ASOS, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Tesco, B&Q, Marks & Spencer and reigning champion The Co-Operative have been shortlisted for the ‘Responsible Retailer of the Year’ at the High Street Oscars, the Oracle Retail Week Awards 2012.

ASOS’ Fashion with Integrity initiative is embedding its values and ethics firmly within its learning, development and rewards. The CarbonNeutral company launched the Green Room that supports sustainable fashion, promoting products with a quadruple bottom line – people, planet, product and profit. Whilst the ASOS Marketplace, offers a creative outlet where customers can recycle their fast fashion. One of the leading aspects of The Green Room is ASOS Africa, a not for profit women’s clothing workshop in SOKO which is supported by the First Lady, Michele Obama. The retailer has also created 1,000 new jobs via a new fulfilment centre in Barnsley. ASOS will become the first pure play retailer to achieve the highly sought after accolade should it win the award in March.

Supermarket Sainsbury’s has launched a new set of sustainability targets – 20 by 20. As part of the initiative they aim to provide shoppers with affordable, quality products that are sustainably and ethically sourced. They continue their commitment to Fairtrade products with one in every four pounds spent on Fairtrade good spent in a Sainsbury’s store. 2011 saw the retailer rated number one by Greenpeace in their canned tuna league and as well as Sainsbury’s launch of the UK’s first mobile handset charger recycling initiative.rporate Responsibility remains a priority despite economic woes

Morrisons continues to support the long-term viability of British farming. By buying direct from farmers the supermarket cuts out the middle man and is able to provide a product that hits shelves quicker and is fresher. The Farming Programme will invest significant funds over the next five years in applied research with 12 projects completed over the past year. This year also saw the launch of the higher welfare chicken whereby all chickens sold in stores have been raised in improved conditions.

Community Promises form the backbone of Tesco’s corporate responsibility strategy – buying and selling products responsibly, caring for the environment, providing customers with healthy choices, actively supporting local communities and creating good jobs and careers. The supermarket is scheduled to open its next generation of zero carbon stores in the UK in addition to provided new jobs in the UK and abroad. Low carbon depots will also be opened in China and the UK with environmental features to reduce their carbon footprint. Working with their local communities campaigns include the Schools of Extended Education that form a vital part of stores in South Korea and Community Fairs in the UK which helped local charities to recruit over 10,000 new volunteers.

The One Planet Home Programme has been further enhanced by B&Q, a founding member of the Forestry Stewardship Council. Over the past year the retailer has overhauled its transport fleet to deliver a 22% reduction in transport emissions and diverted 84% of waste from landfill. B&Q also launched the Job Done scheme that aims to educate the next generation about sustainable homes – to date 2,000 schools are engaged in the programme and it has reached more than 500,000 young people.

Reigning champion, The Co-Operative Group, has been shortlisted once more for its commitment to corporate responsibility. In February this year the retailer launched new targets and commitments that have been incorporated into its financial operating plan. Its commitments include a pledge of carbon neutrality by 2012, a 10% reduction in packaging as well as choosing not to stock fish on the MCS’s Fish to Avoid list and improving the sourcing of many other species – for example, only pole and line caught tuna will be used in own-brand products. Sales of Fairtrade products have tripled and the Plan Bee campaign has also been extended to include other at risk species including butterflies, hoverflies and moths. It is expected that by 2015 Co-Operative Farms will supply a quarter of all fresh meat produce in stores.

Marks & Spencer’s Plan A was re-launched last year to include an additional 80 commitments. Some of the key achievements from 2011 include food waste from M&S cafes being sent for recycling, the introduction of a biomass boiler at Cheshire Oaks, the trialling of solar PV panels at Torbay and Cheshunt and the piloting of a hydrocarbon chiller at Macclesfield. Waste sent to landfill has been reduced by 72,000 tonnes and recycling rates are now up to 99%.

Speaking about the quality of the awards shortlist, George MacDonald, Deputy Editor of Retail Week, commented: “Despite the tough economic conditions that retail is experiencing, it’s evident that the green agenda has remained a boardroom priority and it’s great to see a pure play retailer shortlisted for this category.” 

Widely considered the most prestigious and sought-after awards in retail and a well established event in the UK retail industry calendar, the awards will take place on March 15^th 2012 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s West End. In addition to the 12 shortlisted categories, a further five awards will be selected by the main judging panel when they meet early next year to agree the winners for 2012, including the ultimate accolade, Oracle Retailer of the Year. 

The judging panel comprises some of the most influential names in the UK retail sector, including;

Andy Clarke, Chief Executive, ASDA Group

Terry Duddy, Chief Executive, Home Retail Group

Ian Filby, Chief Executive, DFS

Simon Fox, Chief Executive, HMV Group

Alan Giles, Chairman, Fatface

Vanessa Gold, Managing Director, Ann Summers

Mark Newton-Jones, Chief Executive, Shop Direct Group

Richard Pennycook, Group Finance Director, Morrisons

Mike Shearwood, Chief Executive, Aurora Fashions

Euan Sutherland, Chief Executive, B&Q

Rob Templeman, Chairman, Gala Coral and British Retail Consortium 

Laura Wade-Gery, Executive Director Multichannel E-commerce, Marks & Spencer