Modern slavery and human trafficking statement
Introduction
Modern slavery is a heinous crime and a morally reprehensible act that deprives a person's liberty and dignity for another person's gain. It is a real problem for millions of people around the world, including many in developed countries, who are being kept and exploited in various forms of slavery. Every company is at risk of being involved in this crime through its own operations and its supply chain.
At Mike Pulman Holdings Limited, Mike Pulman Limited, Pulman SEAT Limited and Pulman Skoda Limited (“the Group”) we have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and are fully committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our operation and supply chain. We have taken concrete steps to tackle modern slavery, as outlined in our statement. This statement sets out the actions that we have taken to understand all potential modern slavery risks related to our business, and to implement steps to prevent slavery and human trafficking during the financial year 2019.
Our Business and Supply Chains
We are a Volkswagen, Skoda, SEAT, Cupra and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles automotive dealership with sites across the North East of England offering motor retail and aftersales services. Our operations are carried out in the UK.
We establish a relationship of trust and integrity with all our suppliers, which is built upon mutually beneficial factors. Our supplier selection and on-boarding procedure includes due diligence of the supplier's reputation, respect for the law, compliance with health, safety and environmental standards, and references
We haven't been made aware of any allegations of human trafficking/slavery activities against any of our suppliers, but if we were, then we would act immediately against the supplier and report it to the authorities.
Policies
The Group operates the following policies for identifying and preventing slavery and human trafficking in our operations:
Supplier Due Diligence
We expect all suppliers to ensure:
If we find any supplier not adhering to these minimum standards, it is our policy to cease trading with them immediately.
Alternative Supplier DD
The Group have reviewed our supply chains to identify particular categories that potentially carry a risk over Modern Slavery. We will continue our proactive approach to mitigating this risk in the year.
Our procurement team is working hard to ensure that where we have group wide contacts, we are only trading with suppliers that have signed up to our terms, which prohibits any forms of exploitation.
Any suppliers found to have breached these obligations could face sanctions, including termination of our contract with them.
Awareness
The Group has raised awareness of modern slavery issues by adding a section to the staff handbook that is focused specifically on modern slavery to all our staff, which explains:
This statement covers 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2023 and has been approved by the board of The Group at the board meeting on 10/05/2019
Approved by:
Ian Buckle
Managing Director