Ethical Trading
Our commitment to ethical trading is central to how we operate. We value the people who make our products and continue to work with our suppliers to improve their working conditions.
What is ethical trading?
Ethical sourcing is about acting responsibly towards the people who make our products by supporting our suppliers in providing good quality jobs.
Our objectives
The New Look Group shares the same ethical objectives to:
- Be fair: to our customers, suppliers, employees and the people who make our products.
- Be a good neighbour to the world.
- Deliver value and ethical values to our customers.
- Continuously improve: our intention is to improve everything we can at every opportunity, however we recognise that we cannot solve all of the problems in our supply chain overnight. Where big changes are practical we want to make those changes and make them stick. Where that isn’t practical we always work to make little changes that will make a difference.
- Ensure that ethical trading is central to how we operate.
Why we do it
We believe in giving everyone involved in our supply chain an opportunity to live a decent life. We want our customers and our staff to feel good about New Look’s products and how they are sourced. We believe in raising the profile of what fashion retailers are doing in ethical trade.
How we work
We work with 100% of New Look’s supply chain to improve working conditions for the people who make our products. We ask all our suppliers to:
- Take ownership of any problems.
- Work with us to tackle problems.
- Be open and honest with us.
- Sign up to New Look's Ethical Code of Conduct. We pilot projects in different countries to listen to the people in our supply chain and work to improve their jobs. This helps us understand what is good about the way we work with our people and what can be improved. We are a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative and collaborate with non governmental organisations (NGOs), trade unions and experts to make a bigger difference. Link to working together. We ensure all our internal teams are thinking ethically.
New Look's Ethical Code of Conduct (205 Kb PDF)
Our commitment to ethical trading is central to how we operate. We value the people who make our products and continue to work with our suppliers to improve their working conditions.
“New Look is at the forefront of developing innovative approaches to tackling some of the most urgent issues for workers, including raising wages and enabling workers to organise themselves. We support its efforts to start to tell the story of how it is putting its ethical trade principles into practice.” Dan Rees, ETI Director.
Click here to download our Commitment to Ethical Trade brochure (3 Mb PDF)
Click here to view New Look's response to the independent E&Y investigation
New Look Sandblasting Policy
Sandblasting, a finishing technique that gives a faded, worn out or bleached look to denim fabric, involves the use of crystalline silica (a compound found in sand) which is blasted onto the fabric from air compressors to give jeans a faded appearance. Sandblasting poses great health risks to sandblasting operators as exposure to the process can cause silicosis, lung cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Because of this high risk to workers’ health and safety, New Look has made the decision to ban sandblasting in all of our product lines, with immediate effect. This ban has been communicated to all New Look suppliers and to our buying and design teams.
We have reviewed other options for achieving the worn look and now require our suppliers use alternative methods, such as abrasive rubbing and chemical spraying.
If you would like to learn more about what New Look is doing to make fashion more sustainable and for more information on New Look’s code of business ethics and responsible sourcing please visit:
http://www.newlookgroup.com/newlook/en/sustainability/sustainabilityhome
Helping Those Who Work in Our Factories
Our Supply Chain team has been working closely with our Indian factories to help improve the lives of those who work in them.
Geosansar are a company based in Hyderabad, who together with New Look, is helping to set up savings bank accounts for workers in factories supplying our clothing.
Read the full report from Geosansar here. The story has also been covered by the Daily Telegraph.
Geosansar's focus is to provide financial education and literacy for those at the Bottom of the Pyramid.
*New Look has launched this initiative within our supply base in India and are already seeing positive results.
In India, there are some 20-30 million people employed in the garment sector and many of whom do not have the provision for saving through the formal banking system. This is primarily because they are overwhelmed by visiting a bank or because the banks aren't located near where they work or live, or open when they would like to use them.
Without a formal bank account, these workers are forced to use the unregulated financial schemes which opens them up to significant risk. The cycle usually starts by being paid in cash and having nowhere to put it securely, they will carry with them or be forced to pass it on to others who will charge them for the safe keeping of their savings. This hardly seems fair. Geosansar with New Look has been developing this programme for over a year and now deliver bank accounts directly into the workplace. The customers then have the benefit of Geosansar's trained team and dedicated branch network to access their funds and also receive assistance on their financial service needs. Furthermore, once the workers have a blank account their salaries can be paid electronically and is safe until they require their funds.
Our commitment to ethical trading and animal welfare is central to how we operate.
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