Arcadia (inc Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Outfit, Top Shop, Top Man and Wallis)

This is the reponse I have received from the Arcadia group – it is rather standard but is better than nothing!  I think it somewhat belittles the problems in guaranteeing fair and ethical trade – see part 4 of their code, a bold ideal!

I note your concern about ethical trading, which the Arcadia Group shares.

We are currently in the process of reviewing the location of our Code of Conduct on our website, but in the meantime it can be found located in www.dorothyperkins.com under the header ‘Help’.

When customers buy our goods we want them to be confident that they have been produced under acceptable conditions.  That means the goods must have been produced against our Code of Conduct and:

• lawfully, through fair and honest dealing;
• without exploiting the people who made them;
• in decent working conditions; and
• without damaging the environment

The Code of Conduct applies to the manufacturer or any other person involved in supplying goods to our companies.  The code is backed up by a process of self-evaluation and independent inspections to make sure that they keep to it.

 The code is designed to be fair, achievable, and easy to check, and to promote the ongoing development of our suppliers.  It is based on International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions and recommendations.

We take the subject of working conditions in our factories extremely seriously.  As such, we have an extensive audit programme, and this programme is managed by myself, and my Ethical Sourcing Managers.  Our trained technical staff visit factories on a regular basis.  They will be looking for obvious violations of the code of conduct.  Any violations found will be discussed immediately with the factory and a remediation plan initiated where appropriate.

We work with some of the world’s largest international auditing bodies to conduct independent audits at factories that produce goods for the Arcadia group.  Any issues identified during the audit are followed up by agreeing with the factory a specific corrective action plan.  A further audit may take place to ensure compliance.  The international audit bodies conduct their audits in the local language, with local auditors, against the Arcadia Code of Conduct.

Each factory must complete a factory set up form/self assessment document, which contains details of the Arcadia Group’s Code of Conduct.  The factory signs this document to acknowledge that they have received the document and that they understand each section of the code.  The code is also an integral part of the Supplier Handbook and is available on the supplier extranet.

Although we do not directly employ the factory workers, our code of conduct applies to the manufacturer or any other person involved in supplying goods to our companies.  We work with our suppliers to ensure that workers and conditions within the factory are acceptable.

The Arcadia Group are not members of the ETI.  However, we have an open dialogue with many interested stakeholders, and as such we can move our programme forward successfully without being members of any independent ethical body.

Thank you for taking the time to write to us with your views and for giving us the opportunity to share the details of our programme with you.  I hope you will be reassured by the consideration we give to ethical trading, and you will continue to shop with the Arcadia Group.