introduced a
whistleblower line – for own and agency staff – and
introduced a new survey for agency employees.”
- “We are finessing our training programme to support
implementation of ‘worker exploitation’ policy and to
raise awareness across all levels of employees.”
- “We are working through the supply base to promote Sedex
registration. All new suppliers are now requested to be
Sedex registered. Terms and conditions of supply now
include compliance with Article 4 of European Convention
on Human Rights (prohibition of slavery and forced labour).”
- “We have incorporate the Modern Slavery Act responsibilities
within 2016 Agency Service Level Agreements. We have
required all labour-based contractors (eg agencies and
security) to supply Modern Slavery statements.”
How advanced are you in your understanding of the
Modern Slavery Act, your response on Modern Slavery,
and in preparing your statement?
Suppliers who want to know more on Modern Slavery and
their obligations can make use of the ever-increasing
available resources on the topic, including:
• Slides from the Modern Slavery session at Ethical
Exchange 28th January 2016, available here.
• The UK government guidance.
• The Stronger Together website (which currently focuses
on operations rather than supply chains, although it will
soon introduce supply chain information).
• The Sedex briefing.
• Resources on Verites website, for example their
e-learning, responsible recruitment resources, and
supply chain accountability.
• Online risk resources such as The Global Slavery Index
and Products of Slavery.
• Materials are increasing week by week, so keep an eye on
what is out there, and let us know of any resources you
find particularly useful.
In addition, if you are interested in getting third party
external support for your business, we can provide some
thoughts on recommended third parties.
Having accessed the materials above, if you have questions
about how you should approach the topic, please get
in touch with helen.mctaggart@marksandspencer.com
Have carried
out assessment
Intend to carry
out assessment
May carry out
assessment
Do not currently
intend to carry
out assessment
Review of potential risk in relation
to own employees
50.00% 24.29% 12.86% 12.86%
Review of potential risk in relation to agency
workers or others provided by third parties
52.14% 22.86% 14.29% 10.71%
Review of risk in relation to contractors
(eg cleaning / security / logistics)
27.14% 31.43% 22.86% 18.57%
Review of supply chain risks 28.57% 39.29% 22.14% 10.00%
Have already
carried out
Activities
planned
Intend to carry
out activities
Not currently
intending to
do this
Review of business practices 48.55% 15.22% 26.09% 10.14%
Training of staff 42.65% 13.97% 25.74% 17.65%
Review of contracts and procurement 33.09% 19.85% 33.82% 13.24%
Collaboration with others 31.20% 15.20% 28.00% 25.60%
Suppliers should all be aware of the new Modern Slavery Act, which requires all
businesses with a turnover of £36m in the UK to make a statement setting out the steps
they are taking to ensure there is no modern slavery in their supply chains and organisations.
17. Sedex
conference
Suppliers may be interested in attending
the 2016 Sedex conference 2-3 March 2016.
The theme this year is Recognising Interconnectivities
to Drive Supply Chain Sustainability. The first day of the
conference is focussed on auditing and assessment, with
the second day a broader agenda on sustainability and
ethical trade. To learn more about the agenda, and sign
up, visit the Sedex conference page.
Ethical updates
15
Movement to Work
However, we still have work to date, in order to reach our
target of 100 suppliers signed up to Movement to Work by
the end of March 2016, and our target to deliver 2000
placements during the financial year 2015/2016.
MTW was discussed at our Commercial conference earlier this
year and it is also now a requirement at Silver in the Ethical
framework, so it really is part of How We Do Business and
many of our suppliers have told us how they have integrated
MTW into their recruitment strategies and activities. As we
approach the end of the financial year, we need another big
push from suppliers – we need a small number of additional
suppliers to commit to running work placements this year,
and we need those already committed to push on with the
placement commitments you previously supplied to us. It is
also crucial that you continue to input your data into Credit
360 on a monthly basis so we can accurately track and report
on the number of placements being delivered.
Some highlights from suppliers taking part:
• In April 2015 Dawnfresh was named Skills Development
Scotland’s Youth Employer of the month.
• At G’s Fresh their programme is endorsed at the highest
level, many young people have successfully completed
their Seeds to Success programme, resulting in jobs at
the final celebration… certificates are awarded to every
participant by the CEO.
• Tulip have also had great success in running their
programme. Ally Patterson, HRBP said “Our managers
recognise that as a large local employer it is key to be part of
the community and assist the young unemployed with life /
work skills to enable them to get back into work and not only
that, that it is also providing us with a good source of labour.”
So please keep up the momentum, help build the future
generation within your factories and ensure you deliver on
your pledge so we meet our commitment.
Here’s how one of your programmes has made a real difference:
“Before MTW I had no routine, no prospects, no nothing. I then
applied for this scheme. It was the best thing that I ever did,
I now have a full time job, plenty of savings in my bank and,
most importantly, a purpose in life”.
