Doing the Right thing UpDate 2012-2013

www.george.com
Doing
the Right
Thing
Update
2012-2013
www.george.com
Doing the Right Thing
Intro
Still doing
the right thing...
CONTENTS
P4
Section 1
Revisiting our
commitments and
targets
P6
Section 2
Our Social Impacts
P14
Section 3
Sustainability at the
Heart of our Business
P16
P18
Section 4
Community Stories
Section 5
How we’re performing
P20 Section 6
Our team
“In 2011 – a year that saw the 21st
anniversary of George’s launch – we
issued a document called Doing the
Right Thing. The purpose was to
demonstrate the steps we’re taking to
look after the interests of the people
who make our clothes, increase
clothing quality and productivity in
the supply chain.
This is a fundamental part of how we
do business.
When our customers choose George
products, it’s important that they
know they’re not only getting
unbeatable quality and value for
money, but that this doesn’t come
at an unacceptable cost to workers.
That’s why we’re now releasing this
Doing the Right Thing update – to
highlight the ongoing efforts we’re
making to achieve our goal and
ultimately, we hope, to push the
global fashion industry in a more
sustainable and ethical direction.
Key developments to the document
this year include the accelerating
roll-out of our LEAN programme
which aims to retrain workers,
increase wages and streamline
production processes. We’re really
excited about the potential of LEAN
to transform our own operations and
to create a best-practice blueprint in
efficient, ethical manufacturing for
the wider fashion industry.
Other highlights include our work to
explore the industry leading Standard
Minute Value within our open
costings; implementation of workers’
rights training; a financial literacy
programme with Geosansar; new
Tickled Pink clothing banks to raise
money for breast cancer charities;
and our work with the Better Cotton
Initiative to help deliver long-term
economic and environmental benefits.
We’re also proud of our ongoing
efforts to promote female
empowerment in our supplier
factories and communities through
Walmart’s Women in Factories
Training Programme and our
partnership with Business for Social
Responsibility’s Health Enables
Returns project (HERproject).
The clothing industry is a highly
complex environment, made even
more complicated by shifting
economic forces and volatile
commodity prices. Doing the Right
Thing is very much a journey – much
of this work is pioneering and we
don’t profess to have all the answers
yet – but working in partnership with
our stakeholders, fellow retailers,
suppliers and NGOs, we hope this
update will demonstrate the steps
we’re taking to ensure customers can
keep choosing George clothing with a
clear conscience.”
Andrew Moore
Chief Merchandising Officer
George at Asda
P3
Section 1
Section 1
Revisiting our
commitments
and targets
George was established in 1990 as the first
supermarket clothing brand in the UK. Since then,
we’ve stayed true to a set of beliefs that recognise
the importance of value, quality, trust and doing
the right thing. We’re committed to George being
recognised as a trusted and innovative leader in
ethical sourcing and environmental protection,
based on our core beliefs.
These are our commitments
I.High quality at an
affordable price
II. Style that lasts
– in durability and design
III. Customer involvement and
influence within the business
IV.A sustainable approach
from factory to wardrobe
www.george.com
Doing the Right Thing
George’s key targets for
its ethical supply chain and
sustainability programme:
• LEAN: With 15 factories in
Bangladesh already enrolled in
this programme, we plan to
roll-out LEAN across factories in
China, India and Sri Lanka by the
end of 2013 – by the end of 2015,
our goal is for all core value lines
(CVLs) to be manufactured by
factories operating under LEAN
• Training: Over the next threeto-five years, we aim to train a
minimum of 10,000 workers in
LEAN through the George Supplier
Academy programme, one of the
largest of its kind in the world
• Female empowerment: More than
7,000 women have been engaged
to date – we are aiming to reach
15,000 women across our supply
chain by the end of 2015
• Financial empowerment: Through
our partnership with Geosansar,
we’re aiming to help hundreds
of workers open their own bank
accounts by the end of 2012 and
thousands of workers by the end
of 2015
• Education: 200 children have
already been enrolled at the
Jamgara George School in Dhaka,
our charitable joint-venture with the
HOPE Foundation, and we’re aiming
to reach 250 by the end of 2013
• Childcare: Working with Phulki, we
aim to offer work-based daycare
facilities to working mothers across
10 factories by the end of 2013 and
20 sites by the end of 2015
• Reducing waste: Specifically
focussing on recycling at least
45 million coat hangers, zero
instore clothing waste to landfill
and reducing our supplier transit
packaging by 20%
We are doing
this through
LEAN manufacturing
Standard Minute Value
Engagement through local
NGOs and unions with
international expertise
on workers rights
• Standard Minute Value
Last year we stated that from 2013 we will require global suppliers
working on core volume lines to
share open costings on human
labour with full transparency on
worker pay, incorporating workers’
rights.Our programmes are
helping them make that change,
and mean suppliers
are on track to
meet that
requirement.
