Marks & Spencer is hoping its move to a new head office in the second half of 2004 could become a socially responsible model for other companies switching their headquarters.
The high street retailer has been carefully preparing CSR initiatives in relation to its move from central to west London, in the hope that when it arrives at the new location it will already be established in the community.
Hundreds of the 2000 head office staff have become involved in community projects, visits and volunteering near the new base in Paddington. The programme, called ‘Changing Places, Changing Faces’, began early last year with a series of visits by employees to Paddington-based community organizations, including a college, a hospital and a hostel for homeless people.
The visits have been arranged through the Paddington Waterside Partnership, a local community group, to build links between the company and the community and to encourage the involvement of staff. Senior managers, including chief executive Roger Holmes, have led six half-day tours of the inner city area with employees. The themes of the visits are in line with the retailer’s three community involvement priorities of health, employability and education.
Socially responsible relocation is finding other supporters in the corporate world. The BBC’s CSR team is putting in place a community involvement programme related to its recent move to new premises in west London, and Barclays has forged a partnership with a community group, the East London Communities Organisation, in advance of its switch to a new HQ in London’s Canary Wharf in 2005. One early result of the Barclays’ link-up has been an agreement to give cleaners at the new office – who are likely to be drawn from the local population – much improved sick pay, training, holidays and pension rights.
Julia Cleverdon, chief executive of Business in the Community, said M&S was ‘leading the way’ in its relocation plans by creating ‘a community that looks forward to their arrival’.
M&S community programme manager Emily-Jane Walker told EP the programme also sought to minimize the impact of the move on the area around Baker Street, where the company has been headquartered for 47 years.
‘It’s also about looking at how we are leaving the area, down to things like the impact our departure will have on the local dry cleaners,’ she said. ‘When we go, there will be a lot fewer people walking around the streets, and there will be some effect on economic activity. One of our responsibilities is to be open with people in terms of letting everyone know we are going and the timescales involved, so they can adapt their business plans.’
Marks & Spencer has launched its Marks & Start community programme, which will offer up to 10,000 work experience placements nationwide to the homeless, disabled or young unemployed. Those on the two to four-week placements in stores or offices in UK and Ireland will be assigned a Marks & Spencer employee as a mentor. Pilots showed the idea was a success.