Pam Batty has been involved in implementing the Next Code of Practice for the past ten years and was responsible for drafting the company's first code, which was introduced to its suppliers in 1998.

Pam is currently Global Code of Practice Manager and reports directly to the Next Plc Board on all ethical trading activities. She manages a team of 35 people, whose responsibility it is to manage Next's code through auditing and working with suppliers to help them improve their labour practices.

Developing Next's first code of practice

At the time, she says, there was a lot of press exposure of poor working conditions in the supply chains of the big American brands. Next's chief executive started talking to Oxfam about developing an ethical trade strategy for the business, and as a result Pam was asked to work on a code of practice for suppliers.

I was definitely ploughing a lonely furrow at first.

Pam says: "Then, as now, we needed to do the right thing. That is, to make sure that the workers who make our products are treated fairly and are working in a safe environment."

Next's initial relationship with Oxfam led to the development of the Next Code of Practice on Ethical Trading, and then to its membership of ETI.

Says Pam, "When we first started looking at labour standards I was definitely ploughing a lonely furrow. Ten years ago there wasn't a corporate responsibility fraternity, and there certainly wasn't the knowledge that now exists about how to go about trading more ethically.

"Joining ETI meant we could learn from other retailers, NGOs and trade unions and share information in a forum. Tapping into other people's experience and being able to call counterparts at other retailers is invaluable in working out how to handle some really complex situations."

Pam says the biggest change in progressing ethical trade over the past ten years has been to deepen understanding within the business. "We don't always have all the answers but the level of questioning and involvement is high."

Ethical trade needs to be fully integrated into core business

We need to move beyond auditing and go for initiatives that address issues at a deeper, more fundamental level.

We need to move beyond auditing and go for initiatives that address issues at a deeper, more fundamental level - freedom of association and a living wage to name two. Those kinds of targets are much tougher, but I am very proud of our commitment as a business and we will keep working to change things.

Her hope for the future is that ethical trade becomes fully integrated into the way the business buys product from suppliers. "We won't succeed while ‘commercial' and ‘ethical' operate separately. They've got to become meshed together.

"But it is also clear that we cannot solve this on our own. We all need to work together - including consumers, suppliers, local organisations and, importantly, governments in sourcing countries, whose responsibility it is to create and enforce laws that protect workers' rights. This I believe will make the biggest change to workers' lives.

"We need to move beyond auditing and go for initiatives that address issues at a deeper, more fundamental level - freedom of association and a living wage to name two. Those kinds of targets are much tougher, but I am very proud of our commitment as a business and we will keep working to change things."

Finally, on a personal note Pam says "You really need to care and want to make a difference to do this job. You can't push for change and solutions unless you do. It's a complex subject and new situations come up to challenge you all the time."