We would like to celebrate the great progress suppliers have made on
delivering Movement to Work (Youth Unemployment) opportunities,
and the difference it is making to the lives of young people. To date,
this financial year you have provided 1278 placements and 1127
young people have gained work. Well done for your great efforts.
Let’s now push forward for an even higher figure for the end of March.
18. 16
Buying in to Fairtrade
Groceries buyer Emily Oldfield shares her experience
on a recent tea and coffee trip to source in Kenya
Fairtrade
Fortnight
Ethical updates
MS has been sourcing Fairtrade tea and coffee for over 10 years, but a trip to source for Emily,
who joined Groceries as a buyer a year ago, was a good opportunity for her to understand the real
value of Fairtrade certification, for our growers and for us.
“Myself and Groceries Technologist
James Mitchell recently went out to
Kenya to learn more about our tea and
coffee supply chain. We had done a
lot of visits to factories in the UK but
so much growing and processing
happens at source and we felt that
quite a big part of our knowledge was
missing. In five days we managed
to pack in 3 tea factories, 2 coffee
co-operatives, a non-Fairtrade coffee
estate alongside visits to a number of
growers and Fairtrade projects.
One of my key objectives was to learn
about the value of Fairtrade; as a buyer
it’s important for me to understand the
significance of the price premium to
growers. To get a good grasp of the
difference that Fairtrade makes we
visited a non-Fairtrade estate called
Yadini, on the way to Mount Kenya, as
well as visiting a number of Fairtrade
cooperatives that we source from.
Meeting some of our growers brought
it home just how small scale a lot of
them are – some were growing coffee
alongside banana plants in their
back gardens!
Tea and coffee are highly traded
commodities and with so many small
scale farmers involved it’s important
that growers are protected and given
a voice – Fairtrade certification helps by
supporting worker’s rights. The biggest
difference between the estate and
the Fairtrade cooperatives were the
impressive projects in place with the
help of the premium: one cooperative
built a computer lab which helps to
support the development of worker
communities, whilst the other had
a beehive on site which produces
honey that the growers can sell at
the local market, helping to diversify
their incomes.
We also got to see the benefit of a
project that MS invested directly in
at a tea cooperative in Mount Kenya.
MS helped the cooperative purchase
a machine which packaged the tea,
allowing the growers to sell their
product direct to MS and to the local
community thus allowing the farmers
to have a greater share of the value of
tea and a bigger involvement in the
supply chain. Boosting livelihoods of
our growers means we have quality
supply in years to come – and it’s also
a great story to tell our customers.
Communicating these human stories is
definitely a challenge for us, particularly
on pack, but we have some exciting
plans in the pipeline to engage the
customer with our Fairtrade products
during Fairtrade Fortnight – so watch
this space!
Like other raw material commodity
farmers, most tea and coffee growers
have little idea of what the finished
product looks like. Speaking at the
Plan A Conference in Kenya was a great
opportunity to engage our growers
with MS and I think it certainly helped
to build trust down the supply chain.
I’d definitely recommend source visits
to other buyers – it’s easy to become
disconnected from the people and
places that grow our products; going
to source helps you understand the
value of driving sustainability in your
products. Building long-term thinking
into your buying decisions is also key
– after all MS wants to be around for
many years to come.
In 2004 MS started selling Fairtrade
coffee in our cafes, and in 2006
converted all Fairtrade tea and coffee
in cafes and in store to Fairtrade. We
have sold 100% Fairtrade tea and
coffee ever since. In addition, we also
sell Fairtrade bagged bananas, and a
range of Fairtrade chocolate bars, wine,
conserves and Fairtrade roses. We have
continued to innovate: in 2014 we were
the first retailer to sell
own-brand Nespresso
compatible Fairtrade coffee
pods, and in 2012 we brought
to market a tea product –
Mount Kenya tea – which was
not only grown, but also
packed at source, ensure that more
value was delivered to the Fairtrade
farmers and communities that grow
the tea. In the advent of Fairtrade
Fortnight we have made a number of
videos for our store staff and the wider
community to communicate and
promote our work with Fairtrade.
Watch one of them here.
Fairtrade Fortnight is again coming to stores between
29th February and 13th March. We will be making the most
of the opportunity to showcase ourfantasticFairtradeproducts.
19. raw materials
Over the last few months the packaging team
have been reviewing the types of materials we
use, the frequency and the health. The team
built on the road map begun by Andrew Speck,
updated the data and invited a suite of
industry experts to critique and refine.
The results led to an overall strategy for packaging materials
that moves the emphasis away from individual packaging
items and focuses on the integrity and performance of
the packaging suppliers, the principle being that if the
manufacturers are working to the highest standards and
integrity their packaging will follow.
