Southgate Global Ltd Modern Slavery Statement

Introduction

This Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement is a response to Section 54(1), Part 6 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and relates to action and activities for the financial year ending April 2024.

Southgate Global Limited is committed to ensuring that activities within our supply chain are free from involvement with Modern Slavery and/or child labour. Before building relationships with new suppliers we ensure that their company upholds the same commitments, and that they in turn will hold their own suppliers equally accountable.

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.

Organisational Structure

Southgate Global Limited is involved in the operational logistics and packaging sectors and is based in the UK, but has both customers and suppliers worldwide. It has a board and a management team, both of whom are aligned in their support of both the spirit and the detail of this statement.

Responsibility for the processes and procedures detailed in this document lies with the Head of Compliance.

Risk Management and Due Diligence

Southgate Global Ltd has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all of our business dealings, as well as enforcing effective procedures to ensure that modern slavery is not undertaken in any part of our own business or supply chain.

Our Human Rights and Ethical Trade Policies detail what processes and procedures we have in place to ensure that we are being true to the commitments we have made. These include, but are not limited to, requiring our suppliers to register on the SEDEX platform and completing the SEDEX self-assessment questionnaire, completing the Southgate Global Ltd risk assessment document and committing to upholding the principles of the ETI Base code.

Southgate Global runs a risk based approach to supplier approval and uses a number of metrics to determine the level of risk that a supply chain or supplier may present. Where increased levels of risk are determined, increased levels of scrutiny are implemented. We may require, for example, a 2^nd or 3^rd party audit to be carried out and for actions to be taken before supply commences, or we may require a review from a qualified representative of Southgate to address specific issues that a supplier may be facing. However, the underlying principle is that wherever human rights abuses of any kind are suspected or revealed, Southgate will ensure that they are reported, investigated and tackled within collaborative frameworks involving all stakeholders

Training and Awareness

Key staff have been trained in the ways to spot potential victims of modern slavery and in the best ways to deal with these suspicions. Additionally, we display contact numbers of agencies who may be able to assist in key locations so that potential victims have somewhere to turn if they wish to.

KPIs and reporting

On an annual basis, the compliance team produces a KPI based report for the board. This includes an assessment of the risk of modern slavery in our supply chains vs the previous years, the level of coverage that the policies and processes detailed above gives us, any specific actions that have been taken to reduce the likelihood of human rights abuses and details of any specific incidents that have occurred. Additionally, a ‘horizon scan’ report will be given, detailing any areas of risk or focus that we may need to be aware of in the coming year. Should there be a need for the compliance team to address the board at any other point in the year, then this can be done. The reporting is not limited to annually.