BRE - Modern Slavery Act Statement

Fighting Modern Slavery

Introduction

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “Act”) and constitutes BRE’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 March 2025.

To comply with the Act, this statement is published on our website, bre.group.com and will be reviewed, updated, and published annually.

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 c600 people worldwide. It has a business presence in over 80 countries with an annual turnover of more than £65m.

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 ‘provide science-based solutions to built environment challenges.’

Our supply chains

Our supply chains include providers of goods, services, materials, and utilities. Our Contractor self-appraisal questionnaire includes questions regarding the Act and compliance with such is part of our selection criteria in our procurement process, as well as including appropriate contractual obligations to comply with the requirements of the Act within our commercial agreements.

Using supply chain due diligence principles enables us to make a judgement on transactions and the integrity of our supply chains.

Our policies on slavery and human trafficking

We are committed to working towards the eradication of modern slavery and human trafficking from our supply chains, 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. As an equal opportunities’ employer, we are also 
committed to creating and ensuring a non-discriminatory and respectful working environment for our people.

Our recruitment and people management processes are designed to ensure that all prospective employees are legally entitled to work in the UK. BRE is committed to being a responsible business.

BRE is committed to being a responsible business. Our Director of Research and Impact and our Head of Estates review and measure all aspects of our operations including but not limited to energy, waste and water, materials, resilience, biodiversity, health and well-being, travel, accessibility, and procurement.

Due diligence process for slavery and human trafficking

Our procurement process ensures we have systems in place to identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chain via our supplier onboarding questionnaire. The onboarding questionnaire includes certifications, registrations, health and safety, CSR, environmental and sustainability considerations to ensure we advocate the use of suppliers in line with best practice.

We do not conduct business with either suppliers or customers that do not maintain our own values and behaviours.

Our values and ethics

We understand our responsibility to help eliminate slavery and human trafficking and ensure both human and labour rights, both in our business and wider supply chain. BRE values and appreciates the contribution made by all employees at every level and is committed to protecting and respecting human rights.

Each employee is treated fairly and equally, and BRE has measures in place to ensure that the workplace is free from discrimination. Throughout BRE there is a zero-tolerance approach to any form of harassment or bullying, forced or involuntary labour, and child labour in any form. We have in place a comprehensive whistleblowing policy for reporting any areas of concern and encourage colleagues to speak up or call the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700. To date no incidents have been reported that are in contravention of the Act.

Training

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking at BRE we have online training modules on the subject which are mandatory for all members of staff to complete annually.