HOW ARE OUR COLLECTIONS MADE?

We are a Polish company and it is here that creative ideas for our collections are generated. Designing takes place in three cities. Gdańsk, at the headquarters, is the hub of design centre for Reserved, Cropp and Sinsay; Kraków – for House and Mohito, and in Warsaw – a second Reserved design team. A total of 1100 people from product preparation departments take part in designing the collections of all brands.

LPP does not have its own factories. According to our business model, similarly to other companies from the textile industry, we outsource the production of collections to suppliers from various Asian and European countries. The following documents regulate the cooperation with the suppliers:

• ‘LPP Quality Guidebook’, laying down qualitative standards for the products;
• Our original ‘LPP Code of Conduct’ defining our requirements for the suppliers in terms of work standards and a respect for human rights.

We produce our clothes in the following countries:

The largest percentage share in production is held by suppliers from Asian countries. That is why we have two LPP representative offices in Shanghai and Dhaka to provide support in terms of managing supplier relations in this area. There are 158 people in total employed there. This allows us to effectively source suppliers and control production quality. Employees of the offices also verify their compliance with the ‘LPP Code of Conduct’.

At the same time, we are systematically increasing the volume of production closer to Poland, i.e. mainly on European markets and in Morocco. In 2019, the share of purchases in the close neighbouring areas amounted to:

• over 10% in total for all brands,
• 21% for Reserved collections,
• 27% for Mohito collections.

Therefore, the collections inspired by the latest trends and fashion week shows in the key fashion capitals worldwide very quickly reach our brick and mortar stores and online stores, which our customers appreciate.

If a supplier fails to meet all our requirements, they receive a Corrective Action Plan with a recommended deadline to remedy the deficiencies.

For the last two years we have been organizing Awareness Day for LPP suppliers. During the event, we remind the principles of the ‘LPP Code of Conduct’. We discussed the main health and safety issues in the factories. Participants also receive instructions on how to implement our standards.

PRODUCT QUALITY AND SAFETY

In LPP, we attach the utmost importance to the quality and safety of our products, precisely defining the standards applicable to all suppliers – regardless of where the factory producing our clothing is located. The standards are summarized in the ‘LPP Quality Guidebook’ which defines operational parameters such as colour resistance, shrinkage or acceptable twist and contains a list of chemicals and their concentrations banned in production in accordance with the EU REACH regulation. In the document, we laid down the obligation for suppliers to use moisture detectors and, in the case of children’s products, metal detectors. In accordance with the AQL standard (Acceptance Quality Limit), we defined the expected qualitative levels for all our brands.

• We carried out an in-depth analysis of the reasons for complaints about the goods, which rendered it possible for us to extend the qualitative requirements. In the updated ‘LPP Quality Guidebook’ we recorded, among other things, the need to conduct and maintain basic quality tests for materials used in production.
• We conduct training as regards quality standards for our employees handling purchasing and cooperation with suppliers.

Within the framework of ACCORD:

• In 97% of the factories electrical installations have already been replaced or modernised.
• In 91% of the entities additional fire protection facilities have been installed.
• In 88% of the factories the construction of buildings has been strengthened and in many cases production has been moved to new facilities.

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE IN LPP

We realize that our results would not be as satisfactory if it had not been for the combination of the work of professional, committed teams and wise leaders. We are a group of specialists in many fields who value development and teamwork. We share a passion for fashion and common values: openness, responsibility and respect. Owing to them, every day we try to shape the image of the best clothing company in Poland and worldwide. As an international organization, we value diversity. We give our employees from different countries the opportunity to travel, expand their horizons and, above all, gain experience abroad and opportunities for international promotions.
We are proud of the creative and relaxed atmosphere that prevails here. It is thanks to our leaders who base their work with teams on trust and partner-like relations. A lot of the leaders are people with many years of experience who decided to make a long-term professional commitment to our company.

FAMILIES IN LPP

Many of our employees are parents. We help them to combine professional duties with childcare, which is a particular challenge during the school holidays. That is why, for the second time, we have organized semi-camps for 140 children of our HQ employees, who participated, among others, in robotics classes, culinary workshops, circus workshops, urban games or experiments. We will continue this initiative in 2020.

EMPLOYEES’ HEALTH A PRIORITY

We take initiatives to support the health and healthy lifestyle of employees. We subsidize private medical care – our employees can buy health packages for themselves and their families, and we cover half the costs. They can also buy MultiSport cards (for themselves and their relatives) on favourable terms.

Private medical care is used by:

MultiSport cards are used by:

LPP TEAM

Any employee who is willing to take up a sporting challenge – no matter how advanced they are– can join the LPP Team. There are three teams in the group: running, cycling and triathlon. We cover entry fees in sports events for LPP Team members, and after their participation in three competitions we also finance the purchase of sports outfits adapted to a given discipline. The group members motivate one another, share their achievements and arrange a joint start in the competitions – our Yammer platform helps them to do so.

LPP Team for Kids

We also use our energy and leg strength to for charitable causes. Employees – not only those who are members of the LPP Team – regularly participate in a sports charity action, whereby the LPP Foundation converts kilometres registered through cycling or running and within three months into zlotys. For each kilometre registered through cycling we donate PLN 0.5 and each kilometre run – PLN 2. The amount collected this way was distributed among the charges of the Gdańsk Korczak Foundation and the Rehabilitation Centre at the Children’s Hospital in Radziszów.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES AND ACTIONS FOR EMPLOYEES

In LPP, we educate, integrate and help. We organized:

• a blood donation campaign among our employees in Gdańsk and Pruszcz Gdański. In total, 105 people donated over 47 litres of blood!
• Workshops for employees: dietary, cancer prevention including cervical cancer, as well as Mindfulness workshop. In total, 200 people took part in them.

