Businesses urged to end disfigurement discrimination

For a long time M & S has been at the forefront of anti-discriminatory practice with regard to disability. I compiled an access guide to an area in 1996 and they were the only store that actually met the legal minimum standards of the day and they also had a regional access officer checking out accessibility of their stores - unheard of then, and rare now. Their recruitment policies have always been positive too. Other retail brands are getting their act together as well, but M & S has been a market leader, in my view, in this respect.

Fair point Elaine.

I will wait and see just how much a difference it makes to their overall recruitment policies and practice.

I worked for Barclays when we signed the Changing Faces initiative - James Partridge (CEO of Changing Faces) gave an amazing speech, and I met Henrietta as well. These people are doing a great job to trying to encourage everyone to pay more attention to the person behind the face - and should be supported.

Take off your cynical hat, and congratulate these large corporatations for trying to make a difference - don't bash them around without knowing anything about their motives. Large companies will always have a bigger impact than smaller ones - that's why they will always be at the forefront for making change happen. I'm delighted to see M&S join up.

Mmmm...

I can't help but feel slightly cynical about the real reasons these companies have signed up to this campaign.

Shell - caused one of the biggest corporate scandals in 2004;

BA - former executive at the centre of a price-fixing scandal cost the airline around £350m and walked away from the company with payments that of more than £1.6m in 2007;

M&S - proposed to transfer all of their existing loyalty card/charge card holders balances into credit card balances in 2004, thus placing customers in debt.

Barclays - nuff said!

If it encourages other businesses to follow suit, all welll and good. But I do think we need to be wary of the motives behind such moves.

We at Disability Arts Empowerment CIC in the North East hope so too.
We deliver training to employers to 'Stamp out Stigma' and help them to understand exactly what the effect of negative reactions are on the individual and how to embrace differences.
Good for M&S.