[T]hree years on, both Marks & Spencer and...The Shell Foundation believe their decision to join forces has resulted in the development of a highly scalable business model for fair-trade supply chains. Through the partnership, M&S has developed two new sustainable supply chains – one sourcing fair-trade cotton from more than 1,500 Indian farmers and the other sourcing bouquets of wild flowers harvested by workers from poor communities in South Africa...Marks & Spencer head of CSR Mike Barry outlines the reasons behind the high street giant's decision to collaborate with The Shell Foundation. "The key thing we wanted to do was explore how we could use our supply chains. Not just manage them well, but promote trade and create sustainable livelihoods to see if we could action a real, positive difference. It's very easy to focus on good compliance, but we had an ambition to go beyond that," he says.