A group of institutional investors with over £100 billion assets under management, coordinated by responsible investment pressure group, ShareAction, has requested that Marks & Spencer accredits as a Living Wage employer because they believe there will be significant benefits for investment portfolios, companies, and workers’ livelihoods.

Strathclyde Pension Fund and large City investors wrote to the retailer’s chief executive, Steve Rowe, ahead of its recent AGM (11th July) requesting him to take the final step to accreditation after wages had been increased for staff in the past year. ShareAction said that all 15 signatories to the letter wanted to invest in socially sustainable companies which focus on long-term success and they viewed the real living wage as an important indicator of this approach.

Richard Keery, Investment Manager at Strathclyde Pension Fund which manages over £19bn said: “There is a clear business and moral case for a FTSE 100 company such as Marks & Spencer to pay a Living Wage. For investors such as ourselves, accreditation with the Living Wage Foundation sends a clear signal that a company values its employees and is focussing on the long-term success of the business through investment in staff. We would be very encouraged indeed to see M&S progress towards Living Wage accreditation.”

The final step to accreditation would mean M&S committing to raising their hourly rate in line with the real cost of living year on year. Understanding the challenges this poses, both investors and activists believe that as a marker of responsible business, the real Living Wage is strongly aligned with M&S’s iconic ethos and values ShareAction said. 

Catherine Howarth, Chief Executive of ShareAction, said: "In sector after sector, the business benefits of paying the Living Wage have become clear to see. By committing to the real Living Wage, M&S would play a transformational role in shaping the landscape of pay in UK retail. 2017 is the right year for M&S to take a visible lead." M&S has recently launched it latest sustainability strategy, Plan A 2025, in which M&S said it would take a lead on tackling issues such as in-work poverty by “aiming to pay a Living Wage for all our direct employees and champion the payment of a living wage in supply chains”.

In its Plan A 2025, M&S said it would support 1,000 communities, help 10 million people live happier, healthier lives and convert M&S into a zero-waste business. The company said it would work with local councils and charity partners to support communities to deliver positive, measurable change.

The programme will initially be piloted in ten communities over the next two years, 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. Successful initiatives will be rolled out to a further 100 locations by 2023 and learnings will be shared with 1,000 locations by 2025.

Reporting on its progress of the Plan A 2020 initiative recently M&S said that it had achieved 64 of the 107 plan commitments set in 2014 - these had deadlines ranging from 2017 to 2020. During the past year, M&S said it continued to operate as a zero waste to landfill business (first achieved in 2012) and remained the only carbon neutral major retailer (four years in a row).