To meet these commitments, we employ a team of ethics specialists, both at our
headquarters in the UK and on the ground in the countries where our clothes are made.
Their role is to ensure continuous progress towards our ethical and environmental goals,
including monitoring results of the 400+ independent supplier audits we commission
each year. We have now scaled up these audits to include second tier suppliers such as
laundries, embroidery units and packaging suppliers.
P5
Section 2
Doing the Right Thing
Section 2
our social
impacts
We have trained thousands of workers on LEAN
manufacturing to date and plan to train thousands more.
We’ve also produced supporting material to help spread
the 5S message across supplier sites, from posters and
t-shirts to specially-commissioned short films.
1. LEAN Manufacturing
LEAN represents the cornerstone of how George does
business with its suppliers. In 2009, we launched a LEAN
pilot programme across four factories in Bangladesh,
working in partnership with the DTZ, the German
Government’s department for overseas development.
LEAN is empowering workers in a really positive way.
Many of them have never received this type or quality of
training before, and have said they feel far more valued
as a result of the development opportunities provided
through the programme.
These pilots aimed to:
• Retrain workers and increase wages
• Improve and re-engineer production flow
• Reduce both product damage and downtime
• Change the way we partner with, and plan commitment
and production with these factories
While we have seen great successes in our programme, we
recognise that it is not for everyone. Ultimately, LEAN is a
holistic programme with regards to factory transformation
and relies heavily on the engagement and support of
suppliers’ senior management.
The success of these LEAN pilots convinced us to roll out
the programme across our wider supply chain:
• Last year, our scalable model was introduced across
more factories in Bangladesh – accounting for 62
per cent of the garments we buy from Bangladeshi
suppliers, some 63 million units
• Through efficiency gains and increased business, one
George supplier has also invested in a completely new
factory, where LEAN will be implemented from day one
www.george.com
As with any productivity programme, there is a natural
assumption that increasing efficiency means that less
people are needed to do a particular job. Addressing this
perception is high on our agenda and we are working hard
with our factories to ensure that no workers are losing
their jobs as a result of the migration to LEAN and that
suppliers are instead re-investing efficiency savings into
additional production lines. We track staffing levels in
the factories and to date we can confidently say that no
workers have lost their jobs as a result of LEAN – quite
the opposite, in fact, as suppliers want to retain these now
multi-skilled employees.
Our buyers and sourcing teams are committing continuous and increasing
business to our LEAN factories as part of the total transformation.
Another key focus area has been the introduction of the 5S methodology.
This simple, five-step process is designed to help suppliers and their
employees understand and implement key elements of LEAN:
• ‘Sort’ – Separating and eliminating unnecessary material
• ‘Store’ – A place for everything and everything in its place
• ‘Shine’ – Cleaning, eliminating dirt, make like new
• ‘Standardise’ – Procedures, process and responsibilities
• ‘Sustain’ – Making compliance an automatic habit
We’re supporting LEAN through the George Supplier Academy training
programme, which equips workers with the skills they need to spot and
prevent issues in the supply chain:
• This programme will help standardise quality control processes across the globe
• Over the next 3-5 years, we aim to train and accredit a minimum of 10,000
workers, making this programme one of the largest of its kind in the world
• LEAN benefits the wider clothing industry, as the factories make products
for a number of different fashion brands, not just George, so standards are
being raised across the industry
P7
Section 2
Top three success areas to date. A high number of workers agree that:
• ‘The work environment on LEAN is better than any other area’
• ‘Floor management and supervisors’ approach to us is much more
positive than before’
• ‘We have been voluntarily selected to work on LEAN and are happy to
be involved with this project’
Progress report on factories in LEAN
Key learnings and focus areas. Lower numbers of workers agree that:
• ‘I know how to calculate my incentives’
• ‘The incentive amount is attractive to me’
• ‘I prefer a group incentive rather than an individual incentive’
Through preventative maintenance and more efficient use of machinery, we have seen significant increase in the volume
of product that each machine is being used to produce.
