Answers to “Just a simple yes or no, please?”

Do you ensure that all workers along your supply chain are paid fairly and have decent working conditions?

My post,  Just a simple Yes or No, please? was published online and emailed or sent via each company’s website to the following companies:

Anthropologie, Baukjen, Cox & Cox, H&M, JoJo Maman Bebe, Joules, La Redoute, Me+Em, Pure Collection, Radley, Sweaty Betty, The White Company, White Stuff, Wrap London

These are their responses in alphabetical order:

Anthropologie

As of September 24th, 2013, no response has been received.

Baukjen

We can proudly say yes for our manufacturing bases. Baukjen and Isabella Oliver are two brands which are owned and managed by a husband and wife team who believe strongly in family values. This belief extends not only to the way we treat our teams in our Head Office and the Warehouse/Distribution Centre in the UK, but to the skilled workers at the factories that we choose to produce our product in.

Our in house design and production team controls 100% of our own brand product which we produce directly with our portfolio of factories. Over 80% of our product is made in independent and family run factories in Portugal, the remainder are produced in independent factories in Turkey and China.  We have worked hard to build solid and trustworthy working relationships with all our factories, some of which we have used since Isabella Oliver began ten years ago.  Our production team regularly visit factories and work closely with them to ensure that we have great product, at a competitive price.

All of our factories comply with our internal Corporate and Social Responsibility guidelines which are based on global Ethical Trading Initiatives; they are also externally audited by independent companies who are specialists in the field who ensure that the factories comply with international and local laws.

Our production team do try to visit our raw materials suppliers where possible for fabrics and trims, however due to the complex and exhaustive nature of these it is impossible for such a small and dedicated team to ensure that they also comply with our stringent policies and views without passing these extra costs onto our customers.

We aim to ensure by our visits and external audits of our manufacturing sites that health and safety requirements are met, working conditions are fair and ensure that no child labour is used and that factories do not employ excessive and forced over time; that the factories comply with fair pay which is equal or greater than the local government minimum standards.  We also audit factory living conditions where applicable for our Far East factories, and also try to ensure that the factories do not discriminate on race, caste, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, union membership or political affiliation. We do not allow any harsh or inhumane treatment of any worker.

We also run a scheme to reduce our carbon footprint so our samples and unwanted garments do not go to landfill, but instead are recycled to raise funds for Cancer Research.

We hope that this answers your question fully, if you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact us on TheGirls@IsabellaOliver.com

Cox & Cox

As of September 24th, 2013, no response has been received.

H&M

As of September 24th, 2013, no response has been received.

JoJo Maman Bebe – Mel Brown, Design & Production Director

The simple answer to your question is Yes, but there is a more complicated answer.

We have an extensive policy on sourcing our own brand items and a comprehensive audit covering standards that must be met by our suppliers – but it is very difficult in manufacturing to be 100 percent sure that these standards are met all the time and throughout the supply chain.

Our audits are based on the Ethical Trading Initiative which is a good internationally agreed standard to base from. This means, amongst many things, that minimum wages are met, child labour is not used, health and safety in the workplace is adequate etc.

However we believe that not only must these factories tick all the boxes but that we must build a relationship and trust between us and that we deal with each other in an ethical manner. Moreover we try to work with suppliers that we believe are ethical and fair in their businesses as that cascades down.

We work primarily, but not exclusively, with family run factories around the world. Many of our relationships go back 10 to 15 years and we work with factories to improve their quality and processes over time. We do not jump ship for the cheapest price but work hard to find solutions with our factories to increased pressures on costs.  We visit our factories as often as we can, but with a small team and a very wide range of products necessitating a wide variety of factories we can’t get to all of them as often as we would like. Hence it is important for us to trust the people we work with.

What we cannot give assurances on to the same level are the components further down the supply chain – for example the factory that makes the elastic that goes into a waistband. We try to ensure that key suppliers to our suppliers are audited but we cannot reach every part of the supply chain without a massive increase in manpower and therefore cost which we don’t feel our customers can stretch too.

We are quite unusual in that we go direct to our factories for about 90% of what we make, and always have done, which means we do have the personal relationship it takes to have trust in our suppliers.

