Church Times: M&S, Next Score Poorly in Ethical Fashion Guide

The Church Times reports that Marks & Spencer and Next received low marks in an ethical fashion guide, placing two of Britain's largest high street retailers under renewed scrutiny over their supply chains, according to the paper's coverage. The report does not detail the exact scores assigned to either retailer, the publisher of the guide, or the full list of companies evaluated.

What did the Church Times report about M&S and Next?

The paper's coverage ties the two retailers to poor marks in an ethical fashion ranking, a category of consumer guide that compares brands on supply chain practices. Because the available Church Times item does not include the guide's full methodology or the specific point totals awarded to M&S or Next, this account is limited to the comparison the paper describes rather than the underlying data set.

What criteria do ethical fashion guides typically weigh?

Guides of this type generally assess factors such as factory labor conditions, use of recycled or lower-impact materials, chemical management, and transparency about where garments are made. None of those specific criteria are confirmed in the Church Times item as the basis for the M&S or Next scores, so readers should treat any assumption about why the two retailers scored poorly as unconfirmed pending the full guide.

What have M&S and Next said in response?

No statement from Marks & Spencer or Next appears in the available reporting. Readers looking for a company response should consult each retailer's own sustainability or corporate responsibility pages directly, since the Church Times item reviewed for this piece does not quote either company.

How do fiber choices factor into ethical scoring?

Material sourcing is one of the most common levers retailers use to move up or down in these rankings. The distinction between natural and recycled fibers carries real tradeoffs in water use, chemical processing, and durability, as explained in Natural vs Recycled Fibers: Understanding Key Tradeoffs. A retailer's fiber mix, rather than any single policy, often explains a large share of movement in ethical guide placements, though the Church Times item does not specify which fibers factored into the M&S or Next results.

What should shoppers do with these rankings?

A single guide entry is a snapshot, not a full audit. Shoppers weighing a purchase can cross-reference a retailer's own disclosures against independent guides and look at how design houses that have built reputations on supply chain transparency approach sourcing, as detailed in Vivienne Westwood shapes ethical fashion practices. Readers who want the primary ranking data should seek out the guide itself rather than relying solely on secondhand summaries, since neither the publisher nor the scoring criteria are specified in the Church Times account reviewed here.

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