www.george.com
10.00
Fac 9
Fac 8
Fac 7
Fac 6
Fac 5
Fac 4
Fac 3
0.00
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
Fac 9
Fac 8
Fac 7
Fac 6
Fac 5
0%
Fac 4
A 5% reduction
in labour turnover
% Right First Time
5%
120%
Fac 3
A 17% increase
in worker wages
20.00
Fac 2
A 22%
reduction in
absenteeism
17%
30.00
Fac 1
A 37%
improvement
in efficiency
22%
40.00
Working together in teams, workers take pride in ensuring the
quality of the garments they produce is right first time. In turn,
these quality gains are helping factories save money that can
be reinvested into worker wages and capital investments.
% Right First Time
37%
After
50.00
Fac 1
Feedback from suppliers involved in
LEAN underlines the many benefits
being delivered by this programme.
Highlights to date include:
Before
60.00
Fac 2
George is working with Professor Doug Miller, Emeritus Professor, Worker
Rights in Fashion (Northumbria University), to conduct a full before-andafter study to map the impacts of our LEAN programme on each factory
we use. The findings of this research will be important in shaping our future
approach.
Key
Pieces/sq foot/month
LEAN is just one example of how we’re addressing the misconception
that keeping prices affordable for customers can only be achieved by
operating an unethical and unsustainable supply chain. The focus we
apply to sourcing and streamlining manufacturing enables George to offer
unbeatable prices while securing a better deal for workers. We have also
invested in additional headcount, both offshore and in the UK, to support
the roll-out of LEAN.
These charts show the range of improvements delivered to suppliers so far. This information covers those nine supplier
factories that have so far been fully-enrolled onto LEAN and completed at least one full phase of LEAN. We are currently
re-visiting the LEAN programme with 6 of our original factories as part of our phased transformation of change, putting
into practice our learnings from the initial roll out of the programme.
% Space Utilisation
We are collecting worker
feedback on a regular basis,
to understand where we can
make improvements and are
working with third parties
to ensure the research is
transparent and impartial.
Doing the Right Thing
P9
Section 2
Doing the Right Thing
Due to training, multi-skilling and incentives,
we are seeing increases in the average wages
that the factories pay.
Fac 8
Fac 9
Fac 8
Fac 9
30%
20%
10%
0%
Fac 6
Fac 9
Fac 8
Fac 7
Fac 6
Fac 5
Fac 4
Fac 3
Fac 2
Fac 1
0%
40%
Fac 5
2%
50%
Fac 4
4%
60%
Fac 3
6%
70%
Fac 2
8%
80%
Fac 1
10%
90%
% Sewing Efficiency
% Sewing Efficiency
Sewing efficiency is a key measure as it embodies
the transformation through LEAN. We are seeing
significant results in this area.
12%
% Labour Turnover
% Labour Turnover
Because workers feel empowered they
are less likely to move to another factory.
www.george.com
0
Fac 9
Fac 8
Fac 7
Fac 6
Fac 5
Fac 4
Fac 3
Fac 2
Fac 1
0%
2000
Fac 7
2%
Fac 7
4%
4000
Fac 6
6%
6000
Fac 5
8%
Fac 4
10%
8000
Fac 3
12%
10000
Fac 2
14%
12000
Fac 1
% Average Wages
16%
% Absenteeism
% Absenteeism
18%
Average Wage (BDT)
Workers are also telling us that, through LEAN,
they feel more motivated to come to work and
earn incentives and bonuses.
