Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement 2022/2023

Opening Statement

Meller Group is committed to preventing modern slavery and human trafficking within its business and supply chain. We commit to upholding the principles of the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 and to improving our ability to identify, prevent, mitigate, and remediate issues.

Structure of the Business and Supply Chains

Meller Group is a UK registered company which is formed of JM Brands, Meller Design Solutions in the UK, and Meller Shanghai Trading, a Chinese subsidiary. We design and import Home Fragrance, Cosmetics, Toiletries, and associated products, supplying them to some of the UK’s most progressive and ethical High Street Retailers.

The products are supplied by 9 factories: 5 based in China, 1 in Vietnam, 1 in India, 1 in Poland, and 1 in the UK. Each factory is independently assessed by third-party auditors for compliance with the ETI base code on an annual basis.

Policies on Slavery and Human Trafficking

We have an employment policy in place that assures the identity and right to work is established for all employees; they are employed directly by Meller Group on a permanent basis.

Section 3.3 of the Supplier Manual describes our policies and procedures for managing modern slavery and human trafficking with our suppliers; the other policies within the Supplier Manual also feed into the management of modern slavery and human trafficking. We continually assess these and other policies within the Supplier Manual for suitability and potential improvements.

Due Diligence and Risk Assessment

The risk assessment for modern slavery is aligned with our strategic review. We review the following areas to enable us to direct our activity:

·         supply chain mapping;

·         data from audits;

·         supplier surveys;

·         information from desk-based research and external experts.

The majority of the information comes from analytics derived through the Sedex Analytics and we shall be using this to establish a base line and investigate country-level risk.

We have a policy that requires an annual ethical audit to take place. The current supply chain shows one minor non-conformance and one observation for management systems. There are no non-conformances associated with other aspects of the ETI base code. The non-conformance has been closed to our satisfaction and that of the external auditor.

Effectiveness and Performance

We believe that the current policies are effective for our tier 1 suppliers. The effectiveness below this level is limited. Plans to establish risk assessments for tier 2 suppliers will be investigated in order to help improve visibility within the supply chain.

Training and Resources

We plan to establish a training programme within the company and engage with our tier 1 suppliers so that awareness can be improved.

We encourage employees to identify and report any potential breaches of our policies. Awareness posters are situated in the main office with contact details for employees to use.