Marks & Spencer announced a major community transformation programme as part of Plan A 2025 – its new plan to support 1,000 communities, help 10 million people live happier, healthier lives and convert M&S into a zero-waste business. In order to achieve these goals, M&S has designed a three-pillar taking into accournt: customer and colleague wellbeing, communities and workers lives, and the overall health of the planet.

The pioneering programme will see M&S work with local councils and charity partners to support communities to deliver positive, measurable change. It will initially be piloted in ten communities over the next two years [Birmingham, Bradford, Glasgow, Liverpool, Derry~Londonderry, Merthyr Tydfil, Middlesbrough, London Borough of Newham, Norwich and Rochdale], when M&S will trial a range of actions designed to tackle the issues that matter most to communities – such as unemployment, skill shortages, loneliness, poverty, and mental health and wellbeing.

Under its Caring for the Planet pillar, M&S hopes to make substantial improvements to its environmental footprint and go further by making its entire business model zero waste from its operations to its supply chains and products. The retailer has committed to making all of its packaging 'widely recyclable' by 2022 and halving its food waste by 2025. M&S has also committed to ensuring all of its raw materials come from sustainable sources by 2025, including cotton by 2019.

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