It has been a priority for our business for many years that we ensure workers in our partner factories are treated fairly, with good working conditions. Since 2012, The Regatta Group has been a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) where we joined as a foundation member. All corporate members of ETI agree to adopt the ETI Base Code of labour practice, which is based on the standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Since May 2017, we have maintained “Achiever” level by ETI standards, which highlights our progress on the ETI landscape. This reflects the amazing work we are doing in our factories. The ETI base code is the standard we aim to adhere to across all of our supply chain.

As part of the ETI we actively listen to shared experiences, attend working groups, evaluate our factories regularly against set standards and pilot new initiatives across our supply chain to establish good ethical practice. We are very proud that we have set up workers participation committees in key factories to ensure our workers have a voice. This is a really huge step.

As a Group, we have very good purchasing practices in place, including:

• Discussing factories capacities, shipment schedules and purchase orders
• Planning to ensure agreements with factories are kept and they are not overloaded
• Increasing minimum orders to help improve factory efficiency and productivity
• Increasing lead times
• Agreeing price increases in line with worker wage increases
• Making designers aware of the impact of last minute designs on the production process
• Seeking alternative shipping routes/methods to shorten lead times without pressuring factories

These are all genuine ethical trading actions that relate to how we are creating a more enabling environment for decent pay and work.

We also have a programme in place to train factory managers in health & safety and have 2 full time members of staff who ensure that factories are inspected and all remediation work is carried out timely. Our Health & Safety training workshop has already reached over 14,000 workers.

We are really proud of our long term commitment to our suppliers. 50% of our suppliers within the Group have worked with us for over 5 years, and 35% for over 10 years. Across the Group we have inspected over 116 factories to ensure 40,000 workers are covered by the ETI base code across 9 countries.

In 2017, we launched the ILO Score project which develops HR strategies within factories, working directly with line workers in one of our factories. We will have completed the first module in 2017 and will be monitoring its effectiveness with a view to rolling it out to further of our factories.

The Regatta Health Education Programme educates female workers in Bangladeshon health, hygiene, nutrition and finance. The programme has been completed in 6 factories in Bangladesh. This has reached 10,000 workers, who in turn have taught their neighbours and friends.

The programme has been completed in 6 factories in Bangladesh. This has reached 10,000 workers, who in turn have taught their neighbours and friends.

1. Reduction in sick leave and absenteeism
2. Lower worker turnover
3. Improved productivity
4. A happier, healthier, more motivated workforce

The Higg Index – Sustainable Apparel Coalition

By January 2018 we will have submitted our first self-assessment in accordance with the Higg Index. This self-assessment standard is unique to the apparel and footwear industry and we will be using it to assess our environmental and social sustainability throughout our supply chain.

This will help us, every year, to identify areas for improvement and benchmark our performance against the Industry.

The assessment is based on modules which consider corporate policies and practices in every impact area and at every level of sustainability. We will enter our own data and will receive performance scores broken down by category as well as an overall company score. The scores are displayed anonymously to everyone using this standard which allows other brands and retailers to benchmark their performance and discover where they stand compared to others.

Our involvement with the Higg Index will enable us to strive for better improvements where required and ultimately raise the bar on our sustainability efforts.

The Microfibre Consortium

The Microfibre consortium was created by European Outdoor Group, the Regatta Group joined the consortium in June 2017.

The consortium is made up ofa selection of EOG members, all brands, working alongside experts to review and find a solution to reducing the fibre loss during production, wear and washing that has been contaminating our water systems and oceans. Collaborative links exist with sister organisations such as the Scandinavian Outdoor Group, Peak Innovation and also the Boulder (CO, USA) based Outdoor Industry Association.

The members fund and review findings on research that will initially aim to answer and consolidate fundamental questions, such as:

• How much microfibre shedding are we producing?
• How are the fibres being shed?
• What fabric types could be the key offenders?

The desired outcome of this first phase is an open source database that details research findings about the effect polymer, yarn and textile structure may play on Microfibre shedding.

Chemical testing

Global attitudes to chemicals have intensified in the past decade. We have seen the introduction of the EU REACH programme’s restricted substance list that began evaluating and regulating chemicals being produced before entering specific countries. Many countries have now begun similar programmes in order to review and restrict harmful chemicals. Each season we evaluate the ranges with a rigorous testing programme in place. The Group reviews all its regulations against global directives to ensure that we are compliant. Already PFOS and PFOA free, Regatta has also now been PFC free since 2020.

Our full list of restricted substances can be seen here.

Energy efficiency

Our warehouses are fitted with high frequency TS light fittings and they are on sensors so the energy used changes to the presence of people in that area. Lighting sensors are also used throughout the offices. We also use low energy usage battery chargers for all our MHE.

Waste Management

Our sites in the UK all comply with waste management legislation and the relevant environmental regulations by recording all movements of general waste.

This is then matched with certificates received from authorised contractors, verifying the appropriate disposal. Clean and foul drain systems are identified where appropriate and comply with the requirements of pollution control regulations. Arrangements are in place to manage chemical spillage with appropriate spill kits installed at all site facilities.

OPERATIONS

We take our carbon footprint very seriously, especially for our logistics department who are concerned with the transportation of our products from China and Bangladesh to the UK and abroad. We have offices in China and Bangladesh which help us reduce our air miles when we are required to QC our products or visit our suppliers.

We work extremely hard to ensure our shipping company provides 98% container efficiency. In 2012, we joined the Peel Ports Cargo 2000 Initiative which is set to reduce the number of road miles from port to warehouse. We are currently reducing our road miles by 47,000 miles per year.