44


John Lewis Partnership plc Annual Report and Accounts 2014


FACTORS AFFECTING FUTURE PERFORMANCE CONTINUED Trust


Customers are increasingly demanding peace of mind about product provenance and ethical and environmental behaviour.


Overview Our trading brands have long standing and consistent reputations for being amongst the most trusted in the country. Customers have come to expect excellent service and quality products, but increasingly they are also looking at other factors when making purchasing decisions. They are asking more questions about where products are sourced, the quality of supplier working conditions, whether fair wages are paid and the environmental impacts of the products they buy.


In Waitrose, we have seen growing enthusiasm for British produce which has led to an upsurge in buying British and locally produced foods.


At the same time, a move to what we call “radical transparency”, means customers, Non-Governmental Organisations (‘NGOs’) and the media have access to more information about what we do and how we perform than ever before. Events happening on one side of the world can become headline news on the other in a matter of clicks and the rise of social media means that customers can easily post comments and be influenced by other customers’ views when making purchasing decisions.


How the Partnership is responding


to these trends Our customers expect good corporate behaviour and sound ethical, social and environmental practices.


In our supply chain, we work closely with our suppliers and provide them with the tools to help them to make sound business decisions based on expectations written into our Constitution – to respect the wellbeing of their employees, the local communities and the environment. Our ambition is to increase the proportion of products we sell that are sustainably certified. This not only assures us of integrity in the way products are sourced but sends a positive message to our customers through associated product labelling.


At Waitrose, we are ‘Championing British’ through our dedicated supply chains – all our fresh beef, pork, chicken, hen eggs and milk are 100% British – and at John Lewis we are offering British start-ups mentoring to help refine their products and services for the market through the StartUp Britain campaign.


However, we can always be more ambitious. In order to meet our customers’ expectations in the future, we recognise there is much more to do to ensure we are investing in the right way to respond to the greatest challenges impacting society. 2014 will see us undertaking a ‘materiality review’ to prioritise the issues of greatest importance across our value chain – from the way we source our products, to the way we operate our estate, to the way we engage with our Partners and customers – and to plan and invest accordingly.


For details about our executive remuneration, please see page 74.


53%


of the British public see the horsemeat contamination as a betrayal of trust.


Source: ‘Horsemeat in the food supply: one year on’ IPSOS MORI, January 2014


SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW


For more details about these initiatives, please see our separate Sustainability Review.


PRODUCT LABELLING


We are committed to making our product labelling even more transparent and we work with our suppliers to promote sustainability throughout the supply chain.


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