P11
Section 2
Doing the Right Thing
2. Standard Minute Value
3. Workers’ rights, freedom of association and working with NGOs
As part of George’s commitment to doing the
right thing, we continue to pioneer the concept
of ‘Standard Minute Value’ and Doug Miller,
Emeritus Professor is working with us on this
industry leading standard.
We recognise the need to create sustainable mechanisms
for workers’ rights and grievance handling despite Freedom
of Association remaining a challenging industry-wide issue.
Although workers in the factories we source
from are not directly employed by us, we
recognise we have a shared responsibility with
other retailers to these workers to protect and
promote their welfare.
As part of this pioneering approach, the George
team works directly with factory owners and
insist that cost prices to George buyers include
accurate labour costs upfront.
• This approach helps factory
owners more accurately define
the amount of work that goes
into each garment produced –
ultimately ensuring that workers
are paid more
• We are finalising a series of
standard costing templates for
our buyers, removing the subjective
element of garment costing
• We are scaling-up efforts around
Standard Minute Value in 2012
and rolling-out this approach
through our supply chain
George is conducting surveys across the factory base
to assess what is being used, such as workers’ welfare
committees and joint council forums. LEAN project
factories provide suggestion boxes to empower workers
to feedback on anything from work environment to
grievances. In addition a grievance policy is being adopted
by factories as best practice. To ensure this is firmly in place
and is managed effectively, we have built in management
systems and HR practices which are then being effectively
communicated through the training given to workers.
Women in Factories Training Programme
Launched in 2012 by Asda’s parent company Walmart,
the aim of this five-year initiative – run in partnership with
local NGOs including CARE in Bangladesh and Swasti in
India – is to help female workers gain personal confidence
and understand their strengths, ultimately empowering
them to change their futures by giving them tools to
achieve greater success at their jobs and live happier lives.
It aims to empower 60,000 women across 150 factories
supplying Walmart and other retailers across India,
Bangladesh, China and Central America.
Additional training is being scoped out with local trade
unions, NGOs and industry experts to help improve
worker-management dialogue.
As part of George’s involvement in the Women in Factories
Training Programme, we have initiated training for 4,889
workers across seven of the 14 factories in the programme.
Health & Safety
To help improve worker health and safety across our
supply chain, we have carried out a comprehensive
screening of all George supplier factories against local
standards. Where facilities have failed to meet these
criteria, we have helped suppliers relocate their operations
to safer factories. We have also delivered health and
safety training to factories through the Bangladesh Labour
Foundation, a local NGO. We plan to roll out training over
the next six months on HR and workers’ rights, again in
partnership with local stakeholders.
Building safety and fire safety standards in factories
remains a top priority for us. Our teams have visited more
than 400 factories to conduct fire risk assessments and
continue to do so to verify that appropriate fire safety and
evacuation measures are in place in all supplier factories.
Promoting financial literacy
George works with Geosansar, a social enterprise that
provides access to financial products and services to
workers in partnership with local banks. It promotes
inclusion and enhanced quality of life through benefits
such as security of cash, interest on their savings, access
to their own personal banker and other financial products
like insurance, enabling transfer of salaries to employees’
bank accounts on a regularbasis, helping to give a greater
sense of ownership of their money. Geosansar also
provides training and education on topics including cash
management and financial products. The aim is to provide
thousands of bank accounts by 2015.
Benefits of this approach include boosting worker
incomes, promoting social inclusion and improving
financial literacy, helping the ‘unbanked community’
to feel part of growing economies.
www.george.com
improved by HERproject to date. By the end of 2015, we’re
aiming to reach 15,000 women across our supply chain.
EMPOWERING WOMEN
Empowering the women who work in supplier factories
and communities is a priority for George. We are
involved with two programmes that focus on female
empowerment. More than 3,000 women have been
positively impacted by the Women in Factories Training
Programme and more than 4,000 lives have been
HERproject
Working with Business for Social Responsibility (BSR),
the Health Enables Returns project aims to empower
women and improve lives through health and education
programmes in the workplace.
