Hermès - Registration Document 2016

Corporate social responsability

Stakeholders and local integration

Stakeholders and local integration

2.6

Tanneries The tanneries maintain constant dialogue with the local authorities (departmental fire and rescue departments, local council, DREAL/ DRIEE, labour inspection) throughperiodic exercises and visits. Because of their geographical and often long-standing operations in these areas, they play an important role in the local economic fabric. Use of local companies is accordingly favoured for construction and finishing work. Textiles Companies in this sector are located in municipalities of very different sizes, mainly in the Rhône-Alpes region. Regular exchanges are held with local authorities or groups of local communities. The division is one of France’s largest garment manufacturers. It plays an active role in profes- sional bodies: Intersoie, Unitex and Techtera. Tableware The CATE site is located in the heart of the city of Nontron, where Hermès is a leading employer. The use of local tradespeople is promoted for regular plumbing, electrical, roofing or mechanical works. Open days At the initiativeof its sites, Hermès regularly organisesmeetings between its employees and local communities to showcase their expertise. Leather Goods In Seloncourt, the two open days held in 2016 provided the opportunity for 800 visitors to see demonstrations of the gestures and expertise of their family members and friends working as artisans in the production unit. Employees once again demonstrated their pride in their profession and their attachment to Hermès, which allows them to contemplate the next20yearswithconfidence.LaMaroquinerieIséroiseopeneditsdoors to the employees of the Savoie Dauphiné division, 70 people from the Maroquinerie de Belley and 50 people from the Manufacture de Haute Maroquinerie production unit. Building on its success, Maroquinerie des Ardennes welcomed about a hundred people for the third consecutive year, spread across two mornings. Tanneries Other than themeetings with the local authorities, site visits are occasio- nally organised at the initiative of the tanneries. As part of collaborative efforts with universities, schools and professional training bodies, the tanneries can open their facilities to visits by students and people under- going training, or present their professions in forums. 2.6.1.2

Harmonious relationships with our stakeholders ensure successful local operations in the long term, contribute to Hermès’ reputation and stren- gthen employees’ pride in belonging to the company. Hermès plays a role as a socially responsible company wherever it operates. Hermès seeks to contribute to value creation and the sustainable deve- lopment of the countries, regions and cities in which it operates, notably by generating sustainable jobs, but also through local economic, social and cultural initiatives, and in other ways that express its uniqueness. Hermès’ founding values are also expressed through the Fondation d’En- trepriseHermès, founded in2008, which supports sponsorship projects that seek to enhance savoir-faire, transmission and biodiversity. A role in host communities All of Hermès’ production and distribution sites maintain constant dia- logue with local authorities and stakeholders to ensure that they are fully integrated within the host community and that they nurture rela- tionships of trust and good neighbourliness. Hermès operates on more than 50 sites in France (production units, stores, logistics sites, offices). Local involvement Each business line and each site grows roots in its host community through local actions designed to forge bonds between the House, its employees and its local environment. Leather Goods The Héricourt production unit inaugurated in April 2016 was built in a rehabilitated site formerly housing a textile factory. It is located in a green setting in the city centre, and aims to revive a lost industrial tradition. The project, carried out in close consultation with elected representa- tives and the local population, employed 149 artisans at the end of December 2016, all dedicated to the manufacture of leather goods. A film was made telling the story of this project, and shown to residents of the town early in 2017. The Seloncourt production unit, located in the same region of Franche- Comté, celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016. It has deep roots in the region, and employed nearly 250 people at the end of 2016. In the same vein, leather workshops in L’Allan in Franche-Comté and Vaudreuil in Normandy (which is scheduled to open in 2017) rely on a framework of expertise and partnerships with schools, already developed by Hermès locally. Meanwhile, the Ganterie de Saint-Junien is to become home to a new leather goods production unit in a site currently being rehabilitated; it will be part of the “Cité du Cuir” project currently being implemented by the Saint-Junien local authority. 2.6.1 2.6.1.1

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2016 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT HERMÈS INTERNATIONAL

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