Introduction
Sandicliffe has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery.
Modern slavery is a crime and violation of human rights.
We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships.
We aim to implement and enforce effective systems and controls to ensure Modern Slavery is not taking place within our own business and our supply chains.
This statement sets out the steps we are taking to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in our businesses or any of our supply chains and is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Act.
The statement applies to Sandicliffe Motor Holdings Limited and its subsidiary companies: Sandicliffe Garage Limited and Sandicliffe Limited and references to “Sandicliffe” encompass all those entities.
1 Organisation Structure and Supply Chains
Sandicliffe is a UK based retail and service provider. Our main activities concern the sale, hire and servicing of new and used passenger and commercial vehicles to the general public and businesses. We supply parts and accessories and provide finance to enable consumers to purchase vehicles.
The group consists of 424 employees based across the East Midlands.
Sandicliffe’s main suppliers are global vehicle manufactures and franchises, which supply the groups vehicles and parts. In addition to this we have commercial agreements with finance and insurance providers, system suppliers and training providers. Sandicliffe also uses third party suppliers for oil, valeting, stationary supplies and cleaning.
We encourage our suppliers to adopt similar policies in their own organisations.
We are committed to working with our colleagues and suppliers to remedy or mitigate risks. We require suppliers to certify that they do not participate in any forced or involuntary labour with their workers, subcontractors, agents or associates. This is evaluated as part of the tender process.
2 Our Policies in relation to slavery and human trafficking
We have internal policies, which are covered during Induction of our new colleagues and are available to employees during their employment, such as Whistleblowing, Anti-Bribery, Equality Act, Anti-bullying and Health and Safety.
Our policies are reviewed annually by the Human Resources Department/legal advisors to remain compliant.
Sandicliffe operates to the following minimum Standards:
• Safe and Lawful Working conditions
• No child Labour
• Zero tolerance approach to Forced Labour or Modern Slavery
• Fair wages and benefits
• No discrimination
• Respectful treatment of employees
• Freedom of association for example - employees can join a Trade Union, if they wish, with no detriment to their employment.
3 Due Diligence Processes
We have introduced modern slavery information on to one of our online training platforms, which ensures all employees are aware of the Act. We will be able to recognise from the results the areas which need further training.
In addition to this we also use our newsletter to advise people of the risks of modern slavery and the signs to look out for.
All new starters will be undergoing an ID check from October, prior to joining to help minimise the risk of modern slavery.
We also communicate our Modern Slavery statement to our suppliers, and we require suppliers to certify that they do not participate in any forced or involuntary labour with their workers, subcontractors, agents or associates. This is evaluated as part of the tender process.
4 Risk Assessment and management
In order to understand our main areas of risk in our supply chain we consider the risks in the country of supply, the risks inherent in the business sectors of our suppliers and the risks arising from the nature of our business partnerships with suppliers.
This enables us to understand our suppliers’ approach and how they deal with Modern Slavery so we can collaborate and tackle modern slavery together.
We require suppliers and third parties to declare their modern slavery statements to us.
5 Key Performance Indicators
We do not believe our KPIs make our business and supply chain vulnerable to modern slavery.
We are continuously monitoring our KPIs and will further develop KPIs to monitor our Modern Slavery risk assessments and ensure our checks are working.
6 Training on Modern Slavery and trafficking
As noted above, we have internal policies, which are covered during Induction of our new colleagues and are available to employees during their employment. We have also introduced modern slavery information on to one of our online training platforms, which ensures all employees are aware of the Act and we raise awareness of Modern Slavery issues in our Company Newsletter.
This statement was approved by Sandicliffe Motor Holdings Limited board of Directors on the 28 September 2022