The will be three fundamentals:
1. lowest energy production
2. healthiest material specification
3. highest manufacturing integrity
The focus will be to add greater rigour to the BRC
audit by raising the specification to Level 1 only and
use the same principles on equivalent audit process
where BRC is not available. We will also elect a number
of approved auditors, all of which will have been
audited in their own right for the required process
and execution.
This emphasis on the production rather than the
packaging item will align the packaging suppliers
with the food producers and allow greater opportunity
for Plan A attributes to be earned.
There will be specific projects in each material groupings
to compliment the overall strategy.
Paper and Board
• Recycled board development for food contact
• Total recyclability of cartons with windows
• Lowest energy board mills as preferred suppliers
Plastic
• Further reducing plastic variations used in the business
with the goal of one material does all
• Developing a pouch design to allow full recyclability
• Introduction of biopolymers on a cost effective time plan
• Carbon neutral polymers
Glass
• Light weighting of wine bottles to optimal weights.
• Highest performing plants with greatest integrity as
preferred suppliers
• Lowest energy plants to be identified and selected
Metal
• Lowest energy steel
• Carbon neutral suppliers
• Highest performing plants with
greatest integrity as preferred suppliers
• Light weighting of food cans
This clarified and streamlined strategy brings the packaging
supply chain in line with the overall MS food business and
provides a simplified message for food suppliers managing
their own packaging suppliers.
packaging
materials
strategy
17
20. What are the key themes for
agriculture in 2016?
news
The first week of January saw me attending the annual Oxford
Farming Conference, a good event, which we support, and which
explores the challenges facing the farming industry and sets the
agri-business scene for 2016.
This event has been running since 1936
and is regarded as the authoritative
farming conference in the UK. Every year
leading farmers, scientists, politicians and
business people from around the globe
gather in Oxford to assess the events of
the previous 12 months, and investigate
the issues that will impact the industry
in the future.
The theme of this year’s conference was
‘bold agriculture’, with the three-day event
focusing on the roles that technology,
sustainable farming and entrepreneurship
have in helping to create an ambitious
and successful farming sector.
Innovation for sustainability
Sustainability is something that affects
us all and farmers worldwide are grappling
with how we produce enough food to
feed a growing population from fewer
resources. One of the speakers at the
conference was Dr. Bram Govaerts, who
is involved in sustainable agriculture
research in South America. He urged that
the solution was to encourage food
producers to do more, with less. No easy
task, but through innovation in crop
science and the development of better
agronomy practices, we know it can be
done. It was encouraging that the
approaches to solving these big issues
that were advocated by Bram included
closer working with farmers to increase
training and innovation and, as a result,
the efficiency of farm production –
all things that we are already doing
as part of the MS Farming For the
Future programme.
Power of data
In a world of ‘big data’ and rapid
technological advances, another speaker,
chief scientist at The Climate Corporation,
David Fischhoff, examined how the role
of digitisation and data science in
agriculture is improving the efficiency
of food production.
Whilst we are all used to working in a
digital age, it remains a surprise to some
that farmers and growers are using
technology and data to become more
efficient. Everything that affects
agriculture is becoming digitised, from
the genetics of seeds, to weather data.
With faster computers, cheaper wireless
data transfers and greater capacity for
data storage than ever before, data
scientists are now able to develop
computer models that can quickly
analyse digital agricultural data and
provide valuable feedback.
So, whilst rural broadband continues
to be an issue for some, these digital
advances are enabling farmers across
the globe to manage resources in an
increasingly efficient manner, through
data management and information
sharing, whilst simultaneously
maintaining or improving levels
of food production.
Entrepreneurship
Every year, the Oxford Farming Conference
produces an annual report and for 2016,
the focus was on entrepreneurship in the
farming sector.
With increasingly volatile markets, declining
commodity prices and lower direct
subsidies, farmers need to become more
entrepreneurial if they are to survive and
thrive. Those farms and farmers that are
more entrepreneurial seem to be the
most successful and profitable.
A farm is an excellent place to build an
entrepreneurial business and, whether
focused on diversification or solely food
production, farmers were urged to
implement ideas that maximise returns
from the resources at their disposal.
To encourage this entrepreneurial ethos,
education of young farmers was seen as
a key element for future success; both
through practical and classroom
experience. This is also something that
we focus on through our MS Farming
for the Future programme, with our
Agricultural Leadership Programme at
Cranfield University being shortlisted last
year in the Business in the Community
Responsible Business Awards.
Politics
A number of notable politicians were at
this year’s event, including Secretary of
State for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs, Liz Truss, her shadow opponent,
Kerry McCarthy, as well as MP Owen
Patterson and EU Commissioner for
Agriculture, Phil Hogan.
