Ethical Sourcing Labour Standards

Mandarin Stone is committed to conducting its business operations ethically and with integrity. We recognise the importance of respecting human rights and preventing modern slavery within our supply chains and operations.

We are taking all reasonable steps to prevent the exploitation and abuse of men, women and children at all stages within our supply chain in full support of and compliance with the provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

This policy statement outlines the steps we are taking to address the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our business. Our company employs approximately 257 staff who are work in various management, warehousing, fabrication, showrooms, and transportation roles across our Head office site in Monmouth, Wales and showrooms.

Our highly skilled showroom stone experts are based at our 17 showrooms located around the UK.

Our supply chains

The Company’s main business is derived from the purchase and resale of porcelain, ceramic and natural stone tiles from a wide range of suppliers.

Some of those suppliers are based in the United Kingdom, which are regulated by UK legislation in terms of acceptable working conditions, adequate Health and Safety procedures, Working Time Regulations and in compliance with Human Rights legislation.

We purchase products through brokers based in the UK or Europe, whose suppliers are based outside the UK or the EEC.

Our Policy

Modern slavery is a crime resulting in the abuse of the human rights of vulnerable workers taking various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking.

We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and are committed to acting ethically, with integrity and transparency in all our business dealings and relationships.

We are committed to implementing and enforcing effective systems of control to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking are not taking place anywhere within either our own business or in any of our supply chains, consistent with our obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We will develop and implement policies and procedures to prevent modern slavery in our operations and supply chains, which include:

• An Anti-slavery and Human Trafficking policy, outlining our expectations regarding ethical business practices. We are proud of the conditions of employment that we provide our 257 employees. Our employees are paid at a rate equivalent to, or higher than that of the National Living Wage and their contracts and hours of work are in accordance with the provisions of the Working Time Regulations.
• Supplier agreements that require compliance with anti-slavery and human trafficking laws. We expect the same high standards from all our suppliers, contractors and other business partners and, as part of our contracting processes, we include specific prohibitions against the use of modern slavery and expect that our suppliers will in turn hold their own suppliers to the same standards. We challenge our suppliers to ensure that slavery and human trafficking does not exist in any part of their business or supply chains, by assessing current measures and by determining any further measures that may be required. At least one factory visit is scheduled annually.
• Whistleblowing mechanisms to encourage reporting of any suspected cases of modern slavery. Our whistleblowing policy supports the Modern Slavery Act by encouraging staff to report suspected breaches of our policies in the knowledge that their concerns will be taken seriously and investigated as appropriate.

We are committed to conducting our business with honesty and integrity, and we expect all staff to maintain high standards. However, all organisations face the risk of unknowingly harbouring illegal or unethical conduct, so a culture of openness and accountability is essential to prevent such situations occurring or to address them when they do occur.

Risk

Our due diligence process focuses on suppliers in high-risk areas and countries that have lower social and environmental standards than in the UK and EEC. If any irrevocable failing is identified through the assessment questionnaire for suppliers, where possible the supplier-customer relationship will be terminated.

We also take several steps to mitigate the risk of modern slavery occurring in our own operations:

• Training – We provide training to our purchasing staff and those who are responsible for the management of our supply chain to ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and within our organisation.
• Right to Work Checks – Right to Work checks are completed for all employees upon commencement of their employment with us.
• Whistleblowing – We protect whistle-blowers by providing a clear and confidential reporting line for the disclosure of any breaches of our policies, safe working procedures or legislation. Any concerns will be fully investigated by the Whistleblowing Officer and acted upon accordingly. Mandarin Stone is dedicated to eradicating modern slavery and human trafficking from its operations and supply chains.

We recognise the importance of transparency and accountability in our efforts and will continue to take proactive steps to combat these intolerable practices.

This statement is made in accordance with section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes the Mandarin Stone Slavery and Human Trafficking statement for the current financial year.