Page 22


In this report:

Health, nutrition and responsible drinking: page 10

Waitrose Foundation: page 14

Sustainable construction: page 28

Further information:

Business in the Community: www.bitc.org.uk

Contact the elderly: www.contact-the-elderly.org.uk

One water: www.onewater.org.uk

Golden Jubilee Trust www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/ourresponsibilities


Town centre investment

We value vibrant and economically sustainable town and city centres, and believe our retail offering can play an essential role in their long-term prosperity. When considering a new development, we explore all potential aspects and impacts, from transport to architecture to public safety, with local authorities and developers, and engage with community groups to ensure they will suit their surroundings and offer long-term value to the community (see also Sustainable construction on page 28). This not only ensures we create comfortable, attractive environments for customers and Partners, but also helps to build stronger relationships with our community.

Local employment

As an employer and neighbour, we invest in creating positive experiences for shoppers, which will enhance an area’s economic vitality and provide sustainable employment for local people. Our shops often form a key part of large, mixed-use projects like the St David’s 2 retail development in Cardiff, where our new John Lewis shop will provide a quarter of the 4,000 new jobs. In one of the biggest-ever recruitment drives in Wales, the Partnership committed to encourage, train and recruit local people into rewarding, fulfi lling jobs by signing Cardiff Council’s training and employment charter.

Accessibility

Whatever the format of our shops and services, we want to ensure all customers can access our products. We integrate the principles of accessibility into the design, construction and operation of our shops and services, and aim to meet each customer’s individual needs, whether they need assistance due to hearing, sight or mobility issues, or require information in different formats and languages.

Business protection

The Partnership is working closely with the Home Offi ce and the British Retail Consortium on measures to progress standards for working in partnership with communities across the country to help to make them safer. In parallel with this work, Partners from John Lewis and Waitrose shops are successfully working within, and in some cases leading, safer community schemes where these are already in place. For example, Waitrose Biggin Hill is an active member of the neighbourhood Watch Scheme, providing facilities and resources which benefi t smaller retailers, residents, businesses and the police; it leads the local traders’ association; and provides subsidised dining facilities for local police officers, whose daily presence has helped to reduce shop losses from theft.


“Well over 90% of John Lewis Cardiff Partners are from Wales, and 725 of the 780-strong team are new to the Partnership, with many having never visited a John Lewis. So to make sure everyone knew how to provide the best customer service, we provided 5,200 days of training in John Lewis shops for our new Partners before we opened.”

Liz Mihell, Managing Director, John Lewis Cardiff


A welcome in the hillside:

As the first John Lewis store in Wales, we were keen to integrate the Welsh language into our new Cardiff shop and its dual-language microsite, and our efforts to reflect the community in which we work were praised by the Welsh Language Board.


Charlie talks shop:

Business in the Community appointed Charlie Mayfield as the new Chairman of its Business Action on economic Renewal leadership team in March 2009. The team is made up of business leaders dedicated to corporate responsibility and is playing an important role in defining how local economies can be sustained through investment, enterprise and employment.