Bighams Modern Slavery Statement

Bighams Modern Slavery StatementThe International Labour Organisation estimates that more than 40 million men, women and children around the globe are working in modern slavery, with 11% of victims working in agriculture and fishing. This document outlines the steps we are taking to ensure that neither we, nor our suppliers, are supporting modern slavery. What we do:It’s really quite simple - we prepare delicious food in our kitchens for you to serve in yours. Our business was founded in 1996 when Charlie had an epiphany whilst travelling around India in a camper van and decided that life as a management consultant probably wasn’t for him. Charlie’s passion has always been food and on his return to England, he decided to follow his dream.Things have changed a little in the years since then. Our first dishes were cooked by Charlie in his own kitchen and delivered on the back of his bike to tiny independent London delicatessens. Our range of more than 35 recipes can now be found in major retailers across the UK, and we have a fantastic team of more than 500 people making food at our kitchens in London and Somerset. Our dishes are still finished by hand with fresh ingredients….. we just make a few more of them these days.Our motto is ‘only delicious will do’ so whether we’re looking for the perfect pancetta or the smokiest salmon, we always choose suppliers with the best ingredients. This means we work with a broad range of suppliers sourcing from more than 40 countries. Our procurement team are responsible for selecting suppliers and for creating long lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with them. We’ve now worked with the majority of our suppliers for more than six years, and they are companies and people we know and trust.Our policies supporting our commitment to tackling Modern Slavery are:1. Supplier Code of Conduct – this details our expectations of every supplier and is a condition of trade with us.2. Our Employee Whistleblowing Policy – we have systems in place to allow anonymous reporting of any concerns3. Our recruitment process - all new workers are interviewed in person and are subject to checks to confirm their identity and right to work in the UK. We ensure that any workers provided by external agencies are subject to the same checksWe have started mapping our supply base to investigate any areas at high risk of modern slavery, either through geography or the ingredient sourced. This year we are working to establish links to each of our suppliers using Sedex (the Supplier Ethical Database Exchange). We will use also Sedex to investigate every supplier’s labour standards, including modern slavery and human trafficking.We will continue to review and refine our processes and train staff accordingly. This statement is made in accordance with Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (‘the Act’) and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking statement.