Vitacress Group Technical Director talks about modern slavery

Group Technical Director, Helen Brierley, responsible for championing the fight against modern slavery, talks about the recent steps taken by Vitacress.                                             

Anti-Slavery Day was first introduced in 2010 to raise awareness of the dangers and consequences of modern-day slavery, human trafficking and exploitation in all its forms.

An estimated 40 million people around the world are in slavery today, forced to work with little or no pay and often living and working in appalling conditions. Many people are shocked to hear that modern-day slavery is the second most profitable crime in the world and can take place closer than you think.

It’s important to us at Vitacress because we pride ourselves on being a trusted and ethically responsible business for all who work with us and for us. Everything we do is underpinned by our values and we care about our colleagues and want to assure them that we do not tolerate any form of exploitation at Vitacress or from within our suppliers.

We all need to play our part and by educating every one of our employees at all levels, it helps to create a safe working environment.

We published our Modern Slavery statement in June which highlights the progress we’ve made in the last year:

Building trust. Increased trust from employees as we promote safe recruitment and continued monitoring of all employees.  All colleagues know they can report any concerns and will be fully supported.

Raising awareness. By providing colleagues with the right training and tools, they can spot the signs both within the workplace and outside. Refresher training is provided regularly with accessible information via digital platforms or placed around communal areas.

Continued auditing. We're committed to our labour provision audit by adapting questions to ensure they’re in line with Stronger Together principles. We've also altered auditing where we’ve detected a higher risk of slavery.

With our Stronger Together’s Advanced Business Partner status, received in April, we are determined to continue implementing good practice and fully committed to eradicating modern slavery.

Helen Brierley
Vitacress Group Technical Director