Modern slavery act statement

Introduction

The BRE group of companies (BRE) is committed to improving its practices to combat slavery and human trafficking. BRE maintains the highest standards in responsible and ethical sourcing and practices to ensure that workers are treated ethically and fairly, regardless of what they do or where they work. We continually strive to improve our practices and encourage those we work with to do so as well.

Organisation structure

BRE is ultimately owned by the BRE Trust, which is a charity registered in both England and Wales and in Scotland. It has its head office in Watford, England. BRE employs over 500 people worldwide. It has a business presence in over 80 countries with annual turnover of more than £54m.

Our business

BRE consists of 7 actively trading companies, with the two main companies being Building Research Establishment Limited (BRE) and BRE Global Limited (BRE Global), all operating under the same or affiliated group management system.

Amongst other things, BRE Global practices assurance disciplines and operates the BREEAM and LPCB certification brands. BRE performs a wide range of advisory and expert witness services and operates a number of web-based tools and applications related to the built environment.

Profits from BRE are gift aided to the BRE Trust, to further its charitable mission of advancing knowledge, innovation and communication in the built environment and to ‘build a better world together’.

Our supply chain

Our supply chain includes providers of goods, services, materials, and utilities. Our Contractor self-appraisal questionnaire includes questions regarding the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and compliance with such is part of our selection criteria.

Our policies on slavery and human trafficking

We are committed to working towards the eradication of modern slavery and human trafficking from our supply chain, and in any other part of our businesses. Our code of conduct reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity, whether dealing with individuals, companies or other organisations. Our ethical business policy also ensures that we make appropriate considerations when commencing business in new markets.

Due diligence process for slavery and human trafficking

We have in place systems to:

• Identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chain via our supplier management processes.

• Mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our supply chain.

• Protect whistle blowers and those who speak up.

We have a zero-tolerance attitude to slavery and human trafficking and encourage colleagues to speak up or call the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700 if they have concerns or suspicions.

 

Training

We conduct training sessions for our operations, finance, legal and estates teams to help them identify signs of modern slavery and highlight the correct reporting procedures, should such be identified. We delivering other awareness training with all staff during the year.

Our effectiveness in combating slavery and human trafficking

We review our policies and procedures regularly and update them as required. We have started to report on how effective these have been, whilst also noting that it is difficult to prove the complete absence of Modern Slavery in any business.

Wider impact

BRE is unique and holds itself to high levels of industry leadership on key matters such as Modern Slavery. Indeed in February 2017 BRE Global published its Ethical Labour Sourcing standard. This standard provides an opportunity for all companies in the built environment sector to better understand Ethical Labour, and the breadth of considerations in relation to it. In 2018 BRE Global published the ELS standard online, making it available to all companies in the UK to self-assess free of charge.

 

Further steps

We are fully committed to the Act and continue to identify some areas of improvement; many of which we are working on already. For example, we are:

• Reviewing existing policies, procedures and forms which address combatting slavery and human trafficking.

• Reviewing our slavery and human trafficking awareness training to all staff.

• Reviewing the ways we measure the effectiveness of BRE Group policies and procedures and reporting of those.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes BRE’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 March 2021.