Marks & Spencer UK Plan A

Plan A is our five-year, 100-point 'eco' plan to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our business and our world. It will see us working with our customers and our suppliers to combat climate change, reduce waste, safeguard natural resources, trade ethically and build a healthier nation.

We're doing this because it's what you want us to do. It's also the right thing to do. We're calling it Plan A because we believe it's now the only way to do business. There is no Plan B.

The Five Pillars

The five pillars represent the five key areas where we believe we can make our business both more sustainable and kinder to the environment. These five areas are: Climate Change, Waste, Sustainable Raw Materials, Health and being a Fair Partner. Each pillar has its own goal. By 2012 we aim to:

- Become carbon neutral
- Send no waste to landfill
- Extend sustainable sourcing
- Help improve the lives of people in our supply chain
- Help customers and employees live a healthier life-style

For more information visit : http://plana.marksandspencer.com

PLAN A in the Gulf

As a franchise partner of Marks & Spencer UK, we have supported the Plan A program and established our 60-point plan in the line with same five pillars of Plan A.

Each store has nominated a Plan A Champion from within their team to promote & follow through on actions listed in our plan. Every employee in our organization has been briefed about Plan A and it is also a part of our induction routine for new employees. Stores have put up a Plan A board where notices about action in the UK and the Gulf are updated regularly for staff information. We are also involving our 3PL partner so that they can also support our plan where applicable.

SOME ACHIEVEMENTS

• Moved majority of air-freight import shipments from UK to sea-freight
• Presentations to staff on Global Warming to generate awareness about climate change & the effects
• Recycling of plastic hangers in UAE to create "EcoWood"
• Recycling Centers setup in stores to recycling waste plastic, aluminum cans, glass bottles
• Reducing use of carrier bags at till points & general reduction of usage of plastic in the stores
• Reusing carrier bags by offering same to customers during refunds/exchanges. Ones that cannot be reused as being recycling with our plastic waste
• Reviewing material used for carrier bags and looking at other options - recycling paper bags or degradable material
• Introduction of Atomspheric Water Generator (AWG) in UAE stores. The machine generates approx 20 liters of water by absorbing the humidity from the air, cooling the same, purifying by ultraviolet light. The machine can work with min fo 35% humidity
• Promoting Fairtrade, Eat Well, Organic ranges of foods in the stores
• Supporting community with participation in charity events, sponsorships of gifts for raffles, etc
• Employee Engagement Survey

* we are extending all the work done in UAE to out-of-UAE stores as well and the Plan A Champions in the stores are constantly reviewing if the necessary infrastructure is available to help achieve our goals.