In the early 1800s, Michael Marks, a Polish Jew, emigrated to Leeds, England, and found work in small local markets. After borrowing some money, Marks set up his own market stall, which he called a Penny Bazaar. Around this time, he met a cashier from a neighboring stall, Thomas Spencer. The two became friends and eventually partners when Marks was able to acquire a permanent stall in the Leeds covered market. The partnership went on to become Marks and Spencer, one of Britain’s most iconic retailers.

Known colloquially as M&S, the store supplies people with home goods, textiles, and food items, 99% of which are sourced from British suppliers. In essence, M&S stores were, and still are, like an upscale, very British version of Walmart. Over the years, M&S has experienced many financial ups and downs along with corporate restructuring. It seems now that M&S has finally found its footing and is once again embracing its iconic history as a go-to British retailer. Part of this renewed respect from customers comes from M&S’s commitment to respecting the environment, an important principle for many British consumers.

Under new corporate management, M&S has vowed to become stewards of the environment through their partnerships with suppliers, in their stores, and through their day-to-day operations. In 2007, M&S began discussing the implementation of a Plan A Accelerator Fund that would set them up to reach their environmental goals. “We’re always exploring new ways to reduce our carbon footprint as we journey to become Net Zero across our supply chain by 2040,” M&S stated. In that same statement, they announced a new plan to achieve this that utilizes aerial and ground drone technology.

M&S has had a long-running relationship with Huntpac, a vegetable farm located in Holmes, a small village in West Lancashire. Just as Marks and Spencer partnered to innovate the market spaces of the late 1800s in Leeds, M&S and Huntpac are now using drones to innovate the farm-to-market industry. At the beginning of this past farming season, they rolled out the drone program on one of Huntpac’s parsnip fields. It is a multi-tiered program that started with the development of two ground drones that can autonomously form plant beds, plant seeds, and eliminate weeds. As the statement points out, this ground drone made a significant impact on this year’s planting cycle.

Typically, Huntpac would have to use a tractor weighing upwards of 7 tons to plow and sow fields. “In March this year,” M&S said in their statement, ” following the wettest six months in England since 1871, the team were able to get in and plant the field with the autonomous robot which wouldn’t have been possible with a traditional tractor. This has also contributed to an increase in quality and number of parsnips and reduced waste, with a 16% higher yield of grade one vegetables compared to Huntapac’s other parsnip fields.” In addition to the ground drones, Huntpac began deploying two different aerial drones for crop management.

The aerial drones could assess the overall health of the crop, inspect for any pests, test hydration and soil conditions, and spray approved fertilizers. The drones were also kept in monitoring weather conditions. The weather data collected by the drones allowed Huntpac to create optimal plans of action for every aspect of the parsnip field. “Our 40-year relationship with M&S has gone from strength to strength, and we couldn’t have done this project without the Plan A Accelerator Fund,” said Stephen Shields, Huntpac’s Technical & Sustainability Director. ” Not only are we seeing a reduction of the carbon impact but more parsnips at higher quality, due to us being able to plant the seeds despite bad weather earlier this year. This would have a fantastic impact on our business at scale and we’re aiming to deliver multiple fields farmed this way for next season.”

The M&S and Huntpac teams also implemented minimal tillage processes and used a greener fertilizer that showed a 46% carbon reduction compared to traditional methods. Additionally, Huntpac used the Accelerator Fund to plant wildflowers with AgriSound technology, which attracts and monitors pollinators. The fully autonomously planted, monitored, and harvested parsnips will be available in M&S stores this November. “Much like when agriculture moved from horse and plough to mechanical tractors,” M&S states, “these latest technologies offer a future of farming that will aid farmers, create more highly skilled jobs in the industry, and attract new talent.” M&S’s continued commitment to innovation not only honors its forefounders ideals but also sets a precedent for sustainability in the retail industry.

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