Modern Slavery and Trafficking Statement

Introduction

This statement is made pursuant to s.54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the steps that Dick Lovett has taken and is continuing to take to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain.

Modern slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour. Dick Lovett has a zero tolerance 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 our business or our supply chain.

Organisation Structure

We are a prestigious motor group based in the South West of England, with a number of dealerships that retail and maintain motor vehicles. All dealerships are based in the UK. Dick Lovett employs over 800 employees.

The Group has an annual turnover in excess of £600 million.

Our Supply Chains

Our supply chains include a variety of national, local and international suppliers to source goods, services and equipment for the operation of its businesses. In particular we work principally with a variety of vehicle manufacturers from whom we obtain our principal products, motor vehicles and aftersales parts.

Our policies on slavery and human trafficking

We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of the business. Our anti-slavery policy 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 supply chains.

We have in place a number of Group policies to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical manner:

• Anti-slavery policy
• Recruitment policy
• Whistleblowing policy
• Code of business conduct
• Social Responsibility

The following principles are of particular importance:

• Preservation of human dignity and human rights, ban on child and forced labour
• Implementation of equal opportunities and family-friendly policies
• No discrimination on the basis of religion, origin, nationality, age, handicap, marital status, sexual orientation, political affiliation, membership of a trade union or the like, gender and veteran status
• Maintenance of adequate social working conditions
• Provision of conditions that enable employees to enjoy a reasonable standard of living
• Positive and negative freedom of association
• Maintenance of employability by basic and advanced training
• Provision of information to personnel on the objectives, economic situation and current topics that affect the company and the personnel
• Compliance with health and safety standards, particularly, highest priority shall be given to establishing health and safety measures for staff (to reduce workplace safety incidents and thereby reduce sickness rate).

Supplier Adherence to our Values

We have zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking. We expect all those in our supply chain and contractors to comply with our values.

Training

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chain and our business, we provide training to relevant members of staff. All Directors have been briefed on the subject.

KPI’s

We continue to take the following steps with the aim of ensuring that modern slavery and human trafficking are not taking place in any part of our business or our supply chains:

• A review of our employment terms and conditions and recruitment policy
• Staff training on modern slavery
• Reviewing existing supply chains and ensuring any new suppliers comply with the Modern Slavery Act
• Risk assessments to identify areas of potential risk

I, Sarah Turner, Head of Personnel, will personally ensure that this statement is regularly reviewed and adhered to by all members of the Dick Lovett Group. 

Sarah Turner (Chartered FCIPD)  
Head of Personnel 

1^st January 2023