• Modern Slavery Policy

    Helping Shropshiresucceed in business

Shropshire Chamber of Commerce Modern Slavery Policy

 
This statement is made pursuant to s.54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the steps that Shropshire Chamber of Commerce has taken and is continuing to take to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain.
 
Modern slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour. Shropshire Chamber of Commerce 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 chain.
 

Our business

Shropshire Chamber is a dynamic member-led organisation that is firmly committed to positively impacting the local economy, and supports a network of more than 750 county-based businesses, strengthening their position in the region, ensuring their voices are heard, and providing useful connections and valuable access to new ideas and innovations. It has various suppliers mainly based in the United Kingdom.
 

Our high-risk areas

It is possible that some suppliers, particularly overseas may indulge in practices of recruitment that fall short of our standards. We do our best to ascertain that their policies and procedures do not conflict with our own standards.
 

Our policies

We operate a number of internal policies to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner. 
 
These include:
  • Anti-slavery policy. This policy sets out the organisation’s stance on modern slavery and explains how employees can identify any instances of this and where they can go for help.
  • Recruitment policy. We operate a robust recruitment policy, including conducting eligibility to work in the UK checks for all employees to safe guard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will.
  • Whistleblowing policy. We operate a whistleblowing policy so that all employees know that they can raise concerns about how colleagues are being treated, or practices within our business or supply chain, without fear of reprisals.
 

Our suppliers

Shropshire Chamber of Commerce Ltd operates a supplier policy and maintains a preferred supplier list. We conduct due diligence on all suppliers before allowing them to become a preferred supplier. This due diligence includes an online search to ensure that particular organisation has never been convicted of offences relating to modern slavery. Our anti-slavery policy forms part of our contract with all suppliers and they are required to confirm that no part of their business operations contradicts this policy.
 
In addition to the above, as part of our contract with suppliers, we require that they confirm to us that:
  • They have taken steps to eradicate modern slavery within their business
  • They hold their own suppliers to account over modern slavery
  • (For UK based suppliers) They pay their employees at least the national minimum wage.
  • (For international suppliers) They pay their employees any prevailing minimum wage applicable within their country of operations
  • We may terminate the contract at any time should any instances of modern slavery come to light.
 

Training

We regularly conduct training for our procurement/buying teams so that they understand the signs of modern slavery and what to do if they suspect that it is taking place within our supply chain.
 

Our performance indicators

We will know the effectiveness of the steps that we are taking to ensure that slavery and/or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain if: No reports are received from employees, the public, or law enforcement agencies to indicate that modern slavery practices have been identified.