Corporate Responsibility

Our People

We are committed to supporting all our employees to achieve an acceptable balance between their work and personal life.

Where appropriate, we offer a number of flexible contracts to suit the different needs of employees. We recognise there are times when an employee may need to take time off work due to personal situations and have a number of policies in place to support employees through such events including maternity, paternity and adoption leave, flexible working and a career break scheme.

Learning and Development

Providing opportunities for employees to learn and develop is a crucial factor in our future success. In the fast moving retail environment employees need to have a flexible suite of skills. We offer a wide range of training courses and programmes which encourage individuals to expand their skills and reach their full potential. Comprehensive competency-based training programmes are offered to provide clear paths for progression for those wishing to pursue a career in all our areas of operations. A dedicated learning and development team works closely with stores and head office to ensure that both the potential and aspirations of our employees is maximised.

We are closely involved in skills development for the retail sector as a whole and Nikki Zamblera, Debenhams’ HR Director, is Vice Chairman of Skillsmart Retail, the government Skills Sector Council for the industry.

Equal Opportunities

We are committed to ensuring equality of opportunities for all our employees. Through our equal opportunities policy we aim to create an environment that offers all employees the chance to use their skills and talent. This means a workplace where individuals are treated fairly regardless of age, nationality, race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, marital status or hours of work and where policies such as recruitment, training and career opportunities are based around objective criteria.