The last several years have seen challenging increases to the costs of essential goods and services and those cost-of-living pressures place the most painful pressure on those on the lowest wages and incomes. We know that M&S has continued to pay [EXPAND]

The last several years have seen challenging increases to the costs of essential goods and services and those cost-of-living pressures place the most painful pressure on those on the lowest wages and incomes. We know that M&S has continued to pay the real living wage to all directly employed staff in the last year. However we again urge the Board to commit to guarantee that on-site third party contractors who are vital to the company's operations as well, also enjoy the dignity of the real living wage. So we invite you to listen to shareholders and stakeholders, including customers, and commit to make this step well before next year's AGM. 

This question was answered live in our broadcast at 40:57.

This year we made our biggest ever investment in retail pay - £89 million – to at least £12 per hour, in line with the Real Living Wage, as well as investing in improved maternity and paternity policies as part of our broader reward package. Since March 2022 we have increased our standard hourly rate by more than 26%; significantly ahead of inflation. Our third-party contractors, as separate businesses, set their rates independently but they must comply with our ethical standards. We continue to have constructive, active dialogue with ShareAction and wider stakeholders, most importantly our colleague representative network BIG, with the feedback we are given informing the decisions we make on pay. Although under constant review, accreditation is not something we are considering committing to at this time.