Priority areas for HERproject include:
• Advising female workers to improve knowledge of
rights and resources available for pregnancy, child care,
family planning, hygiene and health
• Focusing on communication between women to dispel
myths and misconceptions around women’s health
and hygiene
• Supporting and encouraging women’s health as a
priority within the workplace
In 2011, three George supplier factories in Bangladesh
participated in HERproject engagement and training.
We have now engaged more factories and rolled the
programme out into Vietnam, with the aim of engaging
10,000 female workers. By 2015, we hope to have 25,000
workers participating.
And our work with Bangladeshi NGO Phulki helps improve
family life, promoting the rights of women and children
and providing access to in-factory childcare:
• This enables mothers in the garment industry to
combine work with caring for their young children
• It develops crèche facilities that help mothers nurse their infants during working hours
• Three George supplier factories in Bangladesh
participated in Phulki engagement and training in 2011
– we aim to have 10 factories involved by 2013 and
20 by the end of 2015
P13
Section 3
Doing the Right Thing
Supplier packagin
g guide
Section 3
SUSTAINABILITY AT THE
HEART OF OUR BUSINESS
Valuing our clothes
Sustainable Clothing Action
the In Use group, part of Defra’s
irs
cha
rge
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with
g
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garment lifecycle. We are wor
on the customer phase of the
drying
and
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was
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Plan that focuses specifically
erat
ironmental impact gen
env
the
uce
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ers
on
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ses
cus
make it easier for
ycle group, which focu
a member of the Reuse and Rec
clothing at home. George is also
e continued to maintain the
hav
we
rs
yea
r
landfill. For the past fou
diverting clothing away from
landfill standard.
in-store zero clothing waste to
www.wrap.org.uk
Case study
Reducing waste,
improving lives
Newlife stories
Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children supports
families across the UK. George donates returned and
surplus clothing to Newlife in a unique recycling and
retail operation to raise funds for the charity.
Here, we speak to two of the families who benefit from Newlife:
Hannah Antonio
Hannah is a 17 year old from South
Devon and has quadriplegic cerebral
palsy, scoliosis and is unable to talk.
Newlife funded a £5,117 hi-tech
communication aid, allowing her parents
Mike and Kim to discover Hannah’s sense
of humour.
Mike said: “When Hannah was younger
we thought that mobility was the most
important issue, but as she has got older
we have realised that it is her ability to
communicate with the outside world that
shapes her life.
“For Hannah to be able to communicate
with her peers without us being around
is amazing. She has a lot of able-bodied
friends through her membership of the
local Rangers group, and she also helps
out with the younger Rainbows.”
Mum Kim adds: “We want to thank
everyone who has done so much to
make Hannah’s dream come true. We
have been overwhelmed by the love and
help we have received.”
www.george.com
Alana Ranger
Twelve-year-old Alana Ranger has
cerebral palsy and epilepsy which affects
her limbs. She is a full-time wheelchair
user, but her chair provided by statutory
services doesn’t allow her to lay flat.
Her mum Louise says: “We desperately
needed another, lightweight wheelchair
with a supine facility. We applied to
Newlife and the model they funded is
absolutely fantastic. It has helped us in
several ways: it is much lighter to push, it
allows her to rest properly when she has
had a seizure.
“We have been able to take Alana to
many more places – theme parks, farms,
the zoo... We go out most weekends
now and the best thing is I can take her
out on my own, something I couldn’t do
before.”
We donate all return
ed or
damaged George clo
thing to
Newlife Foundation,
either
for resale, recycling
or use in
other industries. Th
is approach
reduces waste while
helping
to fund medical resea
rch and
specialist equipment
that
improves the lives of
disabled
and terminally ill ch
ildren.
Our partnership with
Newlife
Foundation has raise
d over
£500,000 to date.
Through working wi
th our
charity partners, we
are also
helping to raise mone
y with
clothing banks in ou
r Asda car
parks. Thanks to the
generosity
of customers donatin
g
unwanted clothing,
they raised
more than £1 .7 millio
n last year
and we hope to conti
nue this
with the recently rol
led out
clothing banks for Tic
kled Pink,
which supports bre
ast cancer
care charities.
