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 900 employees.

The Group has an annual turnover in excess of £800 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. We work principally with a variety of vehicle manufacturers from whom we obtain our principal products, motor vehicles and aftersales parts. We have close working relationships with all of our suppliers with particular regard to salaries, working conditions, recruitment processes and relationships of their employees and resource.

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
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

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 good social working conditions
• Provision of conditions that enable employees to enjoy a reasonable standard of living, regular salary reviews take place that fully comply with legislation and market force.
• 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 may affect the company and our 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. We take proactive steps in checking their policies and procedures to ensure that they fully 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. We have an established Learning and Development department who monitor all employees ongoing training, with regard to employee relations.   All Directors have been briefed on this 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
• Regular assessment of company policies and procedures
• Staff training on modern slavery
• Regular salary reviews
• Reviewing existing supply chains and ensuring any new suppliers comply with the Modern Slavery Act
• Risk assessments to identify areas of potential risk
• Proactive relationships with all of our suppliers and contractors of their processes and policies 

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

Lucy Bailey
Head of People 

1st March 2024