Blake Morgan – Slavery and Human Trafficking statement 2017

Blake Morgan provides legal services to clients in the UK and overseas operating from 6 offices across London, South East England and Wales.  We strive to be the firm of choice for our clients and for our employees. Every business within Blake Morgan aims to provide excellent conditions of employment, pay and benefits to every employee and to treat all employees, workers and suppliers with respect.

This statement sets out the steps that Blake Morgan has taken to ensure that slavery and human trafficking do not occur in our business or in our supply chains.

Assessment of Risk

The nature of our business is such that our Board believes there is low risk, either within the firm or in the supply chains which support our business activities, of potential for involvement in, support for, or complicity in modern slavery and human trafficking.  However, we continue to insist upon a high level of ethical conduct from all our colleagues and any organisation with which we do business.

Policies and Due Diligence

Our Corporate Responsibility Policy, Ethics Policy and Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy each makes clear that we will take all reasonable and practical steps to ensure that our standards in respect of the Act are implemented throughout the businesses and with all our suppliers and business partners.

Our Procurement Policy states that:

1. We oppose the exploitation of workers and we will not tolerate forced labour, or labour which involves physical, verbal or psychological harassment, or intimidation of any kind.
2. We will not accept human trafficking in our business or supply chain.
3. We expect our suppliers to conform to International Labour Organisation Standards.

We seek assurances from all relevant potential suppliers in respect of compliance with the Act.  We will only trade with those who confirm compliance with our Procurement Policy.

Our Risk and Compliance team are currently reviewing current supplier contracts to ensure compliance with ISO 27001 in respect of information security and in preparation for the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR introduction in May 2018. This affords us the opportunity to engage with existing suppliers in respect of the Act, seeking their confirmation that they comply with our approach as set out in our Procurement Policy.

Communication and Training

We will continue to communicate this statement to all our staff to ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and our business.

We will make reference to the Act in induction and other training to maintain awareness and appropriate due diligence.

We have sourced and will roll out in the current year specific training for those directly involved in procurement so that these professionals understand and are able to address any potential modern slavery risks.

Effectiveness Review

This statement has been approved by our Board, on behalf of the Members of the firm, and it relates to the financial year ending 30 April 2017.  It also sets out initiatives which will take place in the current financial year. The Board will review and update this statement on an annual basis and approve all future plans aimed at compliance with the Act.

Created November 2017

Please click here to view Blake Morgan’s 2016 Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking statement.