With one in five M&S customer households cooking for a flexitarian/vegetarian, Rachel Silver is joined by Melanie Leyshon, Editor of the Healthy Food Guide, Claire Richardson, who has created the new M&S plant based food range and Stephen Lawson, M&S’ footwear technologist and design engineer who has developed the retailer’s vegan-friendly footwear styles about the rise of vegan lifestyles and vegan-friendly products.

In this episode Rachel Silver speaks to David Gandy, M&S's Ambassador of Tailoring, and James Doidge, Head of Design for Menswear, on designing more sustainably and buying to last.

In this episode we look at the role of empowering ‘intrapreneurs’ within the workforce. These are people who are inspiring change and new thinking inside their company.

Rachel Silver speaks to Bethan Harris, founder of Collectively, whose mission is to unleash collective action to build a better future, working with passionate people within businesses to accelerate change from the inside and Rebecca Garner, who led, inspired and supported 20 M&S employees to do this. 

Credits

Hosted by Rachel Silver

Researched by Daniel Himsworth and Charlotte Allport

Original music: “Blue” by Rose Betts (Vocalist) and Manon Dave (Producer)

Produced and edited by Kevin Fasusi

Ethical sourcing – treating people well – has always been important. But the government’s introduction of the Modern Slavery Act in 2015 accelerated a move that was already afoot to bring a sharper focus on supply chain ethics and the fight against Modern Day Slavery.

And it is brands and retailers that are responsible for putting in place stringent measures to prevent Modern Day Slavery in their supply chains, regardless of how complex that supply chain might be.

So, we talk to the person charged with this at M&S, Louise Nicholls, and a true expert in the field, David Camp, who runs consultancy Alliance HR and is founder of Stronger Together.

A podcast that goes behind the scenes at one of Britain’s best loved retailers. We interview execs from Marks and Spencer and guests from the world of business, sustainability, government and campaign groups as we tackle some of the some of the big issues facing business today, look at the history of the High Street and the ever-changing world of retail.

Series One: Sustainable Business and M&S’ Plan A programme

We talk sustainable business and go deeper into Marks and Spencer’s Plan A story to find out how it is making a difference and making M&S products even better value for customers.

Episode Two: The horsemeat crisis and how it has changed the industry

Guests

Paul Willgoss, M&S’ Director of Food Technology and Geoff Ogle, Chief Executive of Food Standards Scotland, who back in 2013 was the Food Standards Agency's Chief Investigator.

Episode Notes

Five years ago, the horsemeat crisis rocked the food industry. But what was it like to in the eye of the storm, what lessons have been learned and how has it changed the industry? And why, despite not being affected, did M&S make beef traceability a priority post-crisis? We talk to two people with the answers.

Credits

Hosted by Rachel Silver

Researched by Daniel Himsworth and Charlotte Allport

Original music: “Blue” by Rose Betts (Vocalist) and Manon Dave (Producer)

Produced and edited by Kevin Fasusi

A podcast that goes behind the scenes at Britain’s best loved retailer. We interview execs from Marks and Spencer and guests from the world of business, sustainability, government and campaign groups as we tackle some of the some of the big issues facing business today, look at the history of the High Street and the ever-changing world of retail.

Series One: Sustainable Business and M&S’ Plan A programme

We talk sustainable business and go deeper into Marks and Spencer’s Plan A story to find out how it is making a difference and making M&S products even better value for customers.

Episode One: The cotton challenge  

Guests

Mike Barry, Director of Plan A at M&S and Lena Staafgard, Chief Operating Officer at the Better Cotton Initiative.

Episode Notes

Over 23 million tonnes of cotton are produced every year in 85 countries and 250 million people around the world rely on it for their income. We’re all familiar with it few of us actually think about how it is grown, harvested and sold into the supply chain and the challenges – principally the overuse of water and pesticides and low pay for farmers – that make it one of hardest raw materials to cultivate sustainably. We talk to two pioneers in the industry about the story behind ‘better cotton’.   

Credits

Hosted by Rachel Silver

Researched by Daniel Himsworth and Charlotte Allport

Original music: “Blue” by Rose Betts (Vocalist) and Manon Dave (Producer)

Produced and edited by Kevin Fasusi