Collaborations & Memberships
Find out more about the organisations we've joined or collaborate with
Environmental risks, social inequality and the need to provide healthy food in an increasingly complicated and unpredictable world will continue to be a challenge. The size and complexity of these issues mean they cannot be addressed by any one solution or any one organisation. We need concerted, collaborative effort involving scientists, businesses, investors, governments, NGOs and consumers to tackle the world’s most pressing issues. In comparison to many others in our industry, we are not a big buyer of many of the products we sell. And we don’t always have the buying power on our own to make the changes we’d like to see.
Partnership has always been at the heart of how we do business. This is because we know we need and contribute to outside knowledge and expertise to help us achieve shared objectives and mutually beneficial economic, social and environmental outcomes.
Commitments and targets
Our ambition is to accelerate change by leading with others. We’re committed to working collaboratively with suppliers, civil society, the science community, governments, customers and other businesses.
Approach
In addition to M&S corporate participation in collaborations, the following table summarises our key collaborations and memberships of relevance to our Clothing & Home business. We outline the main reasons why we’re involved with each of these organisations.
| Organisation | Type | Member Since | Status | Why we're involved |
| Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) | Industry Association | 2015 | Participating company | To drive measurable improvement in sustainability performance in apparel |
| Sustainable Clothing Action Programme (WRAP) | Industry Association | 2007 | Founding member, participating company, and member of the Steering Group and Technical Working Group | To improve the sustainability of clothing across its lifecycle |
| Textile Exchange | Non-Profit Organisation | 2004 | Participating company | To promote sustainable practices in the textile value chain |
| British Retail Consortium | Industry Association | 1992 (and prior to this the British Retailers Association) | Participating company, member of the Policy Board and represented on several Working Groups including Environment and Responsible Sourcing | To help drive and shape the retail agenda whilst making sure our own business priorities are represented |
Forum for the Future | Non-Profit Organisation | 2001 | Pioneer Partner and participating company | To promote and accelerate sustainable business practice |
| Ethical Trading Initiative | Multi-Stakeholder Initiative | 1999 | Participating company and have been a member of the Board | To drive continuous improvement of working conditions in global supply chains |
| Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex) | Non-Profit Organisation | 2004 | Founding member, participating company, and member of the Board | To drive continuous improvement of working and environmental conditions in global supply chains |
| Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh | Multi-Stakeholder Initiative | 2013 | Participating company | To support the implementation of health and safety measures to help ensure a safe and sustainable ready made garment industry in Bangladesh |
| ILO Better Work | Tripartite Organisation | 2007 | Partner company – Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia | To improve worker-management cooperation, working conditions and social dialogue in global garment and footwear supply chains |
BSR | Non-Profit Organisation | 2008 | Participating company and participant in HERproject including HERhealth in Vietnam and Kenya; HERrespect in India; and HERfinance in Bangladesh | To empower low-income women working in global supply chains through workplace programmes promoting health and financial inclusion |
| Fast Forward | Industry Association | 2016 | Founding member and participating company | To tackle exploitation and mistreatment of workers in UK supply chains with a focus on identifying risks of modern slavery |
| Institute of Human Rights and Business Responsible Recruitment Leadership Group | Multi-Stakeholder Initiative | 2016 | Participating company | To drive positive change in the way that migrant workers are recruited |
| Canopy | Non-Profit Organisation | 2014 | Member of Leaders Working Group in the Fashion and Textile Leaders for Forest Conservation Working Group’s ‘Fashion Loved by Forest’ initiative | To improve the sourcing of wood-based fabrics |
| Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) | Multi-Stakeholder Initiative | 2006 | Participating company and member of the Board | To improve global standards for sustainable palm oil |
| Leather Working Group (LWG) | Industry Association | 2005 | Founding member, and participating company | To improve environmental conditions in the global leather supply chain |
| Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) | Multi-Stakeholder Initiative | 2009 | Pioneer member, and participating company | To promote more sustainable cultivation of cotton globall |
| Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) | Industry Association | 2011 | Participating company | To reduce the impact of harmful substances associated with clothing and textiles |
| On Pack Recycling Label | Non-Profit Organisation | 2009 | Founding member, participating company and member of the Board | To promote simple, consistent and UK-wide recycling messaging on packaging |
| The Microfibre Consortium | Multi-Stakeholder Initiative | 2018 | Participating company and member of the board | To align on the emerging need for a better understanding of fibre fragmentation in regard to pollution. |