The topics they raised included the
impact on the agricultural industry if
Britain were to leave the European Union,
the restructuring of DEFRA and the
challenges that UK farmers face in the
wake of climate change and global
market pressures.
All of the politician’s speeches
highlighted that the challenges facing
food producers remain significant, and
volatility and complexity are only likely
to continue into the future. MS suppliers
are not excluded from these difficulties
and we will continue to work with and
support our farmers and growers as they
face the challenges of the year ahead.
Steve McLean, Head of Agriculture Fisheries
Health
Trends This issue includes:
• What’s the fuss about Vitamin D?
• Sugar Smart App
• Health MOTs
• Workplace wellbeing
• Are potatoes healthy during
pregnancy?
• Training, Gluten Free Week and Salt
Awareness Week.
As the January health kicks are gradually subsiding the MS
Nutrition team rounded up the latest health activity nutrition
science for you in the attached newsletter.
If you are a supplier with access to Connect, you can find the newsletter here.
18
21. 1. The Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) are starting to play
their part in joining up the many
different strands of sustainability.
However, few institutions have the
skills and tools to hand to ‘join the
dots’ effectively.
2. There were reflections on the
important role that business played
in encouraging a strong outcome at
COP21, but after that it was into
tough discussions about how to
reach those targets.
3. The very strength of COP21, its
bottom up approach based on each
country’s own national plan means
we will have to navigate through
a fragmented global climate
marketplace with many different
approaches to challenges, for
example the price on carbon.
4. In a very ‘here and now’ world there
was a recognition that sudden
extreme weather events would
continue to be the ‘shocks’ needed
to global complacency.
5. Water seemed to move up the
agenda, identified as a key cause of
today’s migration crisis and a
definite ‘risk multiplier’ in the
volatile Middle East.
6. Forests on a relative scale continue
to be viewed as a success both in
terms of the nascent evidence that
the worst excesses have been
stopped in a number of key countries
as well as the potential for yet more
future gains in reducing carbon
emissions at relatively low cost.
7. The launch of the New Plastics
Economy Report by WEF, Ellen
MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey
was an important step in translating
the circular economy from being a
tantalising theory into a genuine
route map to a better future.
8. WEF launched its much vaunted
4th Industrial Revolution; it’s clear
we are seeing a rapid, powerful
convergence of a number of big
technology changes like artificial
intelligence. There was some
recognition that this had massive
implications from jobs to privacy but
there was a little debate over the
‘winners and losers’ in these changes.
9. What is clear is that we are going to
need a new form of governmental
and business leadership for the
future to embrace these changes.
10. Davos’s great Achilles heel it’s its
lack of diversity in membership
which remains largely aged, white
and male! Until that changes, it will
starve itself of the broad talent,
skills and knowledge that’s
needed to lead a complex world.
If 2015 was an emotive year
of commitment, 2016 is shaping
up nicely to be a more ‘granular’
year of delivery. Never has
it been more important for
business to provide leadership
in an uncertain world, to join
partnerships that deliver scale
and to innovate with new
technologies that are good
for the all not just the few.
Basically – get things done!
So what to make of the World Economic Forum in Davos this year? There were lots of short term
worries from oil prices to terrorism, jockeyed with the big theme (a new 4th Industrial Revolution).
Here are my 10 key reflections:
10 Reflections
on Davos 2016from Plan A’s Mike Barry
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Mike Barry,
Director of Plan A
23. At Marks Spencer we believe in doing the right thing, not just
saying it, and Spark Something Good is our way for us all to make
a real difference. Whether it’s getting involved in the community
through your local store, shwopping your old clothes with us or
helping us to beat cancer, we want everyone to join in, have fun
and spark something good.
The community volunteering part of
Spark Something Good launched back
in July 2015 where we kicked off
transforming 24 community projects
in London in just 24 hours. The baton
then passed to Dublin and Manchester
where our colleagues, customers and
partners made a real difference to
communities in Manchester and Dublin.
The start of 2016 sees Swansea take
up the challenge aiming to boost the
community in time for St David’s Day
celebrations on 1st March after which
the baton passes to Edinburgh for
a week in March. Each month will see
the baton pass to a different city.
This is an amazing opportunity for
everyone to make a real difference
to their local community.
We’re looking for volunteers to offer
one day of their time (or even half
a day) to help with a range of activities
and we’d love for you, our suppliers,
to be involved. There’s something for
everyone, from renovating community
gardens, to painting a community
centre or skill sharing through sewing,
IT help, project planning expertise
and much more. We hope you, our
suppliers, will join us when Spark
Something Good comes to your
local city.
Please get in touch with us at
SSG@marks-and-spencer.com
to discuss this further.
Swansea:
Wednesday 24th February –
Tuesday 1st March
Edinburgh:
Tuesday 8th March –
Monday 14th March
Spark Something Good
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