TWI is committed to adhering to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in its business activities, and as such does not tolerate bribery in any form. To this end, TWI fully supports the principles and aims of the Bribery Act 2010, and takes a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption in any form.
Every employee and individual acting on TWI’s behalf is responsible for upholding our reputation and for conducting TWI’s business in a transparent, honest and professional manner. If TWI knows or suspects that anyone acting on its behalf has been convicted of bribery/the subject of a bribery investigation/proceedings, it shall take any appropriate measure, which may include the termination of any business relationship
TWI is committed to ensuring its directors and employees act in full compliance with all applicable competition laws and TWI’s competition compliance policy. TWI takes seriously and will investigate claims of anti-competitive behaviour by its employees and directors, and will take disciplinary measures when appropriate.
Our position on human rights within the Thirdway Group Ltd is clear and covered in our established Ethical Business Practices Policy and, more explicitly, in our Code of Conduct. We respect the human rights of all our employees and those within our supply chain and have zero tolerance of slavery and human trafficking.
We are committed to ensuring that slavery, trafficking, bonded labour, forced or servile marriage, descent-based slavery and domestic work and slavery does not take place in our business or any part of our supply chain by seeking to:
• Ensure our recruitment processes are transparent and reviewed regularly, with robust processes in place for the vetting of the appointment of our people;
• Raise awareness of the issue amongst our people and our suppliers & subcontractors to combat the hidden nature of modern slavery;
• Challenge and support our suppliers & subcontractors in the effort to drive out modern slavery and human trafficking; and
• Apply the spirit, as well as the letter of the law, to our internal practices.
This Statement sets out the steps which Thirdway Group Ltd has taken during the business period ending the 30th September 2019 to help ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of our business or supply chains.
The ThirdWay Group are a London-based office design and build, furniture, architecture and development company.
As a company predominately offering build, furniture and construction services to our clients, our supply chain is characterised by skilled technical contractors and trades. Occasionally we use temporary labour to support our operational requirements in certain areas (e.g. cleaners and site employees). The materials we buy are in support of the services we deliver.
We have an established set of policies and procedures covering human rights in general and specifically addressing relevant areas to minimise the risk of slavery or human trafficking occurring in our businesses or supply chains. Our relevant policies and procedures include:
• Our Ethical Business Practices Policy;
• Our Code of Conduct;
• Our People Policy – supplemented by our Recruitment Procedure;
• Our Procurement Policy - supplemented by our Supplier Code of Conduct; and
• Our Whistleblowing Procedure.
Our Code of Conduct forms the cornerstone of our wider ethical business framework. It provides our people with the guidance and support necessary to carry out their work in the right way. We designed our code to help our people understand Thirdway Group’s core values and the responsible behaviours which underpin them. It provides guidance and support for all Thirdway Group personnel when undertaking their work and draws together all of our long-standing policies and procedures from all business areas into one simple and practical guide.
We demand the highest levels of ethical and moral stewardship within the Thirdway Group. We are committed to being a responsible business and to developing mutually beneficial and sustainable relationships with our stakeholders and business partners, based on trust and co-operation.
Over and above the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act, we endorse the tenets of the United Nations Global Compact Principles, the International Labour Organisation Declaration on Fundamental Principles and the Rights at Work and the Ethical Trading Initiative ‘Base Code’. We strive to ensure that employment is chosen freely; freedom of association is respected; working conditions are safe and hygienic; child labour is not used; wages are not lower than minimum wage; working hours are not excessive; no discrimination is practised; regular employment is provided; and no harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed.
We endeavour to carry out appropriate checks to ensure that any new applicant is suitable for the role that they have applied for. Prior to making an offer, it is our usual practice to ensure that all applicants are aware of what checks we will carry out. We make job offers subject to appropriate satisfactory vetting procedures (where required).
All our people undergo identity and Right to Work checks prior to commencing employment. We also carry out reference checking. We employ most of our people directly or on a fixed-term basis with checks in place to ensure that payment of salary is made direct to that person.
Our Recruitment Procedure outlines the mandatory requirements we impose, which includes the requirement to use approved agencies in the recruitment process. Our Recruitment Procedure seeks to ensure that third party providers can demonstrate that they comply with all legal requirements, including the requirement to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Our Employee Handbook and Code of Conduct set out our policies and key procedures. We give all our people access to the Handbook and a summary version of our Code of Conduct when they begin working for Thirdway Group. We also provide our line managers with a detailed copy of the Code of Conduct.
