MODERN SLAVERY ACT

This statement is made pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It constitutes Abbeygate Manufacturing Company Ltd (AMC) slavery and human trafficking statement as at the 30 June 2020.

AMC is a UK manufacturer of diaries, notebooks, calendars and leather gifts.

AMC has around 20 staff, all of whom are based in the United Kingdom. Our staff are directly employed and are not in any category which is seen to be vulnerable to modern slavery in this country, so our main focus is to ensure there are policies and due diligence procedures in place for our suppliers.

AMC is committed to continuously improving its practices to identify and eliminate any slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chains, and to acting ethically and with integrity in all its business relationships.

AMC uses a wide range of suppliers who supply goods for sale and components to support our manufacturing operations.

AMC has policies which underpin our approach to tackling the risk of modern slavery in our supply chain. These include:

• Responsible Procurement Policy covering issues of human rights, child and forced labour and modern slavery.
• Whistleblowing Policy which encourages staff and volunteers to report concerns including any related to modern slavery/trafficking and child or forced labour.

AMC monitors suppliers they believe present high modern slavery risks in the supply chain. This particularly includes where goods and materials are acquired from suppliers in high risk countries.

All suppliers which AMC class as high risk must:

• Complete a Modern Slavery Act Due Diligence Questionnaire which covers their governance, policies, training and supply chain management processes; on an annual basis and prior to sourcing, provide full detail of the supply chains they are proposing to commission goods from on behalf of AMC.

AMC is a member of the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX). This is a membership scheme which supports companies to assess and map risks in their supply chains. The SEDEX platform allows AMC to access audited information uploaded by factories used by our suppliers, giving us a better insight into their supply chains.

For any supplier or factory in the AMC supply chain, that might be considered high risk, we request that they:

• Are members of SEDEX.
• Provide independent ethical audits through SEDEX.
• Must not use any form of forced, bonded or individual labour
• Workers must not be subject to any physical or verbal abuse, threats or intimidation of any description.
• Workers must not be required to work extreme hours or work without adequate rest periods.
• Suppliers should respect the right of workers to form or join trade unions
• Suppliers should not engage in or support any form of discrimination
• Sub- contractors or suppliers must not use workers under the age of 15, or the legal working age of the country in question if higher than 15
• Factories and work sites used by suppliers, must be safe and hygienic with a safe and adequate number of accessible fire- exists. Clean drinking water must be accessible for all workers.
• Workers must be in a safe working environment with sufficient training to ensure their safety when using dangerous machinery or chemicals. The building must not pose any hazards to workers health or safety.
• Accurate employment records must be kept, including calculations of pay and hours worked. Clear transparency must be given to these records for inspection purposes.
• Suppliers must pay wages sufficient to meet the basic needs.
• Suppliers must not engage in bribery, corruption or other unethical practices in order to gain a competitive advantage.

AMC assess the information submitted by suppliers and should a supplier or factory fail to provide the information requested or to meet AMC’s expectations, AMC will take appropriate action. For example, this may include not entering a relationship or suspending/terminating our relationship with a supplier or asking a supplier not to procure goods from a particular factory.

However, AMC recognise that its’ suppliers may not be able to achieve all the standards laid out in this Code immediately but is willing to engage with suppliers who:

• Have implemented, or are willing to implement, appropriate and workable processes for raising standards to be compliant with the Code within an agreed time scale,
• Able to demonstrate a responsible and transparent approach to their working and general practices.
• Demonstrate an ongoing commitment to improving working and ethical standards

Over the course of the next financial year we will continue to enhance our procedures to help us identify, prevent and mitigate any risks of modern slavery or human trafficking in relation to new and existing suppliers and in relation to our own operations.