MODERN SLAVERY STATEMENT
The following statement is published in accordance with Section 54 (1) of the UK Modern Slavery Act (2015). It sets out how Pringle of Scotland approaches business and human rights and describes our commitments towards mitigating the risk of modern slavery in our supply chain.
What is modern slavery?
Modern slavery is a global issue and encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour. Pringle of Scotland has a zero-tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all business dealings and to putting effective systems and controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business or our supply chain.
OUR ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
Pringle of Scotland is a British brand, known for its luxurious knitwear. Founded in 1815 in Hawick, Scotland, Pringle of Scotland is a UK-based multi-channel retailer, supplying selected wholesalers, our ecommerce website and operating 1 retail store within the UK.
Our Business Structure:
Pringle of Scotland head office and retail store is based in our founding town, Hawick, Scotland with a distribution centre in Wigan which is operated by a third-party logistics provider.
Our Supply Chain:
Pringle of Scotland produces its own brand Menswear and Womenswear encompassing clothing and accessories, and includes the purchasing of packaging and goods.
Pringle of Scotland products are sold in our store and e-commerce platform and through third party retailers. Our clothing and accessories are designed in-house and manufactured by third party manufacturers.
Our manufacturing suppliers are based in Scotland, Italy, Portugal and China. The largest sourcing region by volume of product is Portugal, where the majority of Pringle of Scotland’s apparel product is produced.
Manufacturing and ethical standards are managed by the Head of Sourcing, implemented with support from the Head of Design. Our team is led by our business owner.
OUR RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Pringle of Scotland is continually assessing our sourcing and operational base (current and potential new partners), and have identified the potential risks based on our industry sector and sourcing regions.
We assessed the highest risks to be:
Labour conditions
Child labour
Materials sourcing
We assessed the highest risk regions to be:
China
OUR POLICIES
Pringle of Scotland operates internal policies to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner. These include:
- Recruitment: We operate a robust recruitment policy, including conducting eligibility to work in the UK checks for all employees to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will.
- Whistleblowing: We operate a whistleblowing policy so that all Pringle of Scotland employees know that they can raise concerns about how colleagues are being treated, or practices within our business or supply chain, without fear of reprisals.
Business Ethics Code of Conduct: This code explains the expectations of our organisation and how we expect our employees and suppliers to act.
Supplier Manual: contains Supplier Code of Conduct based on Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code.
The above policies are subject to review by the senior leadership team.
The organisation has subsequently published the following updated sourcing policies which have been approved by the board:
Pringle of Scotland Supplier Code of Conduct Pringle of Scotland Cotton Sourcing Policy Pringle of Scotland Unapproved Subcontracting PolicyOUR DUE DILIGENCE
Pringle of Scotland recognises the need to further develop and extend its supply chain due diligence programme in order to effectively manage human rights risks such as forced labour and modern slavery.
Our regular process:
- Review & screen 100% of manufacturers
- Internal grade all manufacturers
- Launched a new manufacturing supplier onboarding process
- The Head of Sourcing undertakes supplier visits on an annual basis, alongside Buying Team members.
OUR COMMITMENTS FOR 2024
- Review procurement of third-party service providers [logistics, freight, IT] on how they manage the risk of modern slavery in their own supply chains or recruitment
- Implement a governance and reporting structure to ensure our approach to upholding human rights is embedded across the business
OUR EMPLOYEE TRAINING
We are committed to providing training and awareness raising on Modern Slavery and human trafficking for all colleagues in 2024. Training will be provided at a level relevant to job role. Colleagues identified as having the highest exposure to Modern Slavery risk will be prioritised: Senior Leadership, Product teams (buying, design, sourcing), Operations teams (logistics, HR, quality, facilities, finance).
Any concerns with regards to modern slavery within Pringle of Scotland or our global supply chain can be raised confidentially with h.r@pringlescotland.com
APPROVAL
This statement was approved by the Pringle of Scotland Board on 1st February 2024.
