Modern Slavery Statement
This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our group's slavery and human trafficking statement for financial year end December 2023 and has been approved by the UK Senior Management Team and our Managing Director Bernard Ward.
The Acorn (Synergie UK Ltd) part of the French based Synergie group, recognises that modern slavery and human trafficking is a violation of fundamental human rights and is contrary to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “Act”).
We are committed to continually improving our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking and to encourage the same high standards from our supply chain and other business partners. The Acorn Group is a UK based recruitment agency, established in 1992, that specialises in providing recruitment and workforce management solutions across various business sectors. Offering a range of services, including temporary and permanent solutions and on-site managed services. We have over 22 locations across the UK.
The Group had an annual turnover in 2023 of Circa £89m and our registered office is in Newport South Wales. The labour force provided to our clients all live and work in the UK, we do not use overseas agents to source workers. The Acorn Group has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and human trafficking throughout our entire operations. We will conduct our business with integrity and will not knowingly deal with any business or individual involved in slavery or human trafficking. We have not reported any Modern Slavery breaches in 23/24 financial year.
Our suppliers and contractors must share our commitment. We purchase a wide range of products and services from our supply chain, including but not limited to IT hardware, software, and telecommunications; vehicles; office furniture, PPE equipment and supplies; utilities; and training services. Our approved suppliers must comply and act in accordance with our Modern Slavery Policy and must submit a pre-qualification document, which also covers
the Act and provides us with all necessary due diligence. The use of 3rd party labour providers is limited, we used 1 in 2023 and they held a GLAA licence.
To fulfill our commitment, we will:
• Regularly review our Modern Slavery policy, risk assessment and practices on a regular basis to ensure they remain fit for purpose.
• Conduct due diligence checks to identify potential modern slavery risks.
• Provide training to staff in modern slavery and how to identify and report potential cases.
• Attend external modern slavery training such as Stronger Together and GLAA partner workshops.
• Ensure our SMT has attended Modern Slavery training with Stronger Together and place modern slavery as an agenda item at SMT meetings.
• Encourage and support the reporting of any suspected cases of modern slavery and human trafficking by promoting internally.
• Promote our dedicated confidential telephone number for workers to report concerns of exploitation/human trafficking.
• Promote internally our dedicated whistle blowing policy and our parent company’s confidential Integrity whistleblowing platform - both can be used internally to report concerns anonymously.
Our Due Diligence:
• Maintain accreditation to ISO9001 – independent audit ensuring compliance meets international standards.
• Weekly checks across all workers to identify potential signs of modern slavery (duplicate addresses, phone numbers, bank accounts, emergency contacts). The Compliance team will investigate any concerns to ensure independence.
• Comprehensive internal audit program conducted by the Compliance team.
• Conduct due diligence checks on our supply chain partners
• Conduct reference checks on all employees working for the group and all staff must undertake an annual self-declaration outlining criminal convictions and undertake a ‘fit and proper’ test in line with GLAA requirements.
Our Future 2024 Plans:
• We will be looking to improve our Supplier assessments in 2024 with our key suppliers (annual spend circa £10k)
• Launch of a new worker app – this will allow us to communicate and run campaigns to improve awareness and ensure workers know their rights
• Greater engagement with local communities
Bernard Ward
Managing Director
Acorn (Synergie UK Ltd)
17 Apr 2024