That is a very brief summary of where we stand.

We don’t claim to be perfect but we work very hard to ensure we can stand behind our product proudly and feel confident in how and where it was made.

Joules

As of September 24th, 2013, no response has been received.

La Redoute

As of September 24th, 2013, no response has been received.

Me+Em – Charlie Cornish, Customer Services Manager

Pure Collection – Rosalind Whitley

Thank you for your email and for taking the time to write to us about your concerns regarding ethical working conditions.

Please be assured that we take this very seriously and we will shortly be providing further information on our website about our ethics, our commitment to sustainability as well as human and animal welfare during the production processes.

I can confirm that whilst we are not presently a member of the Fair Labour Association, we can re-assure you that that at Pure Collection we work in close partnership with our suppliers and do our utmost to ensure conditions are of an appropriate standard.

Thank you again for providing us with your feedback, and for raising this important issue with us. We will of course ensure that your comments are passed to the management team, who I know will also find your feedback extremely valuable and useful.

Radley – Radley Customer Care

Many thanks for your email.

Please be advised that many of our goods are manufactured in India and China where we maintain strict and ethical codes of conduct with our suppliers.

We have worked with most of our suppliers for many years and have built respectful and close working relationships with them. Our British design team visit our suppliers on a regular basis to work side by side with them in the development of our products. Our key suppliers have been, and continue to be, instrumental in our development process and play an integral part in our company’s success.

For more information on our products, company values, and code of conduct please visit our company website www.radley.co.uk

If you need any further assistance, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us again.

Sweaty Betty

The White Company – Ellie King, The White Company Customer Service Team

Thank you for your email and I am delighted to hear your enjoyed looking through our Autumn brochure.

In regards to your comments about the working conditions of the people we employ to produce our products I would like to direct you to the corporate social responsibility page on our website;

http://www.thewhitecompany.com/help/ethics/

I would like to reassure you at The White Company we are members of the Ethical Trading Initiative and are committed to protecting workers rights.

I hope that you are able to find all the requested information from this page and if you do have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me and I will try my hardest to source the answers for you.

White Stuff – Julia Sugden:

Thank you for getting in touch with us. We take all concerns about Corporate Social Responsibility very seriously, as it’s something we really care about at White Stuff. We work with one factory in Bangladesh, which has been fully audited in line with our Ethical Code of Conduct. None of our garments are produced by the factories so sadly affected by the recent disaster in the country.

All suppliers who join the White Stuff Family must sign up to our Ethical Code of Conduct before we do business with them. Our code covers all aspects of Health and Safety and Labour and Wage which is based on eight codes:

·         General principle

·         Non Discrimination

·         Forced Labour

·         Child Labour

·         Wages and Hours

·         Working conditions

·         Environment

·         Freedom of Association

Each of our factories must demonstrate compliance to our Code when requested through our audit programme.

As our supplier relationships are important to us, we’ve also thought creatively about practical ways to support workers and their families. Our ‘Made for Change’ charity bags have been sold in shops and online to raise money for children’s scholarships in India. Since 2012, we’ve funded over 330 children’s scholarships, which cover school fees, uniforms, educational materials and exam fees.

We are always looking to evolve our commitment through CSR and will continue to update our website with more details of what we’ve been up to and what we’d like to achieve in the longer term.

Wrap London – Vicci Hallam, Wrap Customer Care:

Thank you for contacting us and I fully understand your concerns. We source garments and accessories from a number of countries, our leather jackets are made in Italy, Sendra boots are from Spain and some of our jewellery is designed and made in the UK. The majority of garments are manufactured in Hong Kong, India, China and Portugal and our Managing Director personally visits all our main suppliers at least twice a year. We have continued to work with the suppliers who supported us at launch and in most cases the MD is a personal friend of the owners. Our partners are also small sized businesses that are often family owned. Their factories are all well run, professional organisations with good labour relations and they do not use child labour. We do not design and manufacture for the cheaper, high volume, low price end of the market, all our clothes are manufactured in well-established factories that produce beautifully made, high quality garments in limited quantities.

Ad endum, no further responses or updates from any of the above listed companies were ever received…

Originally published on diamondsanddaisychains.com