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Modern Slavery Statement 


Our Business and Values
Bennett (Construction) Limited and Bennett Construction (London) Limited are members of the Bennett Group, an international construction services company. Bennett operates primarily in the UK and Ireland with our Head Office based in Ireland. Bennett has approximately 200 employees.

We work closely with several suppliers and subcontractors. The majority of these businesses operate within the UK and Ireland and this statement is made pursuant to Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, setting out the steps we believe, mitigate our risk with respect to slavery and human trafficking. 

Policy Statement
Modern Slavery is a serious crime, violating an individual’s fundamental rights. We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. This Anti-slavery Statement reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our business or our supply chains. Bennett’s ‘Zero Philosophy’ is applied to everything we do at every level of our organisation. To ensure all those in our supply chain comply with our values, we require our supply chain to contractually commit to compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. 

Our recruitment processes are both transparent and thorough. We have robust procedures in place for vetting new employees and ensuring we can accurately confirm their identities. 

Our Employee Ethics and Responsibility policy outlines our commitment to conduct our business to the highest standard, the role our employees play and the procedure for raising any issues of illegal or unethical activities. 

Due Diligence
As part of Bennett’s on-going commitment to comply with the Modern Slavery Act, 2015, Bennett will both continue to monitor and mitigate any risks within Bennett and our supply chain, so that effective controls and contingency plans can be put in place if required. 

Adherence to The Modern Slavery Act 2015 forms part of our contract with our subcontractors/supplier list and includes appropriate provision for ascertaining the measures taken by our supply chain to help eradicate modern slavery. Our procedural controls are reinforced by our strategic procurement approach to developing preferred supplier relationships with key supply chain partners, including our temporary labour and logistics providers with whom we work repeatedly and know very well. 

Training
All staff undertake annual training to understand what modern slavery is, how to detect and report any suspected incidents of modern salary. In addition, this training forms part of our induction for our new employees and is mandatory for all staff.

The Procurement Team continue to keep updated through the Supply Chain Sustainability School.

We continue to educate our workers through Toolbox Talks and Poster Campaigns.

Internal Policies
This Policy Statement is supported by our internal policies which assist in ensuring that we conduct our business in a transparent manner and implement effective controls, for example, compliance with our Right to Work in the UK policy, promoting our equal opportunities policies and ensuring employees align to our Code of Conduct and Employees Ethics and Responsibility Policies. These policies implement effective systems to ensure, as far as is practical, that human trafficking and slavery are not taking place in Bennett or any of our supply chain. 

Summary
This statement is made pursuant to s.54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and serves as our Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking statement for the year ending 31st March 2024.