M&S links £850m loan to net zero goals

Marks and Spencer will accelerate its sustainability initiatives after securing funding through a new £850m revolving credit facility that is linked to its Plan A net zero targets. 

Under the terms of its new credit facility, M&S will reportedly benefit from a lower interest rate if it delivers targets aligned to its net zero roadmap. The designated metrics will span the M&S value supply chain to ultimately support its net zero goal.

Earlier this year, the group revealed it had reset its Plan A sustainability programme, with the company now focusing on  “becoming a net zero Scope 3 business across its entire supply chain and products by 2040”. 

The retailer set out a roadmap to net zero in September, using “science-based targets aligned to the UN ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5c”. 

The target aims to see Marks and Spencer achieve full net zero 10 years ahead of the government’s UK-wide strategy, and will require a “rapid decarbonisation of its business to cut its carbon footprint by a third by 2025, from a 5.7 million tonne 2017 baseline”. 

The retailer first launched Plan A in 2007 and reached carbon neutral status in 2012, becoming the first retailer to do so. 

With climate change escalating in companies priorities, CEO Steve Rowe wrote to its global supplier base and hosted a business-wide event to rally its 70,000 colleagues behind plans to focus on sustainability. 

At the time, Rowe said: “We launched Plan A 14 years ago, because we knew then there was no Plan B for our planet. We now face a climate emergency, and in resetting Plan A with a singular focus we can drive the delivery of net zero across our entire end-to-end supply chain. 

“This won’t be easy. We need to transform how we make, move and sell our products to customers and fundamentally change the future shape of our business.”

He added: “This is not a far-away promise; we must act now to rapidly cut our footprint. To deliver this, we need our colleagues to better understand the carbon impact of our products and processes, we need to back our suppliers to innovate and adapt to the changing environment and we must work together to help customers enjoy lower carbon lives.” 

The terms of the new loan will run until June 2025 and replace the existing facility, which was due to mature in April 2023.