Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Statement

In accordance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (“Act”), Blinds4Value has published this Interim statement on behalf of its relevant subsidiary companies. The Blinds4Value is an industry leading online specialist comprising of four Companies that offer made to measure blinds and curtains through the internet direct to our customers.

All of our blinds and curtains are manufactured in fully owned UK based facilities or sourced from approved global suppliers. Blinds4Value recognises that modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. Modern slavery can take many different forms and is a complex issue, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person’s liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain. This interim statement sets out Blinds4Value’s actions to understand all potential modern slavery risks related to its business and to put in place steps that are aimed at ensuring that there is no slavery or human trafficking in its own business and its supply chains. The initiatives included in this statement will continue to be implemented during 2021 and will be reported on during 2022.

Blinds4value has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and we are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to implement and enforce effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our business or supply chain. We take seriously any allegation of human rights abuse in all its forms. We are taking steps to identify areas where there are risks of modern slavery occurring within our business and supply chain and we are working to eliminate that possibility.
 

Due Diligence

The organisation will undertake due diligence as defined by the UN Guiding Principles Framework when considering taking on new suppliers, and we regularly review our existing suppliers. Suppliers that fail to improve their performance or seriously violate our supplier code of conduct, will result in the termination of the business relationship.

 

Relevant Policies

Blinds4value Policy Framework, Supplier Standards and Employee Training and Awareness Programmes help us in our approach to the identification of modern slavery risks and steps to be taken to prevent slavery and human trafficking in its operations.

 

Whistleblowing Policy

We encourage all our employees, customers and other business partners to report any concerns related to the direct activities that highlight any circumstances that may give rise to an enhanced risk of slavery or human trafficking. Our Whistleblowing Procedure is designed to make it easy for workers to make disclosures confidentially, without fear of retaliation

Employee Code of Conduct

We are committed to ensuring that its suppliers adhere to the highest standards of ethics. Suppliers are required to demonstrate that they provide safe working conditions where necessary, treat workers with dignity and respect, and act ethically and within the law in their use of labour. We will work with suppliers to ensure that they meet the standards of the code and improve their worker’s working conditions. However, serious violations of supplier code of conduct will lead to the termination of the business relationship.

Recruitment/Agency Workers Policy

Our recruitment is managed in house which enables us to conduct a rigorous recruitment process and control the work undertaken and the labour conditions for which our employees work. Our recruitment practices include ‘right to work’ checks for all prospective employees. This ensures we maintain an assured overview of those entering our employment and prevents the occurrence of forced or involuntary labour.

Our HR department ensures that recruitment practices are fair and equitable and in accordance with employment law; satisfactory working conditions and related safeguards are in place; necessary pre-employment checks are undertaken and approved prior to prospective employees starting in a position and appropriate training is provided. We only use specified, reputable employment agencies to source labour and always verifies the practices of any new agency it is using before accepting workers from that agency.

 

Training

Requiring all staff/staff working in specify countries/supply chain managers/HR professionals to have completed training on modern slavery.

Awareness-raising Programme

As well as training staff, the organisation will raise awareness of modern slavery issues by placing posters across the organisation’s premises

The Posters Explain to Staff

The basic principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015; how employers can identify and prevent slavery and human trafficking; what employees can do to flag up potential slavery or human trafficking issues to the relevant parties within the organisation.

 

The Unseen Modern Slavery Helpline is
Fully Independent & Confidential

Freephone 08000 121 700
Potential victims are able to speak to fully trained call handlers who can help them access relevant services, including Government-funded support through the National Referral Mechanism. Statutory agencies are able to call to gain support in dealing with potential victims, and receive guidance in accessing all the information and tools available through the associated Resource Centre

Director Approval
This statement was approved on 1st April 2022 by Blinds 4Value Board of Directors, who will review and update it annually.

Operations Director signature:
Operations Director name:
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