Introduction

This Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement is a response to Section 54(1), Part 6 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and relates to actions and activities for the financial year ending 31 March 2021. 

 

Sustainable-Furniture (UK) Ltd ('the Company', 'we', 'us' or 'our') is committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking violations in its own operations, its supply chain, and its products. We have zero-tolerance towards slavery and require our supply chain to comply with our values. 

Organisational structure

Sustainable-Furniture (UK) Ltd has business operations in the United Kingdom.

We operate in the wholesale and on line retailing sector. The nature of our supply chains is as follows: We work with a number of key direct ethical suppliers who all provide transparent sustainability Supply Chains. Regular factory inspection visits are held annually.

 

For more information about the Company, please visit our website: www.sustainable-furniture.co.uk.

 

Policies

We operate a number of internal policies to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner. 

 

These include the following: 

·     Recruitment and selection policy - 'We conduct checks on all prospective employees to verify that they are eligible to work in the UK.

·     Supplier code of conduct - Our suppliers are contractually obligated to comply with our vendor code of conduct. This code requires compliance with local employment laws and diversity practices, and expressly prohibits child labour, discriminatory treatment of workers, and other forms of modern slavery and forced labour or involuntary servitude.
We operate this policy to ensure our suppliers operate in full compliance with the laws, rules and regulations of the countries in which they operate, and to seek similar commitments across their own supply chain.

·     Whistleblowing policy - We operate this policy so that employees are able to raise concerns about how staff are being treated or practices within our business or our supply chains without fear of reprisal

·     Staff code of conduct - We are committed to the fair treatment of all staff. Our staff code of conduct reflects our core values and expected behaviours. The code of conduct makes it clear that we have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery

·     Procurement policy - We want to make sure that potential suppliers are committed to ensuring that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place within their own supply chains. Our procurement policy and supporting procedures set out controls and checks undertaken to help verify this.

·     Safeguarding policy - This policy highlights the potential risks of modern slavery and human trafficking, including how to identify signs of exploitation and how to report concerns.

We make sure our suppliers are aware of our policies and adhere to the same standards.

 

Due Diligence

As part of our efforts to monitor and reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our supply chains, we have adopted the following due diligence procedures: 

·     Internal supplier audits.

·     External supplier audits.

·     Regular factory visits.

 

Our due diligence procedures aim to:

·     Identify and action potential risks in our business and supply chains.

·     Monitor potential risks in our business and supply chains

·     Reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our business and supply chains.

·     Provide protection for whistleblowers.

 

Risk and compliance

The Company has evaluated the nature and extent of its exposure to the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in its UK supply chain through:

·     Evaluating the slavery and human trafficking risks of each new supplier.

·     Reviewing on a regular basis all aspects of the supply chain based on supply chain mapping.

We consider that we operate in a high-risk environment because the majority of our supply chain is based in Indonesia and the manufacturing of furniture is vulnerable to younger workers, pay and conditions not being fair and appropriate.

We do not tolerate slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains. Where there is evidence of failure to comply with our policies and procedures by any of our suppliers, we will seek to terminate our relationship with that supplier immediately.

 

Effectiveness

The Company uses Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure its effectiveness and ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in its business and supply chains. These KPIs are as follows:

·     We will contact suppliers to enquire about their modern slavery practices every 4 months.

·     We will train our staff about modern slavery issues and increase awareness within the Company.

·     We will carry out a regular audit of suppliers - 100% of suppliers each year.

 

Training our staff

The Company requires its staff to complete training and ongoing refresher courses on slavery and human trafficking. The Company's training covers:

·     How to identify the signs of slavery and human trafficking.

·     What initial steps should be taken if slavery or human trafficking is suspected.

·     How to escalate potential slavery or human trafficking issues to the relevant parties within the Company.

·     What external help is available.

·     What steps the Company should take if suppliers in its supply chain do not implement anti-slavery policies in high-risk scenarios, including their removal from the Company's supply chain.

 

Next steps

In the next financial year, we intend to take the following steps to tackle slavery and human trafficking by: 

·     Continuous monitoring of worldwide modern slavery issues/news in Indonesia to ensure that new methods of modern slavery are known to Sustainable-Furniture (UK) Ltd.

The statement was approved by the board of directors.

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Margaret  Larson, Director
Sustainable-Furniture (UK) Ltd

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