Ku Ku Designs (“the Company”) is committed to preventing modern slavery in all its forms and is dedicated to ensuring that its business and supply chains are free from slavery and human trafficking. This modern slavery statement sets out the Company’s actions to understand all potential modern slavery risks related to its business and to put in place effective systems to prevent it from taking place within its operations or supply chain.
Organizational structure:
The Company is a UK-based retailer of high-quality homeware and furnishings. It operates through its website, physical store and showrooms, and is headquartered at 46 Lower Richmond Road, Mortlake, London, SW14 7EZ UK.
The Company’s supply chains:
The Company sources its products from a range of suppliers based in the UK, Europe, and Asia. The majority of its products are manufactured in India and China, where there is a high risk of modern slavery and human trafficking. The Company takes a risk-based approach to assess its supply chains, and its due diligence process includes evaluating potential risks of modern slavery and human trafficking.
Policies and controls:
The Company has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and human trafficking and is committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all its business dealings and relationships. It has implemented a number of policies and controls to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking, including:
- Recruitment policy: The Company has a robust recruitment policy in place, which includes conducting thorough background checks and verifying the identity of all new employees.
- Whistleblowing policy: The Company has a whistleblowing policy in place, which encourages all employees to report any concerns about modern slavery and human trafficking.
- Code of conduct: The Company has a code of conduct in place, which sets out its expectations of ethical behaviour from all employees and suppliers.
- Supplier due diligence: The Company undertakes regular assessments of its suppliers to identify and address potential risks of modern slavery and human trafficking. The Company also requires its suppliers to sign up to its Supplier Code of Conduct.
- Training: The Company provides regular training to all employees to raise awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking and to ensure they understand their responsibilities under the law.
- Auditing: The Company conducts regular audits of its suppliers to ensure that they comply with its policies and controls.
Risk assessment:
The Company assesses the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in its supply chains on an ongoing basis. This risk assessment includes evaluating the geographic location of its suppliers, the nature of the products it sources, and the prevalence of modern slavery in those regions.
The Company has identified several areas where there is a high risk of modern slavery and human trafficking, including:
- Low-skilled manufacturing in India and China.
- Recruitment fees charged to workers by labour brokers.
- Exploitation of vulnerable workers, including women and children.
Actions taken:
The Company has taken several actions to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking, including:
- Working with suppliers: The Company works closely with its suppliers to ensure that they are aware of its policies and controls on modern slavery and human trafficking. The Company provides guidance to its suppliers on how to identify and address potential risks in their own supply chains.
- Supplier audits: The Company conducts regular audits of its suppliers to ensure that they are complying with its policies and controls. The audits cover areas such as working conditions, pay and hours of work, and the use of child and forced labour.
- Recruitment fees: The Company does not charge any recruitment fees to workers, and it requires its suppliers to ensure that no fees are charged to workers for employment.
- Reporting concerns: The Company encourages all employees and suppliers to report any concerns they have about modern slavery and human trafficking. It has a whistleblowing policy in place, which allows for anonymous reporting.
- Training and awareness: The Company provides regular training to all employees to raise awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking and to ensure they understand their responsibilities under the law.
- Partnerships: The Company works with industry bodies and NGOs to share best practice and to collaborate on initiatives to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking.
- Continuous improvement: The Company is committed to continuous improvement in its policies and controls and regularly reviews its approach to ensure that it remains effective in preventing modern slavery and human trafficking.
Future plans:
The Company is committed to preventing modern slavery and human trafficking and is continuously looking for ways to improve its approach. Its future plans include:
- Implementing a risk-based approach to supplier selection to ensure that it only works with suppliers who are committed to preventing modern slavery and human trafficking.
- Increasing the number of audits it conducts of its suppliers to ensure that they are complying with its policies and controls.
- Continuing to provide training to all employees to raise awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking.
- Increasing its engagement with industry bodies and NGOs to share best practices and to collaborate on initiatives to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking.
Conclusion:
Ku Ku Designs is committed to preventing modern slavery and human trafficking in all its operations and supply chains. It has implemented a range of policies and controls to identify and address potential risks and is continuously looking for ways to improve its approach. The Company will continue to work with its suppliers, industry bodies, and NGOs to ensure that it remains effective in preventing modern slavery and human trafficking. If you have any concerns about modern slavery or human trafficking in relation to Ku Ku Designs, please contact us at modernslavery@kukudesigns.co.uk.