Statement Introduction
The 55 Group (Holdings) Limited (herein referred to as “the Group”) includes several other businesses, each are individually registered companies, that operate within the Group and under the Group’s policies and procedures for matters of compliance. This statement, therefore, applies equally, and cascades to all the following organisations from the Group (herein, the above are collectively referred to as “Group Companies” or “Group Company”):
- Sypro Management Limited
- Added Value Portal Ltd
- Tequ Training and Learning Limited
- Social Profit Calculator Ltd
As our business has a turnover of less than £36 million, we do not have a legal obligation to produce a modern slavery statement. However, we chose to make a statement on the Group and Group Companies position on modern slavery and human trafficking and:
- We agree that exploitation within all supply chains ending in the UK is a blight on our society, and we are committed to playing our part in eliminating exploitation
- We understand that customers with obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 cannot comply with those duties without our cooperation
This statement is actively reviewed on an at least, annual basis.
Statement Purpose
The purpose of this statement is to define to clients, staff, and others, on how the Group and the Group Companies understand and affirm compliance with our legal, statutory, and regulatory requirements, and support our corporate stance in combatting modern slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chains, and we make this statement to assist with demonstrating our compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Statement Scope
This statement applies to the Group and the Group Companies in entirety, including ‘staff’ meaning given under 3.1, and agents engaged with the Group in the UK and/or third countries.
Definitions
- Human Trafficking – the recruitment or movement of people for exploitation by the use of threat, force, fraud, or the abuse of vulnerability (UK Government 2022)
- Staff – means directors, partners, employees, volunteers, contractors, temporary workers, interns, and anyone acting on behalf of and under instruction of our Group, or a Group Company, paid or unpaid.
- Modern Slavery – the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of children, women or men through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation (UK Government 2022).
- Third Country – means a country or territory outside the United Kingdom.
Statement
We confirm that we have examined our own business and, to the extent that it is reasonably practicable, businesses within our supply chain and we confirm the following:
- We confirm that within our own business, no relevant offence relating to slavery or human tracking has been committed
- We have made enquiries of businesses that supply directly to us, and we are confident that no relevant offence is committed in that business
- Insofar as it was reasonably practicable, we have examined our supply chains and confirm that we found no evidence of slavery or human trafficking
Further details about our business and supply chain are provided below.
Our business provides online software and programmes to clients, that enable them to function in their field, more effectively.
In addition to that outlined in 1 Statement Introduction above, governance within the Group and Group Companies is actively supported via:
- A Group Board of Directors
- A Board of Directors at each Group Company reporting to the Group
- Open Door approach for all staff to raise any concerns, on any matter of compliance
We deliver our services from the UK to clients in the following countries/regions:
- United Kingdom
- The countries of the EU
Our supply chain includes:
Note: some of our suppliers operate from third countries outside the United Kingdom.
- Programmers and coders
- Stationery and printing suppliers
- Technology and network support
- Multi-function print devices
- Legal and accounting professional and regulated services
We understand that certain industry sectors and geographical regions entail greater risk of exploitation than others. We do not believe that any of our supply chain is in one of those sectors.
As part of our due diligence and onboarding process for new suppliers, we actively seek clear comments on modern slavery and human trafficking and, where it is reasonably practicable, and required by law, we ensure that businesses in our supply chain have made a similar statement relating to modern slavery and human trafficking.
We also encourage all staff to be actively aware through training and awareness, and to report on any matters relating to slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains of which they become aware.
The responsible person in our business for oversight on matters relating to slavery and human trafficking is: Mark Smith