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A colleague at Primark's Oxford Street East store, London, UK
Primark is dedicated to providing a safe and healthy work environment for all employees. Its comprehensive health and safety strategy, Safe Today, Safe Tomorrow, drives compliance with regulations, reduces incidents, and promotes a positive workplace culture.
To build a strong safety culture, the business has launched a cross-functional project focusing on fundamental areas of safety management. Teams are actively working on five of these areas as a priority.
Primark’s Incident Management System tracks and investigates all incidents and near misses, enabling the business to identify root causes and implement preventative measures.
Primark uses the Group's independent Speak Up platform, a confidential and professional reporting system that encourages employees to raise concerns about health and safety issues without fear of reprisal.
Primark sets health and safety targets for its own operations and conducts regular audits to evaluate its performance and identify areas for improvement.
The business has also implemented measures to ensure the safety of contractors, including contractual requirements and regular training and engagement. In 2024, 192 employees experienced an on-site Lost Time Injury (LTI), representing an increase of 19% from the previous year. This equates to 0.37% of Primark's employees receiving an injury in its retail sites in 2024 compared with 0.34% in 2023.
This increase can be attributed to several factors, including:
In 2023/24, recent structural changes to management in the UK temporarily affected health and safety performance due to the rotation of personnel, many of whom had previous and long-standing responsibilities for health and safety. These changes, however, are anticipated to deliver long-term improvements through enhanced training, clearer roles and dedicated health and safety positions, allowing for consistent focus from the retail market. Also impacting UK health and safety performance was unsafe behaviours particularly around stock handling.
This year, there has been an 8.3% increase in on-site contractor LTIs from 36 in 2023 to 39 in 2024. This increase is attributed to cleaning and security contractors, most notably in Spain. As Primark continues to grow, it remains focused on maintaining the highest health and safety standards. It will continue to invest in safety initiatives, prioritise employee wellbeing and adapt to evolving regulatory requirements.
Employee on-site Lost Time Injuries and Lost Time Injury Rate (%) - Retail
Primark has several initiatives to increase the physical, financial and mental wellbeing of its employees. One such initiative is the Spark wellbeing programme created to empower colleagues to become their best selves at work and in life. The programme focuses on the three pillars of Mind, Body and Life. To support the programme, this year, a Wellbeing Champions network was introduced across four markets – the UK, Republic of Ireland (ROI), Belgium and the Netherlands.
Under the Mind pillar, a rebranded Let’s Talk Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) campaign was launched in 2024, alongside the introduction of a new provider for the programme in all markets outside the UK and US. The campaign has resulted in a 133% increase in engagement cases in comparison to the same period last year. Mental Health Awareness training has seen an additional 450 Mental Health First Responders trained and certified this year, bringing the total to over 630. Stress Awareness month and May Mental Health Awareness Month were marked with webinars, activities, and information-sharing in conjunction with the EHS team.
Under the Body pillar, Primark offers a range of fitness and nutrition learning options through webinars and events. In 2024, it launched the Primark Summer Series which focused on movement, nutrition and recovery through various events, webinars and activities.
Under the Life pillar, it launched Financial Wellbeing month in September 2023 aimed at providing colleagues with information and support on a number of financial related topics. Work continued on menopause support in the US, France and Italy, alongside a variety of themes including fertility, surrogacy, adoption, baby loss and paternity leave under its family support. While the focus of the majority of the programmes has been ROI and the UK, Primark is working with all markets to understand which similar initiatives can be implemented to support all colleagues.
Primark strives to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all. Its diverse workforce, representing over 176 nationalities and spanning a wide range of ages, reflects its dedication to building a sense of belonging.
Everyone plays a part in embedding diversity and inclusion in the business. To ensure everyone feels represented and has equal opportunities, its Head of Diversity and Inclusion and relevant business partners work collaboratively across multiple markets to develop and implement its DEI strategy. This year, Primark offered training and development opportunities facilitated by external experts, such as inclusion webinars and masterclasses, to enhance understanding and promote inclusive practices.
Its global colleague networks, including LGBTQIA+, Cultural Diversity, Life Stages and Gender, and Disability and Neurodiversity, provide a platform for employees to share experiences and contribute to the Primark culture.
Number of employees, highlighting percentage of women in workforce
Primark colleagues at the store in Lanzarote, Spain
Primark continues to focus on enabling future growth by investing in its Primark’s Early Careers programme to create a talent pipeline for the future. Engaging with students early in their careers allows the business to attract and retain people who can enable continued growth and innovation at Primark.
In July 2023, as part of its Early Careers agenda, Primark welcomed a second cohort of 47 students for their year-long university placements across 13 different business streams. Building on the success of the programme, a third cohort of 40 students joined the business in July 2024 from over 2,250 applications. Students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience while contributing exciting and inspiring ideas across many work streams. Feedback from both line managers and students is positive, and 21 students who completed their placements have been offered graduate roles once they finish their degrees.
