At Cardinal Global Logistics, including all group companies, we are committed to improving our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking. Our company has a zero tolerance to modern slavery and our policy is to assess and address anti-modern slavery laws in our own business and we expect our customers and suppliers to also adopt and enforce policies to comply with the legislation. Collaboration is at the heart of achieving this with our people, suppliers and clients.
What is modern slavery?
Modern slavery is a major international criminal problem affecting an estimated 40.3 million slaves around the world (2017 figures). This growing global issue doesn’t care about age, gender and ethnicity and includes victims trafficked from overseas and vulnerable people in the UK who are forced illegally to work against their will across many different sectors such as agriculture, hospitality, construction, retail, and manufacturing. Modern slavery is all around us but can very often be just out of sight so as to not be obvious. It can look like a normal job, whereas in reality people can become entrapped making our clothes, serving our food, picking our crops, working in factories that supply our consumables, or working in domestic houses as cooks, cleaners or nannies.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires commercial organisations supplying goods or services with a turnover of above £36 million to prepare and publish an annual ‘Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement’. The Statement must set out the steps an organisation has taken, if any, during its financial year to ensure that slavery or human trafficking is not taking place in its supply chain.
Our policy
We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chain or in any part of our business. Our Anti-Slavery Policy reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our supply chains.
We ensure:
- our culture and values, which are embedded throughout our business, set the expectations for how we expect our colleagues to behave with other colleagues, clients, and the world at large
- we aim to treat everyone fairly and consistently, creating a workplace and business environment that is committed, nurturing and loyal
- our policies and procedures relating to the Modern Slavery Act are in line with our culture and values.
Our structure and supply chains
Cardinal Global Logistics has over 2000 partners, both suppliers and customers, across a wide range of sectors, including retail, fashion, technology, food and drink and consumer goods.
Our procedures
We have several procedures in place that contribute to ensuring modern slavery does not occur in our business or supply chains.
Employment
- Robust recruitment processes in line with UK employment laws, including: ‘right to work’ document checks; contracts of employment and checks to ensure everyone employed is 16 and above
- Market-related pay and rewards reviewed annually and proud to be a Living Wage employer
- Wellbeing activities and initiatives to support our people’s physical and mental wellbeing and lifestyle choices.
Transparency in our supply chains
We recognise that our firm is exposed to greater risk when dealing with its customers, particularly those who have operations & suppliers in other territories. To ensure all those in our supply chain and contractors comply with our values and ethics we have in place a Supplier Assessment Form which our suppliers are obliged to complete before they become part of our approved list of suppliers. We have amended this questionnaire, so it has a particular focus on our suppliers’ compliance with the Modern Slavery Act.
Additionally, Cardinal have signed up to the Neptune Declaration which aims to support the welfare and wellbeing of seafarers.
Supporting our people
Following The Act, we have enabled our people to understand more about this growing issue by setting out the steps taken by the group as well as guiding them on how to report any suspicions they may come across within business or on a personal level. We have:
- developed and shared resources, including summary documents with an overview of the Modern Slavery Act, and links to the modernslavery.co.uk website
- provided training to all our staff so that there is a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking within our supply chain.
We are a logistics service provider, part of the Cardinal Maritime Group (Group), whose head office is in Manchester, United Kingdom, with over 400 employees worldwide. Our business is organised into a number of brands, allowing us to focus on customer needs either in specific vertical market segments or in geographical areas, and operates in England, Ireland, South Africa, China, Hong Kong and an increasing presence in mainland Asia. As a group, we have a global annual turnover of approximately £350,000,000
Supporting our clients
Cardinal Maritime is continuously looking to support clients in this increasingly important issue, including collaborating with Government agencies and other reputable organisations, to deepen and share knowledge so that we may be impactful by engaging in this area.
Future performance indicators
Going forward, we aim to develop and introduce:
- focused training for those in the firm involved in contracts and procurement activities
- methodologies to increase awareness for our people and our clients.
Cardinal Global Logistics shall take responsibility for this Statement and its related objectives, and review and
update it in accordance with The Act.
Additional links
Cardinal Global Logistics culture and values
External website – www.modernslavery.co.uk
Brian Hay
Chief Executive Officer
Updated: January 2023