Waitrose's culture and values as a co-owned business take centre stage in the retailer's Christmas advert

Created by BBH London the advert shows a schoolgirl attempting to make gingerbread biscuits for her school fayre and, after disastrous attempts, heading to Waitrose for advice. After successfully making the biscuits and selling all but one she heads back to Waitrose with a special thank you.

The advert's soundtrack is provided by members of the public and was created via the retailer’s ‘Donate your voice’ initiative which launched back in October. Asking members of the public to sing the soundtrack - Dolly Parton’s Try - and in doing so help raise funds for three charities who will benefit from sales of the charity single.

Waitrose, managing director, Rupert Thomas, commented that because staff – or partners as Waitrose call them – own part of the business they are “motivated to go that little bit further for customers - and that’s what we want to portray in this advert.”

When members of the public donated their voice to the soundtrack online they were also asked to put a virtual green token in a box to support one of the three charities involved – Age UK, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and The Trussell Trust.

The advert will air for the first time during the evening on Sunday 9 November.