Introduction
This statement addresses the period of 1st January 2023- 31st December 2023 and is published in line with section 54(1) Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person’s liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain.
About Dunster House
Dunster House is a family run business with over 29 years’ experience of designing, manufacturing and retailing garden lifestyle products. We are unique within the marketplace as all our design concepts are created in the UK before being manufactured in one of 14 sister factories overseas and 4 UK based factories to then be delivered out of our 8 distribution branches. This enables complete control over every process, from purchasing timber to final distribution to the customer.
Our commitment to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015
Dunster House Ltd has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and we are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or in any of our supply chains.
We are committed to ensuring there is transparency in our business and our approach to tackling modern slavery is consistent with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Our company processes, include specific prohibition against the use of forced, compulsory or trafficked labour, or anyone held in slavery or servitude, whether adults or children. We are committed to ensuring that every employee has access to the statement, consistent with the legislation outlined in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the relevant policies.
Our supply chain
Due to the size of our company and nature of the job roles, we assess ourselves to be low risk of modern slavery in our business. In addition, our supply chains are limited as we only procure goods and services from third party sister companies and rarely with overseas contractors. Therefore, we assess ourselves as low risk of modern slavery within our supply chains.
Our policies in relation to Modern Slavery Act 2015
The following policies are available to all staff through Dunster Wiki, their manager and the HR department:
- Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy – HS 04 Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking – DunsterWiki
- Bullying and Harassment Policy – Bullying and Harassment Policy – DunsterWiki
- Abusive and Threatening Behaviour Policy -Abusive and Threatening Behavior Policy – DunsterWiki
- Whistle-Blowing Policy – Whistleblowing Policy – DunsterWiki
- Anti-Bribery Policy – Anti-Bribery Policy – DunsterWiki
Embedding our principles
At Dunster House, we continue to embed our principles through:
- Ensuring that all staff have access to this statement and the above policies through our intranet (Dunster Wiki), their manager and the HR department.
- Taking action to embed a zero-tolerance policy towards modern slavery
- Over the next year, we are continuing to strengthen our approach to manage the risk of modern-day slavery and embedding our principles with the steps below
- Develop our current awareness training for staff at the point of inductions and inform them of the appropriate action if they suspect a case of Modern Slavery.
- Introduce training records to be repeated each year for all current employees as part of the annual training renewal process.
- Continue to explore and implement due diligence approaches for both our business and supply chains.
- Ensure that staff involved in procurement activity are aware of and follow Modern Slavery Procurement Guidance on the GOV.UK website
This statement has been approved by Izabella Jozwiak, Head of HR, for the calendar year 2023 ending on 31st December 2023.
This statement will be reviewed and updated every year.