Next plc (Next), one of UK’s largest apparel retailers, ranks joint 13th out of 65 companies. Since 2021, the company has improved by disclosing a partial list of its second-tier suppliers and a list of 90% of its third-tier suppliers, both including names, addresses, and process categories, providing examples of remedy outcomes for workers in its supply chains, and disclosing limited data on the operation of its grievance mechanisms available to workers in specific supply chain contexts. The company’s score is based on its stronger performance on the themes of Commitment & Governance and Remedy and above-average scores across other themes. Notably, Next is the highest-scoring department store in the benchmark and the overall highest-scoring company on the theme of Remedy.
The company has an opportunity to improve its performance and disclosure on the themes of Traceability & Risk Assessment, Purchasing Practices, and Recruitment.