Interview: Munish Datta on M&S’s updated sustainability programme

For the first time Marks & Spencer has introduced a sustainability commitment that considers its multichannel offer and how that affects the company’s overall retail footprint. The move speaks volumes about M&S’s pledge to be a leading international multichannel retailer and better understand the carbon footprint of its multichannel operations in the UK and globally.

It is one of many updates the retailer has made to its sustainability agenda, Plan A, since it first launched in January 2007, when it set out 100 commitments to achieve in five years.

M&S reported back on the progress of these and other updated commitments earlier this year. At the same time the retailer also launched Plan A 2020, which incorporates customers, employees and other organisations into its sustainability journey.

Energy efficiencies

One of the cornerstones of creating a more sustainable company is improving the performance of the property portfolio, as M&S’s head of FM and Plan A, Munish Datta, explains.

“Property plays such an important role in the sustainability journey. We’re becoming more energy efficient by driving down the energy we use, and have increased our energy efficiency target from 35% to 50% per sq ft of the 2006/2007 baseline by 2020.

“But as we get better at energy efficiencies, making savings becomes harder so we need to think differently,” Datta says.

That includes considering wind farms, solar electricity, anaerobic digestion plants and other renewable energy sources available in the UK.

Operations are already carbon neutral for the worldwide M&S and joint-venture retail businesses. That was mainly achieved through more efficient energy use, reduced gas leaks from refrigeration and improved recycling levels.

“We’ve had a renewables focus in the last five or six years,” says Datta. “This year all of the electricity we purchased for our UK and Republic of Ireland stores and offices came from renewable green tariff electricity, and we look at every opportunity to improve on this. We’re also 27% more water efficient than our 2006/2007 baseline but that’s something we want to improve on too.”

One area the retailer is still addressing is refrigeration, from limiting gas leaks to potentially putting doors on chilled cabinets, it will be a focus for the next few years.

Another development that has been formalised in the 2014 update to Plan A is the change in attitude towards sustainability and property that has developed since the launch of the agenda.

“Sustainability is now integrated at the earliest possible level when we are thinking about property,” says Datta. “We’re always thinking about the most sustainable way of doing things, rather than just adding it on.”

This is aided by new technology such as building information modelling (BIM), which allows sustainability considerations to be factored in from the design stage of new properties. It also creates a model that can be shared with those who will eventually work in the store and members of the senior management team too. 

“Using BIM is really exciting. It allows us to show employees and customers a store in 3D that they can walk through before it’s been built. It’s very engaging,” Datta explains.

The team at M&S is so excited about the prospect of what BIM can offer that its use has become one of the new commitments for 2014. By 2016 the company will review the use of BIM and make recommendations for how best to use the technology in the future.

Offsite construction is another growing area for the property team, as this minimises waste and disruption, particularly at trading stores.

“We’re increasingly building parts of our stores offsite, such as the cafes or delis, which can be brought in as modular pods. It’s a very sustainable way of building,” Datta says.

Retrofitting the portfolio

Offsite construction methods are also useful for retrofitting existing stores to make them more sustainable, as it minimises disruption for customers and reduces the time shops need to be closed for refurbishment.

One store that has undergone a successful retrofit is Simply Food in Epping, where, among other changes, the refurbishment included adding a green wall to the side of the building.

“Our customer insight research shows customers really like green walls,” Datta explains. “In Epping we changed the facade so our store stands out more. But it also affects the way people behave; they feel more responsible towards it, which then has a halo effect.”

And it’s not just in Epping where changes are having an effect – when the lighting in stores is changed to improve efficiency or refrigeration is turned down, or a green wall is installed, it also has comfort benefits for staff and customers, and they become more aware of their surroundings.

“We’re always thinking about the most sustainable way of doing things, rather than adding it on”

Munish Datta, M&S

“Does this translate into improved sales? It’s very difficult to quantify, but we do have some new commitments around the commercial viability of sustainable buildings,” Datta says.

