Life at M&S

Marks & Start is our programme that provides training and employability skills to people facing barriers to employment. This is an important part of supporting under-represented groups into work and help them progress to senior roles. 

We’ve been working with the AKT since 2019, donating £15,000 via sales of our pride-inspired T-shirts, and more than £30,000 since launching through Sparks. They’re one of our official Sparks charity partners – so customers can support them in providing safe homes, advice and better futures for LGBTQ+ and young people.

30% club is a global campaign to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels. We’ve been part of their 30% Club Cross Business Mentoring Programme since it began in 2014, and this year have over 30 mentees and 30 mentors taking part to develop a diverse pipeline of M&S leaders.

We support the business in the community race at work charter’s five calls to action to ensure ethnic minority colleagues are represented at all levels within a business.  These include appointing an Executive Sponsor for race, committing at board level to zero tolerance of harassment and bullying, and taking actions that support the career progression of our ethic minority colleagues. 

We strive to make the most of the talents disabled people can bring to the workplace. We’re recognised as a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2). This assesses how we recruit and develop our people, through the lens of disability.

This is a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve, or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly. We support their pledges including: 

- Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces friendly organisation by effectively publicising the Covenant
- Seeking to support the employment of service leavers and veterans young and old
- Seeking to support our colleagues who choose to be members of the Reserve forces
- Supporting the Royal British Legion's nationwide Poppy Appeal in November 

We're on a mission to embrace diversity, and whilst we're proud of the progress we've made, there's more to be done. So, we've enlisted the help of SEO/London, who engage with a gender-balanced, ethnically diverse mix of candidates and deliver superior educational training/mentoring support to young people from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds.

We're actively listening to what matters to our colleagues, as we continue to build our family time policies. We've successfully achieved our Carers Confident Level 1 certificate, demonstrating that we will support all carers across our business. It also shows our understanding of the legal rights of carers at M&S, and helps colleagues recognise themselves as carers, so we can provide practical support and assist them in combining their work and caring responsibilities.

Forces Families Jobs is the go-to for training, employment and volunteer roles for family members of currently serving UK military personnel. As a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, we've made a promise to ensure that those who serve, or have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly. We believe sharing our roles with Forces Family Jobs allows us to excel in our duty to the Forces community.

In our mission to attract more disabled candidates, we've enlisted the help of Evenbreak, whose mission is ensuring disabled people have the same opportunities and choices to enter, progress and thrive in the world of work as non-disabled people. We're passionate about being an inclusive place to work, and this partnership helps us attract more disabled candidates.

myGwork is the global business community for LGBTQ+ professionals, graduates, inclusive employers, and advocates for workplace equality. They offer a safe space for individuals to network with members of the LGBTQ+ community. We've partnered with myGwork to ensure that we're attracting more LGBTQ+ candidates and ensure all LGBTQ+ people feel they belong here.