image

Modern Slavery Act

ANTI-SLAVERY & HUMAN TRAFFICKING STATEMENT

 

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking statement.

 

Our business

UHS Group supplies strong, design-led contract furniture to the hospitality and commercial industry. We work with a large number of suppliers and customers, and recognise that every entity in our supply chain has a duty to respect human rights.

 

Our position

At UHS Group, we take our responsibility as a business to prevent slavery and human trafficking extremely seriously. We have a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of slavery both within our own operations and across our supply chain. This statement outlines the steps which we have taken to date, together with our continuing efforts to ensure that slavery and human trafficking cannot take place in any part of our supply chain and/or business.

 

Our supply chain

We are immensely proud of our supply chain and family of suppliers who allow each of our operating locations to source products and services to meet individual client and customer needs. We provide our teams with the choice and ability to select from approved suppliers, as opposed to creating and forcing centrally determined supply chain solutions. Our supply chain is incredibly diverse and provides the platform from which our business can grow, develop and continue to supply fantastic contract furniture products.

 

Ethical trading

UHS Group respects and adheres to internationally recognised human rights principles and in particular the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code. This Code contains the following nine clauses which are founded on the conventions of the International Labour Organisation and are an internationally recognised code of labour practice:

 

  • Employment is freely chosen
  • Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected
  • Working conditions are safe and hygienic
  • Child labour shall not be used
  • Living wages are paid
  • Working hours are not excessive
  • No discrimination is practiced
  • Regular employment is provided
  • No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed

 

UHS Group is committed to ensuring that all of its dealings with suppliers are conducted in line with such ethical and responsible trading requirements.

 

 

Due diligence

As part of sourcing products from different countries, it would be impossible for UHS Group to monitor all elements of our suppliers’ supply chains or every individual who is involved with sourcing our products. We therefore set agreed standards with our suppliers and expect suppliers to conform within their own operations. These minimum standards apply to all our suppliers across all countries and different jurisdictions where our products are sourced from. We expect our suppliers to be fully responsible for implementing these principles and accountable for any non-compliance.

 

All new and existing suppliers are expected to acknowledge and commit to comply with:

  1. a) our Responsible Sourcing and Ethical Trading Policy which sets out our standards in relation to ethical trading; and
  2. b) our Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Supplier Sign-Off which relates more specifically to the Modern Slavery Act.

 

We maintain regular dialogue with our suppliers to ensure that they understand and implement our high standards and they continue to comply with local legislation and regulations. Our processes also allow us to determine which suppliers are most at risk for responsible sourcing challenges and, for those high-risk suppliers, we will prioritise a site audit. Following a site audit, we will notify the supplier of any remedial action required. We will only continue to trade with those suppliers who fully comply with our Responsible Sourcing and Ethical Trading Policy and our Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Supplier Sign-Off, or those who are taking verifiable steps towards compliance.

 

Our commitment

We are committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure that our company policies and working practices help combat the global issues of slavery and human trafficking.

We have updated our company policies and procedures to specifically address these issues and have bolstered our current systems to reinforce our zero-tolerance company stance against modern day slavery and human trafficking. We will periodically review the effectiveness of the steps we have taken to ensure there is no slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains.