1: OPENING STATEMENT FROM SENIOR MANAGEMENT
J F Hutchings Limited is committed to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking. This statement sets out the steps we have taken to minimise the risk of modern slavery in our business and its supply chains during the tax year ending 5th April 2023.
This annual Modern Slavery Statement has been reviewed to outline the steps taken to identify, assess, address, and prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in our current operations and supply chains. This statement is based on existing corporate policies, it is our way of ensuring that we conduct business in an ethical and compliant way, particularly towards offences under The Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Modern slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour. J F Hutchings Limited has a zero-tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all business dealings and to putting effective systems and controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business or our supply chains.
2: STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANISATION
The Hutchings Motor group encompasses modern Hyundai & Vauxhall and dealerships in Pontypridd, Swansea, and Bridgend. We are an independent family-run business that has maintained a commitment to service excellence for over 70 years, we are involved in the sales, servicing, and repairs of vehicles.
Our supply chains are extensive, and we expect the same high standards which we set out for ourselves from those parties with whom we engage, such as our suppliers and customers.
3: POLICIES
As part of our commitment to combating modern slavery, we have implemented the following policies:
- Recruitment policy: We operate a robust recruitment policy, including conducting eligibility to work in the UK checks for all directly employed staff, to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will.
- Equal Opportunities: We have a range of controls to protect staff from poor treatment and/or exploitation, which comply with all respective laws and regulations. These include provision of fair pay rates, fair terms and conditions of employment, and access to training and development opportunities.
- Whistleblowing policy: We operate a whistleblowing policy so that all employees know that they can raise concerns about how colleagues or people receiving our services are being treated, or about practices within our business or supply chain, without fear of reprisals.
- Grievance policy: We encourage employees to be comfortable raising any concerns about ethical issues or cases of non-compliance.
- An anti-corruption and bribery policy: It is our policy to conduct all our business in an honest and ethical manner. We take a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption and are committed to acting professionally, fairly and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships.
We also make sure our suppliers are aware of our policies and adhere to the same high standards.
4: DUE DILIGENCE
As part of our efforts to monitor and reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring within our supply chains, we have adopted the following due diligence procedures:
- Mitigate the risk of slavery occurring in our supply chains;
- Monitor potential risk areas in our supply chains; and
- Protect those who report concerns regarding modern slavery ('whistleblowers' with the Company's Whistleblowing Policy).
Our procedures are designed to:
- Establish and assess areas of potential risk in our business and supply chains;
- Monitor potential risk areas in our business and supply chains;
- Reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our business and supply chains; and
- Provide adequate protection for whistleblowers.
5: RISK AND COMPLIANCE
J F Hutchings Limited has taken advice to ensure that it understands the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
We have considered our exposure to the risk of modern slavery across all aspects of our business, and have identified 4 key areas:
- Agency and temporary employment practices;
- 3rd Party Dealerships and Importers;
- Material suppliers; and
- Sub-contractor relationships.
We require our suppliers to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and report any incidents or suspected incidents of modern slavery to us. We reserve the right to terminate our relationship with suppliers if they do not adhere to the Modern Slavery Act 2015, or if they breach our Supplier Code of Conduct.
6: TRAINING
We comply with our legal obligations to ensure the health and safety of all our employees and workers. As part of the induction process, new starters are provided with information on modern slavery and how to raise any concerns.
We are committed to creating and ensuring a non-discriminatory and respectful working environment for our staff. We want all our staff to feel confident that they can expose wrongdoing without any risk to themselves.
It is the responsibility of all members of staff, to seek to prevent, detect and report modern slavery in our business or supply chain. Members of staff are encouraged to raise any concerns regarding modern slavery at the earliest opportunity and must not act in a way that is inconsistent with, or which might lead to a breach of the Modern Slavery Act.
7: FURTHER ACTIONS AND SIGN-OFF
We continue to review our actions to prevent slavery or human trafficking from occurring in our business or supply chains, we intend to take the following further steps to tackle slavery and human trafficking:
In the coming year we will continue to measure how effective we have been to ensure that modern slavery is not taking place in any part of our business or supply chains. We will encourage all members of staff to raise concerns and will continue to provide induction training to all new employees so that they can identify and understand what modern slavery is and how to report any concerns.
This statement was approved and reviewed by Steve Hutchings,
Director
23rd April 2023.