corporate social responsibility

The Board recognises that the long term profitability of the business depends, amongst other things, on appropriate protection of the Group’s assets, reputation and brand names.  The risk register and the process for the review of internal controls therefore include the potential impact on the business of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues.

The Board considers that the principal CSR issues which face the French Connection group are:

• the provision of a safe and healthy environment for our employees and retail customers;
• the business’s direct and indirect impact on the environment; and
• the employment, environmental and social practices of the business’s suppliers.

Safe and healthy environment

The business aims to comply with all locally applicable health and safety regulations in the countries in which we operate.  This includes the provision and maintenance of safe environments for our employees, appropriate design of our stores, health and safety training for appropriate personnel, electrical installation reviews, risk assessments and risk monitoring in our offices, stores and warehouses.

Impact on the environment

The Group’s major manageable environmental impacts stem from the use of disposable packaging both at retail and for wholesale shipping and the use of power in our premises.  In the UK, the business meets its responsibilities under the packaging waste regulations through membership of Valpak.  Further, a review is underway to consider the use of reusable cartons for in-country distribution as both a cost and waste reduction measure.   The business has recently changed its large sites power supply contracts to a supply from generation which has a limited impact on the environment through use of wind power, bio-mass and other “green” generation sources.

Supply chain

The Group has used third party manufacturing facilities in low-cost regions around the world for over thirty years but has specifically avoided suppliers or regions where the employment or environmental practices are known to be below acceptable standards.  The Group requires all of its garment and product suppliers to abide by our guidelines which include the requirement to provide safe and comfortable working conditions, to employ only appropriate labour and to maintain environmentally friendly working practices.  Our staff visit the factories we employ on a regular basis and consider the environment and work practices during those visits.  A review of our supplier handbook is underway and will consider a comparison of our existing standards with appropriate external guidelines, such as the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) guidance on employment practices.

There are a number of other CSR topics, such as fair employment practices, business ethics, animal testing and use of chemicals, each of which is subject to a set of standards within the business.