Our sourcing team
is preparing a new
packaging guide wh
ich will be rolled
out across all Geor
ge factories to cove
r
4,000 different pr
oduct styles:
• Standardising pa
ckaging across thes
e
lines will help supp
liers streamline their
operations and red
uce costs
• Another major
new initiative will se
e
George become th
e first value fashio
n
retailer to no longe
r singly-package
its ‘white products’
(e.g. underwear
garments) in trans
it from factory to sto
re,
creating significant
reductions in waste
• We plan to recyc
le 45 million coat
hangers this year an
d to encourage
colleagues to parti
cipate we are worki
ng
on closed loop rec
ycling, creating ne
w
products out of da
maged hangers.
We’re also runn
ing a
store incentive
scheme
where colleague
s will
be able to win
money
for local comm
unity
projects of their
choice
itiative
Better Cotton In
Walmart, George
parent company
’s
da
As
th
wi
g
Alon
tiative (BCI) – a
e Better Cotton Ini
is a member of th
ce the impacts
dy aiming to redu
cross-industry bo
ts for a new
ke
developing mar
of the industry by
tton’ – which
Co
r
te
modity – ‘Bet
mainstream com
rm economic
to deliver long-te
has the potential
supply chain.
nefits across the
be
l
ta
en
m
on
vir
and en
work includes:
Examples of BCI’s
r better cotton
obal standards fo
• Establishing gl
production
y for farmers
ancial profitabilit
fin
on
g
sin
cu
Fo
•
for farming
cial improvements
• Promoting so
ers, including
cotton farm work
communities and
rmer training
fa
h
rment, throug
we
po
em
’s
en
m
wo
al in country
conducted by loc
and best practice
rtners
implementing pa
d pesticide
impact of water an
• Reducing the
l health and to
ta
en
d environm
use on human an
h and biodiversity
improve soil healt
e cotton supply
ceability along th
• Increasing tra
chain
and strategy
ing a business plan
George is develop
s; identifying
re
sto
r Cotton into
tte
Be
ing
er
liv
de
for
tton into the
route for Better Co
a natural supply
to conduct a
ain; and preparing
George supply ch
ge product
or
r Cotton into a Ge
bulk trial of Bette
.
category in 2013
Alongside cotton,
George also has
e to
processes in plac
ility
ab
ce
tra
ll
fu
ensure
re for
lfa
we
al
im
an
d
an
d
all leather, wool an
ts.
uc
fur prod
inner
RSPCA Award W
recognised
George has been
’s most
UK
with one of the
welfare
al
im
an
prestigious
’s Good
PCA
RS
e
th
es
accolad
ny Award.
pa
m
Co
Business Large
ar running that
It is the third ye
recognised at
George has been
the awards.
ISO 9001
In March 2012, George
became the first major
clothing retailer in the
UK to gain internation
al ISO
9001 certification, rec
ognising the stringen
t quality
management systems
we’ve introduced across
international supply ch
ains. Certification lasts
for three
years and we’ll continu
e to work closely with
third-party
auditors throughout
this period, ensuring
George maintains
progress in this area.
George Environmental Audits
Environmental issues are an increasingly
important consideration and we recognise the
need to encourage factories to deliver training
and build awareness of this area. It is essential
that factories understand the need to protect
their local communities from pollution and
conserve valuable resources including water.
Training is delivered to all factories to ensure
local regulations are being met in line with
industry standards. We also monitor a number
of criteria to assess their impacts, including:
• Waste management
• Water management
• Energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions
• Biodiversity
• Environmental policy
• Emergency training for
environmental incidents
• Noise pollution
• Management of
hazardous
substances
P15
Section 4
Section 4
Community
stories
HOPE and Ashulia Schools
Through the Asda Foundation this year we have been able to
support a second school in Bangladesh, the Ashulia School.
2011’s Doing the Right Thing highlighted the work George is
doing in partnership with HOPE Foundation Worldwide to
promote education in the communities where our suppliers
operate. Our flagship project, the Jamgara George School,
was established in March 2009 in Ashulia, a suburb of the
Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. 200 children currently attend
Hope school, and 125 attend Ashulia.
Examples of activities at the school include a cultural
programme organised by the Asia Foundation to mark the
occasion of International Women’s Day; special classes to
mark Bangladesh’s Independence Day; a special programme
around International Literacy Day; a football training
programme; and free school bags for poorer students.
The Jamgara George School has also organised a health
awareness programme for parents. A medical technology
specialist from the US Embassy in Dhaka came to see 57
parents at the school, providing services including blood
tests, vaccinations, blood sugar analysis, height/weight
measurements and free food for their children.
The school’s computing facilities are made available to students’
parents in the evenings, providing access to help them pursue
vocational courses and qualifications.
Doing the Right Thing
Vocational student
case study:
Josna Akter
“Before I joined HOPE
in October 2010, I was a
housewife. Now I have
successfully completed
a three-month tailoring
course, which included
training in home fashion
and machine embroidery.
This has enabled my
husband and I to start a
small grocery and tailoring
shop, earning money to
supplement his work as
a tea seller. We’ve also
been able to employ
two seamstresses who
completed the sewing
course at HOPE. There
is no longer any poverty
in our household and my
dream is to open a large
tailoring shop that can
employ local women and
make a difference in our
community.”
George and its partners now also sponsor pupils to go on to
work in the George or factory offices to help improve skills
and opportunities.
Jamgara Industrial Centre of HOPE
Alongside the Jamgara
George School, we help to
fund a vocational training
centre for adults, the Jamgara
Industrial Centre of HOPE. It
provides skills training in areas
ranging from literacy and IT, to
tailoring and beauty.
www.george.com
P17
Section 5
Doing the Right Thing
Section 5
HOW WE’RE
PERFORMING
George has worked hard to
promote the welfare of workers in
the countries from which we source.
There is a rigorous programme of
independent, unannounced audits,
conducted against the criteria
provided by the Ethical Trading
Initiative (ETI) Base Code – a
voluntary system that addresses
issues including child labour, forced
labour, working hours, freedom of
association and wages.
We source from these countries
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bangladesh
India
Sri Lanka
China
Turkey
Britain
Bulgaria
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Italy
Portugal
Romania
Cambodia
Indonesia
Mauritius
Pakistan
Taiwan
Thailand
Vietnam
United Arab Emirates
Egypt
Morocco
We currently use 616 factories, through 21
countries across the world, and conduct
approximately 500 ethical audits where
they are graded using a traffic light system.
All factories used by George suppliers
must be audited before they are approved
for production. Two independent auditors
conduct interviews with workers, site
inspections and document reviews.
Ethical performance to date
Traffic Light System
43%
2006
28%
36%
2007
31%
23%
2008
33%
39%
10%
2009
30%
37%
44%
45%
1%
10%
2010
55%
34%
1%
2011
2012
9%
75%
8%
16%
79%
Key
Disapproved
Industry Audit
Yellow
Minimal issues/medium risk. For example,
missing EXIT sign on fire door, incomplete
first aid box. The site is required to develop
a corrective action plan and a re-audit is
scheduled for one year’s time.
Orange
Major issues/high risk, for example non
payment of overtime, excessive working
hours. The site is required to develop a
corrective action plan and is reaudited
within six months.
Red
Factories we do not use. The site has 30
days to appeal before being delisted.
We are making good progress towards our
targets. Our higher risk areas are being
managed through training programmes
we have in country including supplier
development and violation correction
programmes where dedicated support is given
to factories to get back on track. In addition to
this factories have received further training on
environmental issues, machine and chemical
safety training. We have also been delivering
training to our UK buyers on ethical sourcing
through an ETI trainer. To date 300 George
colleagues have been trained and all new
starters undergo a compulsory induction
training on ethical trade.
We work with a number of
industry experts, including
Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI);
Association of Suppliers to
the British Clothing Industry
(ASBCI); Better Cotton Industry
(BCI); British Quality Foundation
and SAT RA Technology.
13%
Numbers of Factories
www.george.com
Green
No issues/low risk
Audits are conducted as part of Walmart’s
global supplier programme, the largest and
most rigorous programme of its kind in the UK.
NB. Where a site is graded orange three times within a period of two
years, that site will be delisted for up to a year. Audits are then carried
out continuously on all production sites. George will not take on any
new factories until they are graded as yellow or green.