These core documents, together with our targeted awareness on Modern Slavery and human trafficking helps us to deliver our key messaging so that our people can comply with our requirements. All these documents are available internally.
We expect our suppliers and other business partners to have the same high standards as we impose on our own business. We actively promote safe and fair working conditions, including the responsible management of environmental and social issues within our supply chain.
As part of our on-boarding process, our suppliers & subcontractors are required to read and acknowledge our Supplier Code of Conduct and our Supplier Guidance – Modern Slavery Act 2015 document. These documents set out key requirements for our suppliers including, amongst other things, the mitigation of risks associated with slavery and human trafficking.
Our Standard Terms and Conditions require our suppliers to comply with all legal requirements, including adherence to the Modern Slavery Act.
With the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act, we assessed our supply chain for potential areas of increased risk of non-compliance to the Act. We continue to do this and, where areas are identified, we carry out an audit, which will include a focus on compliance with employment as well as other regulatory and sustainability criteria. The defined criteria for assessing potential areas of risk within our supply chain are:
• Companies that operate using temporary low skilled labour;
• Operations outside of the UK / EU regulatory frameworks;
• Manufacturing or trading in raw materials produced in non-UK/EU areas;
• Companies that have a strategic partnership with Thirdway Group.
We enforce our policies and procedures in an effort to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our business or supply chain.
Our supplier on-boarding process includes standard due diligence procedures, which help us assess the suitability of a vendor to provide goods and services to Thirdway Group against compliance to required standards. This process captures confirmation that they are committed to ensuring that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place within their own supply chain. Tender and supplier selection processes also include checks for acceptance of Thirdway Group terms and conditions and the Supplier Code of Conduct.
Our procurement team carries out desktop audits as part of our supply chain management to provide assurance that our suppliers are responsible partners in our service delivery.
We are using a number of key performance indicators (KPI’s) to measure how effective we have been in communicating awareness of our core policies and procedures related to the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act, and our other actions to seek to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any of our businesses or supply chains. The KPI’s used to measure against will be subject to ongoing review by the Board to ensure their continued effectiveness.
We continue to strengthen employee awareness of our stance on slavery and human trafficking. We are updating our guidance for our suppliers, adding details of plans for managing the risk within our supply chain. This complements the training created for our own people, so they understand the issues involved, become more aware of the risks, the signs to be vigilant of and how to raise awareness should they see or fear something suspicious.
We believe that improved awareness is one of our most effective methods to reduce the risk of modern slavery and with the help of both our employees and suppliers we aim to ensure that there are no opportunities to hide forced labour within our organisation or our supply chain.
We encourage our people, customers and suppliers to report any concerns about unlawful conduct that they suspect is taking place at work. This includes any concerns regarding the risk of slavery or human trafficking.
Our Whistleblowing Procedure provides our people and our business partners with the ability to report suspected wrongdoing. This Procedure enables concerns to be reported without fear of retaliation in the knowledge that we do not tolerate harassment, victimisation or reprisals against anyone raising a concern in good faith.
In addition, employees who believe that they have come across an instance of modern slavery (or who may be a victim) and who need information and/or guidance on remedy, compensation and justice will be advised of their right to contact the Modern Slavery Helpline and/or other specialist support and assistance providers across the UK.
This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes Thirdway Group Ltd’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the business period ending 30 September 2019 as approved by the Board of Directors.
For and on behalf of the board of directors of ThirdWay Interiors Limited
We believe that a commitment to the principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR) not only makes good business sense but also complements our core business strategy and corporate values. Our policy is based on the following principles:
In developing our strategy and setting out our policy for the first time we aim to deliver gradual but continuous improvements in our performance every year. As a result, our approach continues to evolve as we learn lessons along the way. To help define our policy we have divided it into four key areas:
The development and implementation of this policy is the responsibility of the Group’s Board Committee, chaired by COO, Jonathan Sweeney.
Signed for and on behalf of the Thirdway Group.
Jonathan Sweeney
Chief Operating Officer, Thirdway Group Ltd
01 October 2019
ThirdWay ranked 10th Best Small Company To Work For at The Sunday Times Awards
Read articleThe quality of work was first rate and the original timescales and budgets were achieved. We'd love to work with the team again on our next project
