Introduction

Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires any organisation operating in any sector, which supplies goods and services, and carries on a business or part of a business in the UK, with an annual turnover of £36 million or more, to publish an annual slavery and human trafficking statement. This statement constitutes Writtle group’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the group’s financial year ending 31 December 2021.

Organisation’s Structure and Supply Chains

Writtle is an international marketing services group.  The group directly employs over 700 people across 11 operating companies in the UK, USA and Hong Kong.

Our creative and implementation companies supply chains consist largely of software and hardware providers, professional services, insurance and benefit providers, office facilities and maintenance service providers.  Our manufacturing businesses also engage agency labour and source raw materials, principally related to the provision of point of purchase retail displays.

Our Policies on Slavery and Human Trafficking

We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chain or in any part of our business.  Our Anti-Slavery 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 in our supply chains.

Due Diligence Processes for Slavery and Human Trafficking

As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk we aim to:

• Where possible build long-standing relationships with trusted suppliers and make clear our expectation of business behaviour.
• Have in place systems to encourage the reporting of concerns and the protection of whistle-blowers.
• Continually audit and review our supply chain.

Supplier Adherence to Our Value and Ethics

We have a zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking.  We expect the same standards from all our contractors, suppliers and business partners and our supplier engagement and supplier due diligence procedures are designed to enforce this.

Training

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and our business, we have made training available to relevant members of staff.

Effectiveness in Combating Slavery and Human Trafficking

We use the following key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure how effective we have been to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of our business or supply chains:

• Aim to provide all relevant members of staff with appropriate training.
• Aim to sign all suppliers up to our standard terms and code of conduct, including confirmation of compliance, and continually audit.
• Use of labour monitoring and payroll systems.
• Act swiftly and appropriately if we become aware of any instances of actual of suspected slavery or human trafficking affecting our business.

Robert Essex

Chairman