Modern slavery is an international crime, affecting an estimated 29.8 million people around the world.

It is a growing global issue that transcends age, gender and ethnicities.

It includes victims who have been brought from overseas and vulnerable people in the UK, who are forced to illegally work against their will across many different sectors such as agriculture, hospitability, construction, retail and manufacturing.

We are committed to eliminating acts of modern-day slavery and human trafficking within our business and from within our supply chains.

As our annual turnover is above £36 million, we are legally obliged to report on slavery and human trafficking, this statement is made in accordance with section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and is our slavery and human trafficking statement for 2021.

Organisation structure, business and supply chains

We are a supplier of undercarriage wear parts to the global construction markets. We have office locations and warehouse and distribution centres across the UK, Ireland and Europe. Our supply chains are global and we source directly from manufacturers.

Policy on slavery and human trafficking

We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in any part of our business or in our supply chains. This policy reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere within our supply chains.

Due Diligence

We consider ourselves to be a ‘low risk’ business with regards to slavery and human trafficking. However, we foster a culture that encourages the identification and reporting of any such risks within our business. We recruit all our employees either directly or through recruitment agencies who are members of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. We have a robust recruitment processes in line with UK employment laws, including: ‘right to work’ document checks; contracts of employment and checks to ensure everyone employed is 16 and above.

Assessing and managing risk

In our efforts to identify and mitigate risks within our supply chain, we conduct annual audits of all our main suppliers that covers all areas of the organisation including financial stability, employee welfare and environmental sustainability.

Effectiveness in combating slavery and human trafficking

We have zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking. To ensure that all those in our supply chains comply with our values, we have in place a supply chain compliance programme that requires suppliers to confirm that they have a slavery and human trafficking policy in place and that they require the same from their suppliers.

Training

We are providing appropriate training to ensure that relevant employees understand the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking within our business and supply chains.