M&S Voted Most Ethical High Street Retailer

A year after the horrific Rana Plaza factory disaster in Bangladesh retailers and their supply chains have come under much press scrutiny.

After extensively surveying more than 25 of the UK’s high street retailers Ethical Consumer magazine has named M&S as the most ethical in the clothing sector. Ethical Consumer magazine scored retailers on their proactivity in supplying clothing made by fairly paid and protected workers.

Ethical Consumer lead reporter Bryony Moor said: “Well-made clothing from well-paid and protected workers is available now as a real alternative to the fast-fashion, high-exploitation model. It’s worth remembering that when a company is solely concerned with making a profit, somebody, somewhere is always going to suffer.”

Closely following M&S in the high street category were Zara and H&M, while the most ethical alternative clothing companies were named as People Tree, Living Crafts and THTC.

Labour Behind the Label has also rated M&S positively. The charity stated that M&S have taken “steps to develop and implement a living wage”  for its suppliers.

The Fashion Enter factory in North London produces garments for the M&S Best of British range, CEO Jenny Holloway comments:

“Working with M&S on the ‘Best of British’ range has been a real privilege. For me its a great achievement too as I was once a Selector of M&S for T43 Formal Blouses! M&S is demanding and this is only right; a garment should look as good on the inside as it does on the outside. It is very much a team approach and we have worked directly with M&S on improved audit processes for all suppliers. We are now looking forward to growing our business with M&S.”

Back in 2012 M&S picked up Responsible Retailer of the Year at the World Retail Awards and have continued to work towards an eco and ethical set of criteria.

The Clean Clothes Campaign provided this ‘Check Your Brand’ chart with their recently launched report “Tailored Wages” that looks at the steps companies are taking to implement a living wage.