Hold Storage anti-slavery and human trafficking statement.
Hold Storage are committed to improving our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking, to avoid complicity in human rights violations related to our own operations and our supply chain. We realise that slavery and human trafficking can occur in many forms, such as forced labour, child labour, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, and workplace abuse. The expression “slavery and human trafficking” encompasses these various forms of coerced labour.Hold is committed to the prevention of the use of forced labour and has a zero tolerance policy for slavery and human trafficking. We are an owner and operator of self-storage facilities and the group’s head office is located in the UK. We are legally compliant with all relevant employment legislation and our employment procedures guarantee that we conduct appropriate checks on all colleagues to ensure eligibility for employment. Our business is locatedwithin the UK and accordingly our geographic risk of slavery and human trafficking is low. We see our main sector risks as being construction, security, cleaning and maintenance, areas in which we contract with a number of suppliers. We are committed to ensuring that there is no slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. Our Anti-slavery and human trafficking 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.
Due diligence processes
All Hold Storage colleagues have an obligation to familiarise themselves with our policy to help in the identification and prevention of slavery and human trafficking and to conduct business in a manner such that the opportunity for any incidence of this is prevented. Adherence to this policy forms part of a colleague’s obligations under their contract of employment. Whilst recognising our statutory obligation to set out the steps we have taken to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in our supply chains, we acknowledge that we do not control the conduct of individuals and organisations in our supply chains. As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk, we have in place systems to:
• Identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chains.
• Mitigate the risk of occurrence in our supply chains by conducting supplier pre-screening as part of our tender process
• Monitor potential risk areas in our supply chains by introducing contractual provisions for our suppliers to confirm their adherence to our policy and accept our right to audit their activities and (where practicable) relationships, both routinely and at times of reasonable suspicion
• Protect whistle blowers
• We operate the following policies that describe our approach to the identification of modern slavery risks and steps to be taken to prevent slavery and human trafficking in our operations:
Whistleblowing (Speak out) policy – We encourage anyone working for Hold Storage or on our behalf in any capacity to raise any concerns about the conduct of others in the business or the way in which the business is run. This includes any circumstances that may give rise to an enhanced risk of slavery or human trafficking. Our whistleblowing procedure is designed to make it easy to make disclosures, without fear of retaliation
Code of Conduct (‘the Code’) – gives us the guidance and support we need to conduct our business ethically and to comply with the law, which are vital to our success. The Code represents our commitment to do the right thing, including respecting the rights of others. The Code applies to anyone working for Hold Storage or on our behalf in any capacity