Plan A commitments are not just focused around improving energy efficiency or reducing waste though, the property team also considers the future use of buildings right from the outset. “We are experiencing more flooding in the UK, how are we going to deal with that?” asks Datta. “We have a plan for every new building we construct.

“We’re trying to bring Plan A in much earlier into the process and consider the cost of the property up front, but also the cost to run it and the cost of any potential future use. So we try to consider whole life costing and make climate change adaptations accordingly.”

People power

But creating these extremely efficient stores and considering whole life costing can’t happen in isolation, it’s also vital that employees are educated about how these buildings work and how they can best use them.

“We won’t realise the full investment if our colleagues in store don’t use the new properties to their full potential, so we must also win them over,” says Datta.

Much of Plan A is people focused. It includes commitments on training for top executives in sustainability, ensuring every UK store supports its community through raising funds for local charities, and inspiring customers to lead more sustainable lives.

These commitments are now intrinsically linked with the property offering and commitments, as the retailer tries to make its approach to sustainability integrated and consistent.

“The way people are interacting with retail is changing all the time, so we can’t stand still – it’s a constantly changing landscape,” maintains Datta.

Adapting for a multichannel world

The proliferation of services such as click-and-collect, as well as home delivery and even same-day delivery, has dramatically changed the retail landscape in recent years, and has led to retailers such as M&S adapting to changing customer needs.

“Multichannel poses different challenges for sustainability,” says Datta. “It can incrementally add energy demand, which can make it challenging in terms of gaining deeper efficiency.”

To counter this, the retailer has commitments around fuel efficiency for deliveries, which is already 32% better than the 2006/2007 baseline, and is exploring options for using small electricity generators and bio-methane.

One of the new commitments in Plan A 2014 is around better understanding multichannel operations by 2016, so M&S can then decide how to improve carbon efficiency by 2020.

But this shift in consumer habits may actually benefit retailers such as M&S that have already spent much time considering the shopping experience alongside their sustainability improvements.

“Shops should be beautiful to be in, and should be monitored and adjusted to improve the shopping experience,” says Datta. “They are becoming much more about experiential and leisure space.”

With the increase in cafes, delis, beauty treatments, customer advice, browsing hubs and other in-store offerings, the role of physical stores is changing.

“There is a huge growth in people wanting things delivered to shops, which is a great fusion of the online and physical retail experience,” says Datta.

This is improved by adding features such as internal greenery and ensuring things like refrigeration are not having a negative effect on the temperature of stores.

The M&S property portfolio has been modernised and its sustainability improved considerably over the past seven years. This has in part been led by the creation of several sustainable learning stores, where the company has trialled a raft of new sustainable technology and closely monitored the buildings to see how they perform (see box).

The sustainable learning stores have served to improve the company’s UK property portfolio, but there are implications for the global portfolio too as M&S aims to replicate the success of the shops internationally. By 2020 M&S intends to have launched a further five in international territories to complement those already open in India.

What next for Plan A?

When considering the next steps for the M&S property portfolio, there is still so much the retailer wants to achieve, but the updated Plan A also focuses on collaboration with suppliers, partners and customers to meet its goals.

“There is so much opportunity for retailers in doing the basics when it comes to sustainability,” says Datta. “Don’t just try and add it as a badge.”

The retailer also hopes to learn from other parts of the business. Plan A has improved the food and clothing supply chains that M&S works with through initiatives such as ethical assessments of suppliers using the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange database.

“We want to bring some of those lessons into the property supply chain. What does that look like for the property supply chain?” asks Datta.

Future plans for the property portfolio include installing LED lighting in 100 more stores and heat reclaim technology in up to 40, embedding building information modelling, further use of offsite construction and expanding the use of ethical assessments for all of the UK property supply chain.

“Retail as a whole is becoming more collaborative in this space, so let’s join together and share lessons. That’s how we will move forward,” Datta concludes.