THE BURDEN GROUP LIMITED
This statement has been published in accordance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act (2015). It provides an update on our activities and sets out the steps we have taken to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in our business and supply chains.
Introduction
Modern slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour. We recognise that we have a responsibility to take a strong approach to these issues. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in our corporate activities, and to ensuring that our supply chains are free from slavery and human trafficking and that we trade ethically with our supply chain partners.
Our business and organisational structure
Our business
We are the holding company of James Burden Ltd and Cavendish Ships Stores Ltd.
We work with trusted suppliers in the United Kingdom and overseas and apply stringent traceability tests to every product we source.
The Group’s annual turnover is £149m for the year ended 31st January 2019 and we have 155 employees in the United Kingdom.
Organisational structure
We are based in the United Kingdom and trade from facilities in London, Newcastle, Kent and Southampton.
We are part of The Burden Group Ltd.
Supply chains
We focus on building long term partnerships with suppliers, distributors and customers, and supply products directly to our customers.
Relevant policies
We operate the following policies in our approach to identifying modern slavery risks and steps to be taken to prevent slavery and human trafficking in our business:
- Whistleblowing policy
We encourage all of our workers, customers and other business partners to report any concerns related to our direct activities or supply chains. This includes any circumstances that may give rise to an enhanced risk of slavery or human trafficking. Our whistleblowing procedure is designed to make it easy for workers to make disclosures, without fear of retaliation. - Employee code of conduct
Our code ensures our employees are aware of the actions and behaviours expected of them when they represent us. We endeavour to maintain the highest standards of employee conduct and ethical behaviour when operating abroad and managing our supply chain. - Supplier relationships
We seek to develop long-term relationships with our suppliers based on the principles of fair, open and honest dealings at all times. Only suppliers that share these principles and can demonstrate compliance to ethical standards will be considered appropriate to trade with us. - Recruitment policy
We only use specified, reputable employment agencies to source labour and always examine and approve the practices of any new agency before accepting workers from that agency. We also conduct United Kingdom checks for all employees to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will.
Risk assessment and due diligence
We assess all of our suppliers using our risk-based systems and monitor suppliers accordingly. We undertake thorough due diligence when we engage with new suppliers, distributors or contractors, and regularly review those that we are already engaged with.
Performance indicators
We are dedicated to evaluating our ethical trading performance to measure how effective we have been in ensuring that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of our business or supply chain.
Approval by the Board of Directors
This statement covers the financial year to 31stJanuary 2020 and was approved by the Board of Directors on 20/03/2019.
Signed by David Kennedy-Sloane on 20/03/2019
Company secretary
