M&S and N Brown sign up to improve safety conditions in Bangladesh

Marks & Spencer and N Brown Group, the parent of Simply Be and Jacamo, are among the apparel retailers to sign the multistakeholder Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, coordinated by the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO). The initiative aims to improve safety conditions in supplier factories in Bangladesh following the collapse of the Rana Plaza building on 24th April. M&S has sourced from Bangladesh for over 10 years and has a regional sourcing office in Dhaka, staffed by M&S employed technologists and regional compliance officers. Sixty factories in the country supply M&S products. While N Brown Group did not use factories in the Rana Plaza building for any of its brands, it says it recognises “the need for a broad coalition of signatures in order for the Accord to work effectively and prevent another tragedy from occurring”. The Accord has already been signed by H&M, Primark, C&A, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Zara and Tesco. The Guardian has a piece on the retailers that haven’t signed up yet.