Marks & Spencer acts to support clothing suppliers during pandemic

Marks & Spencer, which asked all its suppliers to stop production a day after the UK went into lockdown, will pay according to its standard terms for products shipped before March 24.

M&S is also paying for all made garments for the vast majority of orders – amounting to 95% of the retailer’s product spend – yet to be shipped by that date, the exceptions being for niche lines or to tertiary suppliers.

The retailer is also committed to covering purchases already made by suppliers of “large volumes” of fabric – often suppliers’ biggest cost.

M&S will continue to offer vendor finance and letters of credit, providing suppliers with immediate access to cash “regardless of payment terms should they need it”.

M&S is one of a number of big retailers and brands backing an initiative spearheaded by the International Labour Organization “to support manufacturers to survive the economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and to protect garment workers’ income, health and employment”.

Others backing the ILO programme include Adidas, C&A, H&M, Inditex, Primark and Zalando.

An M&S spokesperson told Retail Week: “We’re very proud to have strong long-term relationships with our clothing suppliers and we’re doing all we can for our partners in this unprecedented time.

“We have paid for all shipped products and for the vast majority of orders we will pre-pay for all garments and committed fabric and across all our partners we will aim to ensure that no fabric goes to waste and is used at a later date. Most of our orders will be paid through the vendor finance facility we have available.

“We fully support the efforts of the Ethical Trading Initiative and our partner the International Labour Organization which are facilitating the coordination and distribution of emergency relief funds, supporting safe working where manufacturing continues and coordinating an industry-wide response.

“Additionally, we’ll continue to support our community projects in the supply chain including those focused on employability, health and digital wages.”