Anti-Slavery & Human Trafficking Statement

Introduction

In a world where freedom should be a fundamental right, modern slavery starkly contradicts our shared values of liberty and dignity. Unfortunately, this egregious violation of human rights persists globally, including within the bounds of advanced nations. Businesses can inadvertently become a part of this dilemma through their operations and extended supply chains.

At Shape The Market, our stance on modern slavery and human trafficking is uncompromising: we do not, and will not, tolerate it within any facet of our business or our supply chain partners. This statement delineates the measures we have embraced to recognize and mitigate the risks of modern slavery for the financial year 2023/24.

Our Business & Supply Chains

With our headquarters in the United Kingdom, Shape The Market champions transparency and integrity in advertising and marketing. We foster relationships with suppliers rooted in trust and mutual benefit, predicated on stringent evaluations encompassing the supplier’s reputation, legal compliance, and adherence to health, safety, and environmental protocols.

[To our knowledge, no incidents of human trafficking or slavery practices have been reported within our supply chain. However, should any such allegations arise, we are prepared to take immediate action against the implicated supplier and report them to the appropriate authorities.]

Risk Assessment

Over the past year, we’ve conducted an in-depth risk assessment of our supply chain, taking into account:

• The Global Slavery Index’s country-specific risk profiles.
• The nature of services provided by our suppliers.
• The demographics most susceptible to exploitation.
• Insights gleaned from news and human rights organizations.

The findings of this assessment are instrumental in shaping our response and risk mitigation strategies.

Policies

Shape The Market Ltd. enforces several policies aimed at detecting and preventing slavery and human trafficking:

Whistleblowing Policy

We empower our employees, clients, and suppliers to report any suspicions of slavery or human trafficking without fear of retribution, supported by a confidential helpline.

Code of Conduct

This code details the expected conduct of our employees, underscoring our commitment to ethical behaviour, especially in international operations and supply chain management.

Purchasing Code

Recently updated to explicitly reference anti-slavery and anti-human trafficking measures.

Supplier Due Diligence

We conduct rigorous due diligence on all suppliers before onboarding and periodically thereafter, which includes:

• Evaluating service-specific risks.
• Auditing supplier practices, focusing on health, safety, labour relations, and employment contracts.
• Mandating rectifications for subpar employment practices.
• Imposing sanctions on suppliers who fail to meet our standards.

Suppliers must affirm their commitment to fair labour practices, including the absence of forced labour and the freedom for employees to terminate their employment.

Awareness & Training

Awareness-raising initiatives are a cornerstone of our strategy:

We have disseminated information on modern slavery to our staff via emails and posters.
Our e-learning module, mandatory for all employees and supplier contacts, covers identification and response strategies for slavery and human trafficking.
Performance Metrics

We monitor our anti-slavery efforts through a series of key performance indicators (KPIs):

• Completion rates of mandatory training.
• Supplier engagement with our ethical standards questionnaire.
• The rollout of comparable awareness and training programs by suppliers.
• Employee reports indicating ethical awareness.
• Evaluations by our cross-functional Human Rights team on our anti-slavery efficacy.

These KPIs help us gauge our progress and reinforce our commitment to eradicating modern slavery and human trafficking from our business and supply chain.