HOW LPP LOOKS FOR EMPLOYEES

• We place offers on job advertisement portals.
• We participate in job fairs and conferences.
• We publish job offers on our website: lppsa.com/kariera.
• We run the employee referral program.
• Students of art schools, universities of technology and technical schools of fashion are welcome at the LPP HQ.
• We take part in graduation galas all over Poland in order to be able to distinguish the most talented students of clothing design, we offer paid design internships; many of the people who were awarded distinctions are part of our team today.
• We carry out activities in the field of direct and executive search using, among others, LinkedIn portal.
• In Gdańsk and Kraków, we organize ‘LPP od podszewki’ [‘The ins and outs of LPP’] Open Days addressed to graduates of various specialities.
• We show the realities of working with us in social media – on Facebook and Instagram.
• LPP cooperates with higher education institutions and scientific circles, promoting professions related to the industry.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS FOR JOBS IN THE HEADQUARTERS

We want to work with the best, so as to develop and inspire one other. That is why it is so important for us to get the right people onboard. Our recruitment offer is addressed to both specialists and graduates who want to gain their first professional experience with us. The quality of the recruitment process is the responsibility of the internal recruitment team, which consists of several people. We constantly improve our recruitment tools and tasks. Key competences for our business are verified, and at the same time we strive to make the recruitment process an interesting experience for the candidates.

Goals of the meetings:

• to present the possibilities of building your career in LPP Headquarters;
• to reach out to a group of potential candidates among the employees of the stores, identify talents,
• to familiarise employees of the stores with the functioning of the company and LPP Headquarters.

In 2019, more than 70 people took part in Career Days (in Kraków and Gdańsk), over 10% of whom changed their career paths, joining the structures of LPP Headquarters.

COOPERATION WITH ARTISTIC PROFILE UNIVERSITIES

• Our employees were speakers at the ‘Fashion Art 2019’ conference organised at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk.
• For the students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, we conducted a presentation on the work of a designer and technologist in LPP, and our specialists also conducted workshops as part of their classes at the university. As part of the ‘Łódź Young Fashion 2019’ International Competition, of which we were a partner, we created a special LPP zone. Visitors could learn about the possibilities of working in our company and take part in creative workshops.
• In our office in Warsaw, we hosted 30 first-year students of Via Moda higher education institution. We presented them with the principles of the design process.
• For the students of the University of the Arts in Poznań and the Academy of Art in Szczecin we organized meetings on designer’s work and recruitment opportunities in LPP.

COOPERATION WITH NON-ARTISTIC HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS FROM TRI-CITY

• LPP experts gave two guest lectures at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science of the University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Computer Science. We also cooperated in the organisation of the 6^th edition of the ‘Sopot Logistics Workshop’ conference held by the University of Gdańsk. 240 participants of the event could listen to the lecture given by the e-commerce logistics manager. We funded welcome packages for participants and prizes for the winners of the competition for the best article of the conference. Students of logistics studies were invited to two study visits to the distribution centre in Pruszcz Gdański.
• Students of the Gdańsk University of Technology had the opportunity to participate in three guest lectures conducted by representatives of LPP. We also took part in the Engineering Job Fair and Tri-City Job Fair organised at the Gdańsk University of Technology. LPP also supported a charity action organised by the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics.
• Members of the Students’ Logistics Academic Circle at the University of Business and Administration of Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski in Gdynia were invited to participate in a study visit to Pruszcz Gdański.

PROJECTS CARRIED OUT AND SUPPORTED BY THE LPP FOUNDATION FOCUS ON:

• supporting the independence of people at risk of social exclusion, mainly children and youth;
• health care;
• supporting the needs of the company’s immediate surroundings;
• developing innovative and ecological solutions in the textile industry;
• in-kind assistance.

HOW DOES THE FOUNDATION WORK?

The Foundation supports primarily organisations operating in Pomerania, where the headquarters of the Headquarters and the Distribution Centre of LPP are located, and in Małopolska, with the headquarters of House and Mohito brands. We also carry out nationwide activities. Donations in kind are made throughout the country.

‘PIERWSZA PRZYMIARKA’ [‘FIRST FITTING’]

‘FIRST FITTING’ aims to help young people to learn the tricks of the trade of our industry and get bitten by the fashion bug. We invite the charges of care and educational institutions to cooperate. We give them the opportunity to gain first experiences on the labour market – so important once they start their independent lives.

The ‘First Fitting’ project comprises:

• workshops on job search, including drafting a CV preparing for a job interview;
• the possibility of an internship in one of the stores of our brands with the support of a mentor, i.e. a store employee offering to share their knowledge and experience.

Participation in the ‘First Fitting’ project gives young employees the chance to gain professional competences in the field of working at the store in various positions. They also develop a number of social skills and build self-confidence.

Our partners in the 3^rd edition of the project were again the Gdańsk Foundation for Social Innovation, the Gdańsk Family Foundation and the Atalaya Foundation, Warsaw. In order to perform their function in the best possible way, the mentors underwent a special training preparing them to work with young people.

We are proud of the way our ‘First Fitting’ has developed – a cyclical social project we initiated and have been running for three years.

NEIGHBOURLY RELATIONS

The events we support are mostly those taking place in the vicinity of our seats – in Dolne Miasto district of Gdańsk and Bagry in Kraków.

We invest in local communities in Pruszcz Gdański, where our distribution centre is located, and Brześć Kujawski, where a new distribution centre is just being built. As a new neighbour in Brześć, even before the new facility opening, we try to recognize the needs of the residents and offer them valuable initiatives.