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Chairman’s message

The economic environment over the past year has been challenging for all of us. But being a co-owned business has allowed us to make the best decisions for the long-term and remain committed to doing what’s right, so that we emerge from the recession stronger and fitter.

Over the last year, we have undertaken an in-depth evaluation of our corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity, asking searching questions about where we want to be and how we might address the sustainability challenges of the future. As a result of external benchmarking, opinion research and consultation with key stakeholders such as our Partners and customers, we now have a much better understanding of our CSR performance, identifying our successes as well as those areas where we need to do more. That process has helped us to define and embed new commitments and targets into our business plans, and allowed us to develop a clearer set of priorities in four core CSR areas: our customers, products and suppliers; our people; our communities and our environment.

This report illustrates the journey we’ve taken, and our continued commitment to doing business in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. By sharing our performance and achievements, and the external recognition we have received, we aim to demonstrate the significant progress made across the Partnership over the last year. This progress has been supported by the efforts we have made to further strengthen our management structures and governance arrangements. Through the newly established Responsible Business Group, which I chair, we have taken steps to ensure our values are embedded in the everyday decisions and actions of our business.

We have generated considerable forward momentum in our business over the past 12 months, extending and improving our offer to customers. We have invested in multi-channel and new online concepts across our business. In Waitrose, we have launched our extremely popular ‘essential Waitrose’ range, and in John Lewis, we have reinforced our ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ commitment and launched a value range. We haven’t compromised on our social, ethical and environmental standards either.

Our objectives of reducing our environmental impact and promoting good environmental practice are also progressing. Through our new carbon commitment, we are now seeking absolute changes in our emissions, not just improvements in relation to the size of our business, and are working to develop a meaningful target. Waitrose Altrincham, which opened in October 2009, was the first new store to utilise our new refrigeration system, which will help us to phase out hydrofluorocarbons and cut our carbon footprint by 20% through the use of a natural refrigerant. In addition, all our electricity continues to come from green sources and all our new shops are built in line with our Sustainable Construction Framework.

Our longstanding commitment to dealing fairly with our suppliers, from UK designers to South African fruit farmers, means that we sell responsibly sourced, quality products. We have also made a significant positive contribution to the communities in which we operate, through our employee volunteering programmes, Waitrose’s successful Community Matters scheme and donations to this year’s John Lewis Charity of the Year, Contact the Elderly.

Customers have been playing their part too. In John Lewis, the ‘Make a Difference’ promotion has highlighted our fantastic range of organic, Fairtrade, energy-efficient, recycled and recyclable products; Waitrose’s support for the film The End of the Line helped to highlight the risk to our marine life posed by unsustainable fishing practices; and we have taken further steps to reduce packaging and encourage the reuse and recycling of carrier bags.

With sustainability at the centre of our agenda, we have retained our focus on growth, opening new John Lewis and Waitrose shops and developing new formats such as John Lewis at home and convenience shops in Waitrose. We are also finding new routes to market, like Waitrose’s partnerships with Welcome Break and Boots. 2010 may be difficult and the economic recovery may be slow and drawn out, but we still remain ambitious. As we look to the future, we are confident that our Partners’ dedication and expertise will continue to drive the commercial success of our business – and ensure that our commitment to operating in a socially and environmentally responsible way is at the heart of everything we do.

Charlie Mayfield Chairman, John Lewis Partnership November 2009