ambitions personnel ltd
MODERN SLAVERY STATEMENT - FINANCIAL YEAR 2023/2024
Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, our business is required to publish our modern slavery statement on an annual basis, within six months of the end of our financial year, which runs from 1st June to 31st May.
INTRODUCTION FROM DIRECTORS
It is an unfortunate reality that modern slavery and human trafficking in its various forms affects the lives of many people.
Given the scope of our business activities, we recognise that we, as with all labour providers, have an important responsibility to do everything we can to minimise, and eventually eradicate, modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK.
We are proud of the steps we have taken so far and are committed to continually reviewing and improving our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking within our business and within our supply chain.
We have prepared the following statement to outline the actions we have taken covering the 2023/2024 financial year and to detail how these actions have been integrated into our standard working practices and into the overall culture of our business.
OUR BUSINESS
We supply temporary and permanent recruitment services to businesses across the UK. Our Head Office is based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire and we have 9 further branch locations predominately within the East of England and operate 6 ‘on-site’ offices from our clients’ sites.
Our annual turnover is £40 million.
We supply as many as 2.5 million temp hours annually and have placed over 370 candidates into permanent roles each year.
As holders of a GLAA Licence since the introduction of the scheme in 2006, a large proportion of the workers we supply are to the food manufacturing and processing sector. We work closely with the GLAA and worker welfare is of paramount importance.
As a labour provider, and given the scope of our business, we recognise that we may be at risk of human trafficking and modern slavery. We have therefore adopted a proactive approach to identify potential threats within our business or via any third party.
Potential workers are interviewed face-to-face, in person, and right to work checks are carried out in line with Home Office guidance. Either original right to work documentation is seen or the relevant Home Office digital check is carried out. At this time we discuss the individuals’ search for work and ask them how they heard of Ambitions Personnel to establish if they have freely chosen to attend an interview with us. Keen to identify any third-party exploitation we ask additional questions, where appropriate, regarding the worker's travel to the UK, current accommodation arrangements and any payments they may have been asked to make to a third party to secure work. When appropriate, workers are asked to provide proof of own, named, bank account to ensure payments are made directly to the individual and not a third party. Throughout this process, our staff have been trained to identify ‘alert flags’ that may indicate that an individual may be subject to exploitation and report these to management as part of our internal process.
Ambitions Personnel are part of Stronger Together, an initiative that enables organisations to embed responsible recruitment and employment practices to mitigate labour exploitation in their operations and supply chains. As a Stronger Together Business Partner we have taken the following steps:
Key managers have attended Stronger Together workshops
Internal staff induction training includes training on Preventing Hidden Labour Exploitation.
All staff trained and sign HR Policy on Preventing Hidden Labour Exploitation
Appropriate staff trained in, and sign Recruiter Compliance Principles to show understanding and commitment to preventing exploitation
All staff trained on ‘Alert Flags’ and made aware of the correct Alert Flag Reporting Procedure to raise concerns to management.
Temporary workers are given an insight into Modern Slavery and told how to seek help for themselves or others they may be concerned about
Workplace posters displayed in multiple languages in branch and on-site locations
Temporary Workers are given the Stronger Together presentation and video at induction to raise awareness
Multilingual leaflets handed out to temporary workers at induction
Dedicated HR Telephone Hotline number displayed in all branch and onsite locations
We have developed a Forced Labour Response Policy. Ambitions Personnel recognises its responsibility to identify and provide support to victims of forced labour through a response plan. If an issue of forced labour is found, it is important to act quickly. Ambitions has established a Response Team to manage potential issues of forced labour.
The Response Team will be informed immediately if indicators of forced labour are discovered and/or a notification concerning a potential victim is received. This will be investigated and appropriate action is taken. A Forced Labour Flag Log is completed in all cases with risk flags and the action taken. This is to enable the business to continue to monitor our progress when dealing with potential cases of Forced Labour.
With our knowledge and experience, we have fostered good working relationships with local authorities, including the GLAA. Where necessary we are able to react quickly and efficiently to deal with any case that may arise.
We are committed to best practice and our staff are trained in operating procedures at the beginning of their employment. To ensure compliance our operating procedures are internally audited. These procedures are also reviewed on an ongoing basis and improved as necessary.
This statement is made pursuant to Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our company’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the most recent financial year.
Amanda Watson & Claire Haggar
Directors