Published in accordance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, this statement outlines the steps taken by schuh to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking throughout our business and supply chains.
· schuh continues to commit to providing customers with goods that have been produced in decent and safe working conditions, lawfully, through fair and honest dealings and without exploiting the people who made them.
· schuh has an Ethical Supplier Policy. We require all of our own private label Ladies, Gent’s & Kids suppliers to review and agree to our Ethical Supplier Policy. This policy applies to the supplier, manufacturer and any other individual involved in supplying goods to our company. Our policy is designed to be fair, achievable, easy to check and to promote the ongoing development of our suppliers. It is the responsibility of our main suppliers to inform their subcontractors and agents of our policy and its content, and to ensure compliance throughout the lower tiers of the supply chain.
· We have a long standing relationship with the large majority of our supply base. Our Buying and QC teams continue to visit our main suppliers and factories regularly to maintain and grow these relationships. Any new supplier or factory proposed to us must complete the supplier and factory set up process before any orders are agreed. This process ensures we have the appropriate visibility of the factories being used and commitment from the agent and factory representatives to our Code of Conduct and Ethical policies.
· We work with an established footwear supply base and build close relationships with our suppliers and agents. We understand that our biggest exposure to modern slavery is in our product supply chains, where we will continue to undertake due diligence to minimise this risk. Our shoes are predominantly sourced from China, Italy and India.
· For all of our main factories used for shoe production, approved third party social audits and our own in-house audits are completed and qualified, along with any corrective action progress reports for any non-compliances found. These third party factory audits are undertaken against schuh ethical codes and standards and consist of site tours, document reviews and worker interviews. Our QC team works with the suppliers and factories to ensure any non-compliance is resolved in a timely manner relative to the associated risk of the matters of concern.
· schuh are committed to continuing to address and minimise the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking within our business and supply chain. We will continue to review our policies and processes throughout the next financial year. Our Buying and QC teams will continue to visit our main suppliers and factories to further our working relationship and involvement within our supply base. We will continue to prioritise visits to factories based on higher risk areas and are committed to increasing the transparency within our supply chain year upon year.
This statement was approved by The Management Team on 05 06 2024.
Colin Temple, Managing Director
