Chief Executive’s Introduction
This Corporate Responsibility Report demonstrates our progress in our community and environmental performance across the Group.
"NOW, MORE THAN Sir Terry Leahy  |
The past year has been difficult for many of our customers and their communities around the world. No country has been immune from the global recession and the toll it has taken on job security, family incomes, business and community investment as well as individual and collective confidence in the future. The global recession has its roots in the financial sector and some people have come to question whether, left to themselves, businesses can be expected to operate in the wider social interest. I understand why people seek to reassess the role of those institutions which they believe contributed to the current crisis. But I have always believed that effectively run businesses operating in competitive markets can improve both the lives of their direct customers and the well-being of their communities as well as the prospects of society at large. This, our latest Corporate Responsibility Report, sets out that case for Tesco. Three years ago we showed our determination that a strong community and environmental performance should be at the heart of any modern, successful business, by making Community and Environment the fifth segment of our ‘Steering Wheel’. Two years ago we put the community at the heart of what we do by making it the fifth part of our long-term strategy. This year, while many organisations have reduced their spending in these areas, we have grown our investment in communities. While others have questioned whether the environment can be a priority in difficult times, we have demonstrated that tackling issues like climate change remain at the top of our agenda. I believe that now, more than ever, is the time to show leadership, supporting our customers and our staff as they face challenging economic circumstances, and tackling the issues that matter to communities and society. By running our business responsibly and efficiently we reduce CO2 emissions and costs – making progress on the environment and helping our customers save money. By growing our business responsibly, we create more jobs and help more people develop skills and careers, helping to tackle social mobility and driving regeneration in many communities. |
Our Community Plan focuses on five community promises, developed in close consultation with our staff and customers around the world. These are: actively supporting local communities; buying and selling our products responsibly; caring for the environment; giving customers healthy choices; and creating good jobs and careers.
This Corporate Responsibility Report demonstrates our progress in our community and environmental performance across the Group, shows where we have met our targets and where we have not, highlights our belief that there is more to do, and expresses our appetite to do more in the coming years.
Climate change remains the major strategic challenge of our age. I fundamentally believe that business has a crucial role to play in tackling climate change, setting an example, guiding consumers towards more sustainable forms of consumption, making them affordable and providing the information on which to make informed green choices.
We continue to drive down our own carbon footprint. Our latest environmental store in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, has a carbon footprint 70% below that of an equivalent store in 2006. It provides a blueprint for other stores we are building in the UK and internationally. We now have environmental stores in every country in which we operate.
More and more of our customers are making green choices with Tesco that help save money as well as carbon. Green Clubcard points encourage our customers to reuse and recycle, and over 9.5 million Clubcard customers in the UK now reuse their bags, halving the number of bags used each week compared to August 2006. In June, Tesco Malaysia became the first country outside the UK to launch green Clubcard points to help customers use fewer carrier bags, issuing over 14,000 points in the first week of the reward scheme. We also now reward customers in South Korea for reusing their bags and for cycling to our stores.
Over the past year we became the first major retailer in the world to carbon label products. We have now labelled 100 products in the UK and Ireland, and have many more in the pipeline. South Korea is also starting carbon labelling this year.
The Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI) which we established with a £25 million commitment to the University of Manchester is beginning to bear fruit, tackling some of the many questions about how to make a consumer society sustainable. In addition to making a number of senior academic appointments, the SCI last year welcomed its first tranche of post-doctoral students from around the world – sustainability leaders of the future. The SCI is committed to publishing its research findings on an open access basis.
We are acutely aware that recessions create hardship for many families and communities. Our customers do not just spend less, they worry more. People can feel more isolated or vulnerable in their communities, and can be concerned that civic values and neighbourliness are less prevalent than they used to be.
Our success is built on our ability to listen to our customers, and to anticipate and respond to changes in society. We are listening carefully to our staff and our customers in this recession, and are making sure we support the causes that matter to them. Our Community Champions are our strongest expression yet of our investment in communities. We now have Community Champions in 65 stores and five distribution centres in the UK, each working with local schools, charities and services, as well as in our stores in China, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, Slovakia and South Korea.
I am proud that in a year where many businesses have dramatically reduced their community investment, Tesco has donated over £57 million to local causes and communities.
I believe this investment in communities is what our staff and customers expect – it reflects their instincts and their behaviours. Indeed, in these very difficult economic times, they have themselves shown unparalleled energy and generosity, breaking all records to raise over £6 million for our UK Charity of the Year, Marie Curie Cancer Care.
In a year where many people have been deeply worried about losing their jobs, we have created new jobs and invested in our people. Through our regeneration partnerships, we are continuing to bring many long-term unemployed people back into work, giving hope not just to individuals but to the communities in which they live and work.
The financial and economic crisis has hit the developing world hard. For developing countries, international trade is more vital than ever. This last year has seen us make good progress on our ethical trading standards, growing our expertise on labour standards and strengthening our audit and training work. And, through the SCI we are working hard to understand the best contribution we can make to sustainable development through our relationship with our international supply base.
There will be more challenging times ahead. But good businesses relish challenging times. We know that our customers and their communities depend on us more than ever. And we know that if we fulfil their needs – not just in their homes but in their communities and in broader society – they will repay us with their custom and their loyalty.
This understanding is, I believe, at the heart of a sustainable business.
Terry Leahy
Chief Executive
