Daily CSR
Daily CSR

Daily CSR
Daily news about corporate social responsibility, ethics and sustainability

John Lewis Partnership Shares Its Sustainability Performance



05/02/2016

The John Lewis Partnership continues to work in the areas of social, environmental and commercial issues under sustainable approaches.


Dailycsr.com – 02 May 2016 – The annual reports 2016 of John Lewis Partnership has been made public. The same accounts for its “sustainability performance” in a review and also provides a “more detailed” report online.
 
The said report extrapolates a situation of the world into the year of 2028, which marks a century of the “Partnership’s Founder, John Spedan Lewis, took over the business” who inherited the same from his father. After John Spedan Lewis took charge of the situation, he transferred the company’s ownership to “a trust for the benefit of his staff”.
 
The trends enlisted as a result of the extrapolation shows a technology boost, besides mitigating “resource scarcity” and battling the social impacts of “climate change, and health and wealth inequality”. Moreover, the report also considers the impacts on the “workplace and the retail environment” caused by the above mentioned areas.
 
The said report, dealing with “material sustainability issues”, the company’s “targets, priorities and achievements” in the fiscal year of 2015-2016, is available on:
www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/csr  
 
The same also reflects the meaning of the trend embraced within the company’s business operations, whereby it underpins:
“...its approach to Responsible Business is its Constitution – a set of Rules and Principles first produced in 1928 by its Founder”. 
 
The set of rules touches upon the areas of responsibilities towards “customers, suppliers, the environment and communities”, while the “Principle 1” deal with the “‘the happiness’ of its employees or ‘Partners’”. Here are some of the key sustainability achievements acquired by the Partnership:
  • “Investment of £12,225,309 in community organisations, equivalent to 4% of pre-tax profits
  • “The Waitrose Foundation celebrated its 10th year, having reached over 100,000 people in its Waitrose’s fresh produce supply chains and launched a first-of-its kind partnership with the Fairtrade Foundation
  • “Over 3,000 schools, nurseries and children’s groups registered with John Lewis’s flagship educational programme – Bringing Skills to Life
  • “Reduced energy consumption per ft2 of trading floor area by 5%
  • “Reduced Waitrose’s refrigeration emissions by 17.5%
  • “Reduced Waitrose’s total food waste generated by 11.2%
  • “Achieved its target to divert 98% of our operational waste from landfill and increased recycling to 66.4%
  • “Focused on lowering sugar content of soft drinks
  • “Awarded MSC Best Fish Counter for the second year
  • “Awarded Compassion in World Farming Retailer of the Year Award (EU) for the fifth time
  • “Completed a detailed review of its approach to Human Rights in its supply chains and produced its inaugural human rights report – available on the site
  • “91,500 Partners (employees) received a Bonus of 10% - equivalent to more than 5 weeks’ pay
  • “Expanded the company’s diversity networks to encompass: Pride in the Partnership (the LGBT+); Faith and Belief; Unity (Black and Minority Ethnic); and TEN: Think Evolve Network (gender)”
 
In order to strengthen its governance, the Partnership “appointment” a subcommittee under the board, named “the Corporate Responsibility Committee”. A non-executive director has been assigned at the chair committee’s position. The committee will advice the board in issues related to the “Partnership’s Corporate Responsibility Policy and objectives”.
 
Moreover, Dame Fiona Reynolds has also become a part of the committee, whereby she stated:
"I am delighted to have been selected to join the Committee and I look forward to working with the Partnership on these vitally important issues".
 
References:
http://www.ethicalperformance.com/