Marshalls' Indian Sandstone and the Ethical Supply Chain

John Lewis and Waitrose Supply Chain Award - Highly Commended

Marshalls is the market leading supplier of hard landscaping for commercial landscapes, gardens, patios and driveways. They are based in Halifax with 2800 staff over 50 sites with an annual turnover of £403 million.

Indian sandstone is a very popular material in the UK, yet not all the imported stone is manufactured to ethical, or even basic standards. Marshalls realised from an early stage that serious and systemic human rights and environmental issues were being violated in the quarrying of Indian sandstone including widespread use of child labour (it is estimated that between 15 and 20% of workers in quarries are children), illegal practice of bonded labour, exploitation of migrant workers, breaches of health and safety regulations, non-living wages, excessive working hours and environmental damage caused by quarrying.

Marshalls is committed to improving the lives of workers who make its products and informing consumers of the origins of the stone products they purchase. This led Marshalls to become the first company in the hard landscaping industry to join the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). 

By embedding the ETI base code in the supply chain, Marshalls worked closely with their supplier to put in place several processes to ensure compliance and improvement such as best practice in health and safety, accreditation to international standards and management systems, independent auditing and environmental management. A rigorous screening process is now conducted to ensure that Marshalls’ imported natural stone is processed and supplied to the highest ethical standards. Marshalls also worked directly with their supplier on several projects including quarry restoration and funding of health and educational camps through a specialist NGO, Hadoti Hast Shilp
Sansthan.

Whilst Marshalls works with different overseas suppliers, its relationship with its supplier in India has pioneered ethical supply chain management which the company is now looking to replicate in other countries.

Impact

  • Since undertaking and communicating its ethical approach, Marshalls has built up its reputation in the market demonstrated by being voted the 12th most admired company by Management Today – a massive jump of 40 places from the previous year – and voted 3rd for its community and environmental responsibility
  • The supplier has benefited by becoming Marshalls’ sole supplier of Indian sandstone. A focus on productivity and quality has also delivered ethical benefits, where Marshalls’ expertise in environmental as well as health and safety practices has been shared.
  • Marshalls has been at the forefront of raising awareness of the issues of child labour in Indian quarries by producing information for consumers, media and the hard landscaping industry.
  • The lives of quarry workers and their families have improved through better provision of health and safety on the quarry and through the clinic which has reached over 500 workers.