Primark’s Your Voice bi-annual colleague survey provides the opportunity to give opinions, feedback and suggestions on areas, topics and actions they wish to have introduced or to influence decisions going forward. In January 2024, over 1,700 leaders from around the world gathered in Dublin for a two-day Primark Connect event. This event was run to elevate key strategic initiatives and showcase the best performance and plans for the future.
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Accessible fitting rooms at Primark’s store in Melilla, Spain
Primark wants to be inclusive for everyone, and that means supporting people with disabilities, chronic health conditions and post-operative or age-related needs.
Primark has implemented various initiatives to make its products, stores and workplaces more accessible:
1. Accessible Products
Primark launched adaptive underwear in some of its stores across selected markets to support those with limited mobility, with easy access closures. The collection received the Disability Smart Inclusive Product Design award at the Business Disability Forum Awards 2024. Primark plans to introduce more adaptive items and apply inclusive design principles to a wider range of products and has partnered with a renowned adaptive designer, Victoria Jenkins, to expand the range.
2. Accessible Stores
Primark is partnering with AccessAble to review all its stores and offices in the UK and ROI, in addition to its Islip depot. So far, the business has conducted surveys of 97% of stores and offices. This information will help customers plan their visits and inform its ongoing efforts to create a more inclusive shopping and working environment.
The survey results will be published on AccessAble’s website to help customers plan their visits.
3. Culture of Accessibility
Primark is conducting a review of its policies, processes and communication channels to identify areas for improvement. The business is also working with accessibility specialists to inform its accessibility strategy.
4. Inclusive Representation
Primark continues to work with talent from the disabled community in its campaigns to promote inclusivity. Primark is creating a guide to future-proof its studio so when models work with them, accessibility adjustments can be made in advance.
Primark’s Northern Ireland team coming together for Belfast Pride
Primark is a proud partner of ILGA World, a global federation of more than 1,800 organisations advocating for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.
This year, the business also collaborated with local LGBTQIA+ charities in its markets. These organisations share its values and are highly regarded by its colleagues.
By supporting these charities through donations and volunteer efforts, Primark aims to not only contribute to its important work but also gain valuable insights and resources that can benefit employees, customers and communities.
The three values from Primark's Values and Behaviours Framework
Primark has launched and begun embedding a new values and behaviours framework this year, alongside its new purpose ‘to create maximum joy, at minimum cost’.
A key priority is to create brilliant cultures across its global business using the values and behaviours as a key vehicle to make this happen. Created with the involvement of over 300 colleagues, the new values, Caring, Dynamic and Together, plus their supporting behaviours, aim to help build cultures where people feel empowered and inspired to do their best work every day.
The values and behaviours have been launched to around 82,000 colleagues globally and a multi-pronged engagement strategy is in progress. This includes events, communications, toolkits, roadshows, videos, and much more. They are also being embedded throughout the colleague lifecycle, playing a part in onboarding, development, assessment and performance conversations.
Primark employees at our store in Bucharest, Romania
Primark’s fifth colleague survey was launched in March 2024 as part of its ongoing programme of listening and responding to feedback from colleagues. This bi-annual survey encourages colleagues to share their feedback on a number of different topics. The survey had a participation rate of 80% and over 450,000 comments were received. Primark uses these insights to inform its approach to colleague engagement.
Primark employees at our store in Mulhouse, France
Primark is investing in its leaders to enhance their effectiveness and impact. The business has implemented several initiatives to support their growth, including a comprehensive onboarding programme for new retail managers to ensure new colleagues have a positive and effective induction. Primark intends to use these insights to inform its approach to colleague engagement.
Primark also has a range of leadership development opportunities focusing on its values, behaviours and leadership skills, equipping managers with the tools and knowledge needed to succeed. These include the Lead Our Amazing Stores programme for store managers which consists of workshops, 360 degree feedback, simulations and one-to-one coaching.
Our My Leadership Impact programme equips department managers with the mindset, skillset and tools to lead our store colleagues. To date, 700 department managers have attended the programme and a further 1,300 department managers will go through the programme before the end of 2024.
Primark employees at our store in Mulhouse, France
Grow With Us is a career development programme designed to aid employee progression, in order to create a talent pipeline for all retail management levels, from team managers to store managers. The programme builds leadership and operational knowledge for crucial responsibilities through interactive workshops and workbooks, e-learning modules, and on-the-job development challenges and activities. Programmes for each of the four levels of retail management were rolled out in 2024, with 801 participants across nine markets for Primark’s Retail Assistant Team Manager programme. There will be further implementation of all programmes across all markets throughout the years ahead.
