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Stakeholder Engagement

Understanding our stakeholders and doing right by them is fundamental to sustaining Burberry’s success in the long term. 

People

Our people are Burberry’s greatest asset, and it is vital that we continue to attract and retain the best talent, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.  

We have increased our Employee Engagement Surveys from one per year to two. We use insights from these surveys to action changes across the Group so we can address the needs of our colleagues most effectively.  

We communicate daily with our teams across the business to keep them informed, engaged and drive open conversation. Written communications, videos and podcasts are made available via Burberry World, our global intranet. We provide tailored communications to teams, such as Sales Associates during the year, providing regular operational updates and training around our new products and brand heritage. We continue to bring colleagues together virtually for significant calendar moments, such as the annual Icon Awards and global town halls, to maintain a sense of community.  

We remain firmly committed to the professional and personal development of our people, as well as their wellbeing. We provide learning tools and resources via B-Learning, a range of training programmes on areas such as demonstrating allyship and running leadership development programmes, making sure each cohort reflects the diversity of our workforce.  

More information on Burberry’s progress towards a more diverse and inclusive workplace can be found on pages 84 to 91 of the Annual Report.

WHAT MATTERS

  • Career development 
  • Operational efficiency 
  • Wellbeing and flexible working 
  • Fostering a diverse and inclusive culture

Customers

We have a diverse customer base across the world, whom we serve through Burberry.com, directly operated stores, concessions and wholesale partners. 

We aim to create a seamless omnichannel experience, where they can engage with our brand, our product, our campaigns and our people. We continue to harness insights to develop our understanding of luxury goods customers and enhance our customer proposition, ensuring we offer inspiration and opportunities to engage with Burberry across our platforms. 

During FY 2021/22, we continued to innovate the customer experience, leveraging technology to provide virtual appointments and bring the brand experience to customers wherever they are in the world. We also rolled out our new store concept more widely, with stores built or refurbished in FY 2021/22.

Providing exceptional customer service and assistance is vital for any luxury brand. We look at ways to improve the assistance we offer to customers on an ongoing basis, including ensuring they are able to contact us at their convenience through their preferred medium, including phone, email, social media and Burberry.com chat. At present, we offer customer service assistance in 14 languages. 

WHAT MATTERS

  • Product innovation and newness
  • Customer service and brand experience
  • Addressing evolving customer habits and changes in buying patterns
  • Environmental and social impact

 

Shareholders

We are committed to creating long-term sustainable value for our shareholders delivered through the Group’s strategy. We believe it is important to develop an open and transparent relationship with our shareholders for them to understand our business and its strategy to enable them to make informed decisions. 

Investors are invited to attend our trading and results announcements online, which include a dedicated question-and-answer session. All investor announcements are made available on our website including webcasts, slides and transcripts. 

During FY 2021/22, our Investor Relations team participated in over 200 investor meetings and events. This engagement included presentations to institutional shareholders and analysts following the release of the Group’s half- and full-year results, as well as meetings with the Group’s 20 largest investors. 

WHAT MATTERS 

  • Capital gain through share price appreciation and capital return via dividend
  • Quality of governance
  • ESG 
  • Profitability and business growth potential

Communities

At Burberry, we have a longstanding commitment to supporting our communities through various programmes and initiatives.

We support The Burberry Foundation (UK registered charity number 1154468) in creating long-term partnerships that drive positive change in our communities and help build a more sustainable future through innovation. Each year, we donate a percentage of Group adjusted profits before tax to charitable causes, which include long-term community programmes led by The Burberry Foundation and emergency efforts as they arise, such as disaster relief. Donations as part of the Ukraine humanitarian response to UNICEF, Save the Children and The British Red Cross have been made and we continue to support those charities.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect our communities, we worked closely with teams, partners and the Board to determine how we could best provide support. This year, we supported UNICEF’s COVID-19 Vaccines Appeal with separate donations from Burberry and The Burberry Foundation, contributing to the equitable distribution of vaccines around the world. Additionally, we have maintained our commitment to supporting our communities through our broader relief efforts and via The Burberry Foundation COVID-19 Community Fund.

Alongside contributions, employees are encouraged and supported in volunteering for charities and donating up to three working days a year to supporting their communities.

Burberry provides match-funding towards team-based fundraising activities. 

In addition, we have continued to support our programmes, including Burberry Inspire and our creative arts scholarships, to ensure that future generations, particularly from underrepresented communities, have the support they need to enter the creative industries.

WHAT MATTERS

  • Positively impacting the communities living and working around us
  • Employment within our communities
  • Increased focus on ESG

Partners

Our partners include our suppliers, companies, NGOs, civil society groups and retail third parties. We believe in building collaborative relationships with our partners and we take pride in sharing knowledge and expertise to find solutions and opportunities for innovation. 

Our initiatives across environmental and social responsibility contribute to many of the United Nations SDGs. We work with industry peers, business partners and other key stakeholder groups to drive wider industry change aligned to our ambitions. This year, we substantially met our Responsibility goals, which include being completely carbon neutral across our operations and positively impacting over 1 million people across communities. Read more about our Responsibility strategy on pages 52 to 97 and our support for communities on pages 72 to 83. Download Annual Report.

We nurture close relationships with members of our supply chain, including wholesalers, licensees and supply chain partners, on an ongoing basis to drive social and environmental improvements, focusing on every step in our sourcing and manufacturing processes. This includes ensuring compliance with our Responsible Business Principles and supporting understanding and adherence to our sustainability ambitions. 

To ensure a luxury experience across brand touchpoints, we collaborate with other companies to create the best experiences for our customers. We maintain close relationships with our wholesale and licensing partners through frequent updates to understand product needs, ongoing preferences and opportunities for innovation.  

We work with our suppliers, companies, NGOs, civil society groups, and retail third parties. We believe building collaborative relationships with our partners and we take pride in sharing knowledge and expertise to find solutions and opportunities for innovation.

WHAT MATTERS

  • Increased focus on ESG 
  • COVID-19 relief support 
  • Driving collaboration and contributing to the United Nations SDGs

Governments

We regularly engage with governments in the countries where we operate to understand their concerns so we can seek solutions to shared environmental, social, economic and governance issues. 

In 2021, we collaborated with governmental departments to drive the sustainability agenda forward, culminating in commitments made at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26). 

WHAT MATTERS

  • Industry/product policies such as taxes, restrictions, trade and regulations
  • Employment
  • Increased focus on ESG