Orange
Yellow
Green
P19
Section 6
Section 6
Meet some of the team
1. Paul Wright
2. Indira Chauhan
3. Matthew Parry
4. Catherine Watkins
My first job was as
a Sewing Machine
Mechanic in Castleford
for 11 enjoyable years. The
owners of that business
shaped the way I believe
that business should be
done - that through respect
for your workforce you
get a motivated team and
that extremely efficient
lines deliver high quality
products. And that, to me is
the value/quality equation.
I take their ethos that no
matter what role you play
in the business, if you have
talent and diligence you
have the opportunity to
progress, and I wouldn’t
be working for George
today without their support
and encouragement. I’ve
made it my mission to help
George suppliers identify
the talent already under
their own roof, and respect
their workers.
I was born in Uganda,
where my grandparents
owned a cotton mill, so
from an early age I was
exposed to the realities
of poverty in developing
countries. After my family
was forced to leave the
country, surrendering
the business and all our
possessions due to civil
war, we settled in the UK
but my upbringing really
reinforced the importance
of doing the right thing
and making a positive
impact on workers’ quality
of life. I graduated from
Demontfort University
in 1990 with a degree
in textile and knitwear
technology Bsc (hons)
before working my way up
in the UK clothing industry,
eventually being appointed
as George’s senior ethical
sourcing manager in 2005.
My priority in this role is
to ensure that George is
recognised as a trusted
and innovative leader
in ethical sourcing and
environmental protection,
maintaining our reputation
for providing safe and
fulfilling environments for
workers around the world.
As part of this work, I’ve
been closely involved in
driving our efforts around
LEAN, as well as pioneering
female empowerment
programmes and launching
the first HOPE School in
Dhaka. Most of all, I want to
get the workers behind our
sewing machines to believe
in themselves by giving
them the same kinds of
opportunities that I’ve been
so lucky to have in my own
career.
I’ve worked for George
for two years and moved
into the ethical team in
the summer of 2012. It’s
an amazing team and it’s
genuinely exciting being
involved in projects that
help so many people across
the world. I know that I’m
privileged to be involved
and I take the impact that
I can have seriously. I’ve
been in retail for nearly 19
years in various different
positions and I’m really
fortunate that in one of
my last roles I studied
Lean and Six Sigma and
trained as an industrial
engineer, this really helps
me to understand and
drive the Lean programme
while ensuring it remains
a balanced and holistic
programme. Each time we
look at a set of results from
one of our Lean factories
one thing always stands
out and that’s the increase
we are making to workers’
wages, through our work
with factory owners and
programmes to train and
empower workers within
our supply chain. It’s this
that motivates me every
day, knowing that the
decisions we make really
do change people’s lives
for the better all over the
globe.
After working for George
for five years as a fabric
technologist and colour
trend manager, I made a
career change into the
George ethical team two
and a half years ago, due
to my personal interest
in helping to improve
the social conditions for
the workers and their
families within our supply
chain. This has given me
the amazing opportunity
to support the ethical
process by doing the right
thing. I am also an active
member of the George
Friends of Hope School
committee. As part of
my role I work towards
reducing the environmental
impact of George clothing.
Collaborating with other
brands and retailers I chair
the In Use Group for the
Sustainable Clothing Action
Plan focusing on clothes
during customer’s wear
and laundering. I really
enjoy my job and find it
very rewarding knowing
that I am helping to make
a positive difference to the
day to day lives of people
and the environment on a
global scale.
Head of Quality
and Ethical
I spent five years running
factories in Morocco and
Portugal, which has given
me the opportunity to
understand how different
cultures approach
situations, and in fact, it’s
the same the world over
- show people respect,
tell them why and value
everyone’s contribution
and the payback is tenfold. That’s why at George
we’re really focused on the
individual. Our continued
progress on Lean, Standard
Minute Value and our
work to deliver training
courses across the globe
is industry leading and the
team’s work is delivering
real change to thousands
of people within our supply
chain - the people that
deliver fantastic quality
and value to the George
customer.
Senior Ethical
Sourcing Manager
Lean Programme Manager
Ethical and
Sustainability Manager
4.
3.
1.
2.
P20